India, July 19 -- Cuba's most prominent dissident, Luis Manuel Otero Alcantara, arrived in Miami on Saturday after he was released from a five-year prison sentence on the condition that he permanently leave his homeland, ending a saga that made him the highest-profile political prisoner in Cuba since the historic 2021 protests.

Otero Alcantara, 38, was greeted at Miami International Airport by a crowd that cheered, sang and held up phones to photograph him, draping him in a Cuban flag printed with the words "Patria y Vida," "Homeland and Life," the title of a Grammy-winning protest anthem he helped create.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed his arrival Saturday and used the moment to press Havana further, calling on the Cuban g...