Jailed Cuban Dissident Leader Wins Annual Human Rights Award

The Facts

• The Norway-based Rafto Foundation for human rights announced on Thursday that its annual prize has been awarded to the imprisoned Cuban activist Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara for his "fearless opposition to authoritarianism through art."

• The 36-year-old artist is a prominent member of the San Isidro Movement, an artists collective established in 2018 to protest a decree requiring artists to obtain advance permissions for performances and that was behind protests in 2021.

• Created in 1987 and named after Norwegian human rights activist Thorolf Rafto, the prize honors non-violent human rights and democracy champions. Four past laureates later won the Nobel Peace Prize.