Cuban Dissident Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara on Day 8 of a hunger and thirst strike: Some context informed by past actions and nonviolence theory

"I think they kill my child every time they deprive a person of their right to think." - José Martí

 

Artist and human rights defender Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara

Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara is on the eighth day of a hunger and thirst strike, and in increasingly poor health. He is engaged in a profound dialogue with a regime that for decades has refused to listen, to really listen, to Cuban citizens petitioning for and demanding change. This dialogue has been going on for at least three years. He has tried all types of protests, petitions, performance art pieces, and music videos in defense of freedom of expression, especially artistic expression.

In his third lecture in 2006 of his peace and conflict studies course "164A: Intro to Nonviolence" non-violence practitioner and academic at Berkeley University Michael Nagler explained that "it would not be appropriate for a person who had not tried in every way possible, first, to communicate with the person, then when they refused to listen to you, you move into various forms of civil disobedience. Or in other ways, you take on the suffering and the situation. And finally, when all that has failed – if all that has failed, then you move into something drastic like refusal to eat."

Luis Manuel Otero Alcantara since 2018 has been engaged in a dialogue with the Cuban government demanding that artistic freedom in Cuba be respected and expanded.  The dialogue was initiated when the Cuban government announced Decree 349, a dystopian law that further restricted artistic freedoms in the already existing state of repression that existed. 

In an interview with Amnesty International in 2019, Luis Manuel said: “I’m like the tip of the iceberg. We are talking about an endless number of artists in Cuba. [The authorities] come after me, because as I am supposedly the most visible of the youth, activists-artists, they send the message ‘Well, if we lock this one up, look what we can do to you lot.’”
 

Cuban artists against Decree 349 | Photo © Facebook / Luis Manuel Otero

In March 2020, the World Movement for Democracy condemned the violent arrest and detention of artist and civil society activist Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara by Cuban authorities and joined organizations like PEN America and the San Isidro Movement in demanding his release. "He was arrested in Havana on March 1 as he was leaving his home to attend an independent anti-censorship demonstration organized by the local LGBTQ community. During the arrest a policewoman threw Otero Alcántara’s girlfriend, Claudia Genlui, to the floor and hit her for attempting to record the arrest on her cellphone," reported the World Movement.  Many feared that he would be subjected to a political show trial.

Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara and his girlfriend Claudia Genlui

Amnesty International on March 13, 2020 identified Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara a prisoner of conscience, "imprisoned solely because of his consciously held beliefs, and should be released immediately."

Eight months later in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara and the San Isidro Movement were confronted with a new injustice. On November 9, 2020, their colleague Denis Solís González was arrested for recording and speaking critically of a police officer searching his home without a warrant. He was subjected to a summary trial on  November 11, 2020 and was sentenced to eight months in prison for “contempt” (desacato). Denis was taken to Valle Grande, a maximum-security prison just  outside Havana to serve out his prison sentence.

Denis Solís González jailed for protesting police harassment

 Luis Manuel, along with other artists and intellectuals began holding protests outside the police station, and were roughed up and their protests shut down. They moved the protests to the San Isidro Movement's headquarters, Luis Manuel's home and beginning on November 15, 2020 they were surrounded by police. They were protesting the travesty of justice carried out against Denis Solís González.

On November 18th when it became clear that officials would not allow anyone to deliver them food, and in the early morning hours of that day had used a chemical agent to poison their water supply that nine of them decided to go on hunger strike, and four of them took the additional step to also start a thirst strike. This was done to conserve food and water for those among them in a more vulnerable situation.

Luis Manuel was one of the four that initiated the hunger and thirst strike on November 18, 2020. Four days later around midnight, despite a cordon of state security and revolutionary national police surrounding the San Isidro Movement headquarters a Luis Manuel Alcantara was attacked with by an unidentified man who broke into the San Isidro Movement's headquarters on November 22, 2020. This was particularly suspicious because secret police had blocked neighbors, friends, and family members from reaching them for the previous four days.

Luis M. Alcantara attacked on November 22, 2020

On November 26 at 8:00pm regime officials shutoff their access to internet and to their phones and organized a rapid response brigade for an act of repudiation. Secret police dressed as doctors raided the San Isidro Movement headquarters and forcibly expelled and arrested everyone inside and beat them up.

Luis Manuel and the San Isidro Movement responded to each escalation of violence with a non-violent response that challenged the regime.  Restrictions on getting food, and regime contaminating the water supply with a chemical agent, the strongest started a hunger and thirst strike to conserve supplies for the weakest among them. 

State security raid San Isidro Movement in Havana on November 26th

Following an individual knocking down the door to the entrance with a hammer, they carried out their call for Cubans across the country to go to public parks and peacefully protest.  When they were dislodged and beaten on November 26th the following day hundreds of young people gathered outside of the Castro regime's Ministry of Culture and challenged the dictatorship. This led to the founding of the movement 27N, and a pledge by regime officials to dialogue in good faith that they immediately reneged on and began publicly demonizing protesters in the official media.

Hundreds of artists and intellectuals gather outside Ministry of Culture on Nov 27th

Level of surveillance and harassment against Luis Manuel and other members of the San Isidro Movement grew exponentially after the events of November 27, 2020. On December 15, 2020 Amnesty International released  a statement titled "Cuba: San Isidro movement and allies under frightening levels of surveillance," and raised the alarm of how they were being treated. “The disturbing level of restrictions to which activists and independent journalists are now being subjected is like something out of an Orwell novel set in Havana’s palm-lined streets. The police presence outside their homes, and constant threat of arrest, is so relentless that activists are essentially being imprisoned in their own homes,” said Erika Guevara-Rosas, Americas director at Amnesty International.

 In spite of the surveillance and harassment Maykel Osorbo, El Funky, and Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara were able to collaborate on a song and video with other artists that would place the Castro regime on the defensive.

Artists from the San Isidro Movement in the music video Patria y Vida.

Cuban artists both in the diaspora and on the island: Yotuel Romero, Gente de Zona, Descemer Bueno, Maykel Osorbo, El Funky, and Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara, collaborated in the song and video Homeland and Life (Patria y Vida) that challenges the regime's propaganda narrative. On February 16, 2021 the video was premiered live with Yotuel Romero, Gente de Zona, Descemer Bueno on Youtube, and Maykel Osorbo briefly speaking live from Cuba before the secret police cut him off.

The Albert Einstein Institution, a center for research on nonviolence, would identify this as an "Act of commission", "that is, people may perform acts that they do not usually perform, are not expected by custom to perform, or are forbidden to perform." 

Above is the music video Patria y Vida (Homeland and Life) that is not only a non-violent creative act, but contains a message that rejects violence and death in favor of life, understanding and treating each other with humanity.

Luis Manuel  on the garrote demonstrating vulnerability of dissidents

Regime responded with escalating acts of random violence against San Isidro members. On April 16, 2021 over Facebook, Luis Manuel Otero Alcantara, one of the leaders of the San Isidro Movement announced a performance to dramatize the vulnerability of dissidents on the island. Luis Manuel explained the dramatic protest he was undertaking.

"From today I will be for 8 h daily for 5 days, sitting in a Garrote, days when I remain besieged by the DSE (State Security), I call on the authorities to turn this lathe and execute me publicly. Today Cuban activists and opponents live more vulnerable than ever, every day we are more exposed, and that vulnerability is coming from a dictatorship that is 62 years old. That 62-year-old dictatorship that copies the most repressive models of many dictatorships and security and repression organs like Russia, and those of the world.

This work is the result of a series of videos where we denounce the arbitrary way in which activists and opponents in Cuba are accused. From Law 88 that can sentence you to up to 20 years in jail, coming with the black spring, to the charge of contempt, a crime for which Denis Solis is now in prison, and Luis Robles is also in prison for expressing himself .. The law against insulting patriotic symbols is another one of those laws that criminalize free speech, crimes made up by State security. This performance is based on the garrote technique of killing activists or criminals in dictatorships like Franco's and in the Spanish Colonies. It is a wake-up call to what this dictatorship is capable of doing. Imagine if Luis Robles was handed down a six years prison sentence for expressing himself with a sign, what can happen to an activist who actually succeeds in having millions of followers for Cuban Freedom?"

The political police arrived that same day and took him away then returned to seize and steal or destroy his artwork located there at his home and studio. It was captured on video by a neighbor. 

"Following his release, [Luis Manuel] had planned to protest the repeated persecution he and other independent artists have faced in recent months at the parliament building in Havana, but officials blocked his movements, reportedly throwing him in jail every time he attempted to leave his apartment. Authorities have reportedly cut off his internet access, and police have surrounded his apartment, preventing anyone from entering. On Sunday [April 25, 2021], Otero Alcántara announced his hunger and thirst strike, intended as an act of protest against the seizure of his works and the ongoing persecution of artists," reported PEN America on April 26, 2021. They are arbitrarily detaining activists, like rapper and poet AfrikReina for trying to visit him at his home.

'This is not a performance or a work of art, it is demanding rights' in a protest that is life threatening to Luis Manuel. Havana Times on April 28, 2021 also outlined the circumstances that led to the hunger and thirst strike, and listed the demands of the San Isidro Movement for it to end.

1- Lift the police cordon on Luis Manuel Otero Alcantara in force since November 2020, and get rid of the state of siege as a practice to stop the free movement of artists, journalists and activists.

2- Return the art works that were stolen from Luis Manuel Otero Alcantara and compensate him for any damages that they’ve incurred.

3- Respect for Cuban artists and them exercising their freedoms fully.

He and the San Isidro Movement have demonstrated that they know what they are doing with great courage and creativity.

Non-violence educator Michael Nagler in the second lecture of his 2006 course for Peace and Conflict Studies 164A: Intro to Nonviolence offered a great analysis of fasts and hunger strikes beginning at 46 minutes 38 seconds, and is highly recommended for a deeper understanding of  this radical and dangerous type of protest. In the video Nagler offers a word of caution: "Nonviolence is not a feel good operation its very scientific you have to know when to do what."

Nagler's Five rules for Fasting: Persuasion vs. Coercion 

1. Have to be the right person for the job. Not to be used by just anybody.
2. Right audience. (You should only fast against someone who cares about your well being.)
3. Doable demand
4. Last Resort
5. Consistent with the rest of your life

In the third lecture of his peace and conflict studies course "164A: Intro to Nonviolence" Nagler describes fasting unto the death within nonviolence:

What you’re saying to a person - remember, we’re trying to make two distinctions here when we talk about fasting within satyagraha. One, it’s not a case of suicide. You’re not killing yourself, you are risking death. And what you’re doing is actually putting your life in the other person’s hands. 

So in a way, it’s an act of extreme intimacy. It’s an act of love, in the non-modern sense of the word. You’re actually putting your life in that person’s hands. You are not killing yourself, but you’re saying to the person, “Your behavior is so unacceptable that if you continue it, it’s going to kill me.” So this is simply an extreme case of taking on the suffering that’s in the situation. We’re going to get back to that principle at some point. I’m sure it will come up very soon. The other distinction we need to make is this is different from a threat because what you’re saying to the person is, “I am going to exhibit to you, I’m going to mirror back to you the ultimate consequences of what you’re doing.” 

So you’re not saying, “If you don’t do what I want, I’m going to die and then you’ll be sorry.” It’s not quite like that. It’s like this is an act of truth. You’re killing us. You’re killing us. You’re killing our people and I’m going to show you that you’re doing to wake up your conscious. And once you realize what you’re doing, you’ll make your choice whether to continue doing it or not. So that’s why you have to be carrying on this conversation. And incidentally, nonviolent actions can be thought of as conversation on a nonverbal level with someone who’s not listening to you verbally anymore.

There are no guarantees in nonviolent resistance, as there are not in violent resistance, but in studying the terrain and observing the strategy and tactics carried out one can gain an idea of what the likelihood is of success. 

There is a danger in a hunger strike of a yogic death. This is when the protester has been engaging in meditation and withdrawing consciousness from the body that eventually leads to a loss of the fear of death. These actions are not for the timid, but for the brave, especially when confronting the dictatorship in Cuba. They are extreme, but the situation on the island is extreme and literally a "do or die" situation.

Michael N. Nagler's book, "The Nonviolence Handbook: A Guide for Practical Action" has a passage that should be a familiar description to pro-democracy activists with regards to the struggles now taking place in Cuba:

"Conflicts escalate when they are not resolved, and if they are left untended they can rapidly get out of control." From the nonviolence point of view, the intensity of a conflict is not necessarily a question of how many guns or how many people are involved (the same metric would work for a quarrel between lovers as between nations); it is primarily about how far dehumanization has proceeded. If someone no longer listens to you, is calling you names or is labeling you, it’s probably too late for petitions. In terms of knowing how to respond, we can conveniently think of this escalation in three stages that call for distinct sets of responses. Let’s call these three stages Conflict Resolution, Satyagraha (active nonviolent resistance), and—hopefully this is rare, but it helps to know it exists—Ultimate Sacrifice (see Figure)."

In Cuba the regime in power call opponents: worms, mercenaries, and fascists. The Cuban government does not only not recognize the opposition, but it is also illegal under the constitution along with independent media, human rights organizations, and civil society in practice. It is a totalitarian dictatorship with few non-formal spaces for dissent.