No News of Political Prisoners Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara, Maykel Castillo, Sissi Abascal or Sayli Navarro

The PEN Club of Cuban Writers in Exile calls for the “immediate release” of the poet María Cristina Garrido, imprisoned in El Guatao 14ymedio, Madrid, 6 February 2025 — The Pen Club of Cuban Writers in Exile, a subsidiary of the international organization that works for freedom of expression and protects persecuted authors, has demanded … Continue reading “No News of Political Prisoners Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara, Maykel Castillo, Sissi Abascal or Sayli Navarro”

Cubalex’s Assessment of the Sentences Imposed Upon Luis Manuel Otero and Maykel Castillo / Cubalex

Cubalex, Giselle Camila Morfi, 24 June 2022 — The crimes of disrespecting national symbols, contempt, defamation of institutions and organizations, and heroes and martyrs, are not compatible with international human rights standards. These crimes are an assault on the freedom of expression recognized in Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant … Continue reading “Cubalex’s Assessment of the Sentences Imposed Upon Luis Manuel Otero and Maykel Castillo / Cubalex”

Otero Alcantara and Maykel Castillo ‘Osorbo’ Sentenced to Five and Nine Years in Prison

14ymedio, Havana, 24 June 2022 — There is now a sentence in the trial against the artists Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara and Maykel Castillo Osorbo, held on May 30 and 31 in Havana. In a statement made public this Friday by the Attorney General’s Office, the People’s Municipal Court of Central Havana reported that the sentence for Alcántara is … Continue reading “Otero Alcantara and Maykel Castillo ‘Osorbo’ Sentenced to Five and Nine Years in Prison”

Maykel Castillo Was Able to Speak From Prison After Eight Days Incommunicado

14ymedio, Luz Escobar, Havana, 14 June 2021 — After eight days in solitary confinement, rapper Maykel Castillo, known as Osorbo, was able to speak this weekend with his colleague Eliexer Márquez Duany, who is called El Funky. Osorbo is imprisoned in the Cinco y Medio prison in Pinar del Río, awaiting trial for the alleged crimes of “attack,” “public disorder” … Continue reading “Maykel Castillo Was Able to Speak From Prison After Eight Days Incommunicado”

Artists Otero Alcantara and Maykel Castillo Denounce a Police Beating

14ymedio, Havana, 12 June 2020 — The artist Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara and the rapper Maykel Castillo were released around seven in the morning on Friday after spending all night in police custody, according to reports on social networks. Alcántara and Castillo were beaten by the police while handcuffed in an official vehicle, and they … Continue reading “Artists Otero Alcantara and Maykel Castillo Denounce a Police Beating”

Update and Legal Analysis on the Case of Jailed Rapper Maykel ‘Osorbo’ Castillo / Cubalex

Cubalex, 3 June 2021 — On May 18 Maykel Castillo was arrested while he was at his house having lunch. They took him away without a shirt or shoes, and for 13 days he was in “forced disappearance.” The people close to him who went to ask about him at the police station were denied … Continue reading “Update and Legal Analysis on the Case of Jailed Rapper Maykel ‘Osorbo’ Castillo / Cubalex”

Rapper Maykel ‘Osorbo’ Is on Hunger Strike Amid Possible Transfer to a Prison in Eastern Cuba

The political prisoner has been in solitary confinement for five days, says Anamely Ramos. 14ymedio, Madrid, 24 June 2025 — Rapper Maykel Castillo ‘Osorbo’ has been on a hunger strike for five days and is isolated in a punishment cell at the Kilo 5.5 Provincial Prison in Pinar del Río, according to curator Anamelys Ramos. … Continue reading “Rapper Maykel ‘Osorbo’ Is on Hunger Strike Amid Possible Transfer to a Prison in Eastern Cuba”

Cuban Rapper Maykel ‘Osorbo’ Has Spent Four Days in a Punishment Cell

The artist had a dispute with a State Security agent last Thursday and lost the right to a visit. 14ymedio, Madrid, 28 April 2025 — Maykel Castillo ‘Osorbo’ has been in a punishment cell at Kilo 5.5 in Pinar del Río Provincial Prison for four days today. Curator Anamelys Ramos announced the news on Saturday … Continue reading “Cuban Rapper Maykel ‘Osorbo’ Has Spent Four Days in a Punishment Cell”

Cuban Activist Maykel Osorbo Sews His Mouth Shut in Protest of Mistreatment in Jail

EFE/14ymedio, Havana, 18 July 2023 — Cuban artist and dissident, Maykel Castillo aka Osorbo, sentenced to nine years in prison, sewed his mouth last week as a sign of protest against his mistreatment in prison, according to statements made to EFE on Tuesday by sources close to the opponent. The coauthor of Patria y Vida … Continue reading “Cuban Activist Maykel Osorbo Sews His Mouth Shut in Protest of Mistreatment in Jail”

Cuban Activist Maykel Osorbo Threatens to Sew His Mouth Shut Because of Ill-Treatment in Prison

14ymedio, Havana, July 13, 2023 — Cuban activist Anamely Ramos, now in exile in the US, reported this Wednesday on her Facebook profile that rapper Maykel Castillo Osorbo tattooed the slogan “Patria y Vida” on his forearm and that he threatened to sew up his mouth, as a gesture of protest against the mistreatment suffered in the Kilo … Continue reading “Cuban Activist Maykel Osorbo Threatens to Sew His Mouth Shut Because of Ill-Treatment in Prison”

Amnesty International Demands the ‘Immediate’ Release of Otero Alcantara and Maykel ‘Osorbo’

EFE (via 14ymedio), Mexico City, 23 June 2023 —  Amnesty International (AI) said Thursday that the Cuban authorities must release the artists Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara and Maykel “Osorbo” Castillo Pérez “immediately and unconditionally.” It is now one year since they were unjustly sentenced to five and nine years in prison, respectively, in a legal process … Continue reading “Amnesty International Demands the ‘Immediate’ Release of Otero Alcantara and Maykel ‘Osorbo’”

From Jail, Rapper Maykel ‘Osorbo’ Suggests He is Willing to Leave Cuba

14ymedio, Havana, 30 August 2022 — “If a door were opened for me right now, where I could go into exile, brother, I’d go, do you understand?” The words of Maykel Castillo Osorbo, in a telephone conversation from prison with Armando Labrador, owner of the Cántalo TV YouTube channel, suggest that the artist is willing to … Continue reading “From Jail, Rapper Maykel ‘Osorbo’ Suggests He is Willing to Leave Cuba”

Young Daughter of Cuban Rapper Maykel Osorbos Asks the Summit to Help ‘Free Him’

EFE/14ymedio, Los Angeles/Havana | 9 Junio 2022 — The six-year-old daughter of rapper Maykel Castillo Osorbo, one of the creators of the song Patria y Vida, imprisoned for more than a year in Cuba, asked the leaders participating in the IX Summit of the Americas for help to “free” him. “Gentlemen of the Summit, I am writing to … Continue reading “Young Daughter of Cuban Rapper Maykel Osorbos Asks the Summit to Help ‘Free Him’”

Cuba: Saily González is Freed After Covering Up the “Free Maykel and Luis Manuel” Slogan on Her T-Shirt

14ymedio, Havana, 1 June 2022 — Saily González Velázquez was freed on Tuesday night, after spending several hours in the custody of State Security, which detained her as she marched down a Santa Clara street demanding freedom for Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara and Maykel Castillo Osorbo. They told several family members who were waiting for her at the door of the … Continue reading “Cuba: Saily González is Freed After Covering Up the “Free Maykel and Luis Manuel” Slogan on Her T-Shirt”

Cuban Rapper Maykel Osorbo Distrusts Prison Doctors to Cure His Illness

14ymedio, Luz Escobar, Havana, November 18, 2021–Cuban activist and art curator Anamely Ramos on Wednesday denounced from Miami that the contrarian rapper, Maykel Castillo Osorbo is at risk in jail, where he has been held in isolation for six months. Maykel Castillo “is sick”, denounced Ramos on her Facebook page, telling how after his six-day hunger and … Continue reading “Cuban Rapper Maykel Osorbo Distrusts Prison Doctors to Cure His Illness”