The artist is being held at the Villa Marista State Security detention center
14ymedio, Havana, 10 January 2025 — This Thursday, the international organization Article 19 demanded the release of rapper Fernando Almenares Rivera, known as Nando OBDC, who was arrested last December 31 at his home in the Havana municipality of La Lisa. The artist, who is being held at the Villa Marista State Security detention center in the Cuban capital, is charged with “terrorism.” On the day of his arrest “there was no opportunity to document or take photographs of the event,” the Arts and Humanities project Fuego contra Fuego [Fire against Fire] said on Facebook, pointing out at the time that the “arrest was arbitrary,” since “it was carried out without a summons or judicial hearing.”
Since his capture, a week passed without his family being able to see or hear from him. His mother, Eva Rivera, was able to visit him last Tuesday. According to Martí Noticias, during the visit, the official in charge of the case told his mother that her son was being linked “to a fire that occurred in Lenin Park on December 30 and that is why he was being detained,” explained Adriana María Machado, the artist’s wife.
Since his arrest, a week passed without his family being able to see or hear from him. His mother, Eva Rivera, was able to visit him last Tuesday
“Initially they were accusing him of having links with people who wanted to carry out acts of terrorism against the Cuban state, and they (the authorities) were still sort of fabricating the charges,” Machado added. In the face of the accusations, “he maintains his innocence,” Machado told ADN Cuba.
Days before the visit, on January 3, agents of the regime searched the rapper’s home. According to the same source, they were looking for a computer or USB memory stick, but they also took photos of the paintings in the house and “they took a Cuban flag that he had.”
“Nando OBDC is a musician and visual artist with a long trajectory in the Cuban underground, which is commensurate with the intensity of the harassment by the political police,” noted the Observatory for Cultural Rights a day after his arrest.
The 35-year-old artist recently coordinated in Miami a group exhibition called Forbidden Art: From Cuba
The 35-year-old artist recently coordinated a group exhibition in Miami called Forbidden Art: From Cuba. According to the press release, the show featured artists’ work “from Cuba’s vibrant yet restricted art scene.” The invitation to the opening on December 7 even asked for donations such as food or medical supplies for political prisoners on the island. In recent years, the rapper has also collaborated with artists such as Marichal, Maykel Castillo Osorbo, David D Omni and Navy Pro, among others.
That profile has put him in the crosshairs of authorities for some time. In November 2021, Almenares Rivera was summoned to the Seventh Station of the National Revolutionary Police for his publications on social networks. The Navy Pro musician said at the time that, a month earlier, the artist had already been taken “to this same police station where he was threatened with Decree Law 35, and based on it, the officers told the artist that he could be prosecuted for making publications showing the faces of government agents.”
“’We’re going to watch you,’ ’you’re going to have to move from La Lisa,’ were some of the attacks Nando received from the officers, who also suggested putting him in a cell to beat him,” added Navy Pro.
Translated by LAR
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