WELCOMING ARTIST WHO COURAGEOUSLY STOOD AGAINST CUBAN REGIME'S OPPRESSION

WASHINGTON, July 18 -- The U.S. Department of State issued the following transcript of remarks by the U.S. Secretary of State:

Press Statement

Marco Rubio, Secretary of State

July 18, 2026

Luis Manuel Otero Alcantara, a courageous Cuban artist and leader of the San Isidro Movement arrived in the United States after years of unjust imprisonment by the illegitimate Cuban regime. Otero Alcantara's only "crime" was refusing to stay silent and using his art to demand the basic freedoms everyday Cubans have been denied for almost seven decades.

The San Isidro Movement, which he helped build, was a beacon of hope for a generation of Cubans who refused to live under tyranny. The regime's fear of everyday Cubans speaking the truth of living und...