The facade of Terminal 3 at Jose Marti International Airport in Havana is shown on Saturday. Cuban artist and dissident Luis Manuel Otero Alcantara departed for the United States after being granted humanitarian parole following a five-year prison sentence on the island, Photo by Ernesto Mastrascusa/EPA
July 20 (UPI) -- Cuban artist and dissident Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara said he cannot return home after arriving in exile in the United States this weekend.
Meanwhile, Secretary of State Marco Rubio renewed his call Monday for the Cuban government to release more than 700 political prisoners amid rising tensions between Washington and Havana.
Otero Alcántara, 38, arrived in Miami on Saturday after spending five years imprisoned in Cuba on charges of desecrating national symbols, contempt and public disorder.
His arrival was confirmed by Rubio, who said the artist had been imprisoned for challenging the Cuban government.
