Michael Castillo Perez (El Osorbo)A Cuban rapper who helped write the 2021 Latin Grammys and is currently a government political prisoner has spent two years in prison in silence, according to his relatives.
Castillo, one of the most recognized faces of the resistance on the island, was part of the hundreds. The Cuban government has been held hostage since widespread protests July 2021.
In a message posted on Facebook last week, friends and relatives of the artist indicated that Osorbo wanted to put her lips back together, as she did years ago against censorship by the Havana regime.
Castillo’s relatives told Marty Noticias that the artist sewed her lips together.
“She had pain in her lips, pain in her mouth, and spoke strangely as if she could not speak. I don’t know how it will be from now on,” said the relative.
Univision News could not independently confirm this fact, and it is unclear how he did it from inside a cell. The Cuban government maintains a strict silence about its political prisoners and does not report on their situation or condition.
This is not the first time Osorbo has been sewn shut as a form of protest. He previously did in August 2020 His continued targeting by the Castro regime’s repression is to be condemned.
“Patria y vida”, the song that led to Maykel Osorbo’s arrest
In 2021, “Patria y vida” won the Latin Grammy Award for Song of the Year and Best Urban Song. In it, its authors Descemer Bueno, El Funky, Gente de Zona, Yadam González, Beatriz Luengo, Yotuel and Maykel Osorbo They dared to express their disagreement with the Cuban government.
His video has amassed over 13 million views on YouTube since its release.
It was the soundtrack of the protests in Cuba: thus was born ‘Patria y Vida, the Power of Music’.
Arrest of Maykel Osorbo and other artists
Rappers Miguel Osorbo, Luis Manuel Otero Alcantara and El Fungi have been protesting against the Cuban government since 2018. The only participants in the song “Patria y Vida” were in Cuban territory.
Osorbo was arrested in May 2021, and a month later he was sentenced to 9 years in prison for contempt and assault.
The court found that used “Digitally Manipulated Fake Images Posted on Social Media” “With the manifest intention of outraging the honor and dignity of the highest officers of the country.” He was also accused of carrying out “violent acts” against two police officers who were arrested on April 4, “one of whom they beat and frustrated”. 2021.
Otero Alcántara was another artist arrested and sentenced to 5 years in prison As the author of offenses like insulting national symbols, contempt and public disorder
Both were leaders of the insurgent San Ysidro Movement, a group of artists and intellectuals who were part of the Cuban resistance.
US urges release of political prisoners
The US government has repeatedly called for the release of artists and protesters detained for the July 11 protests.
Just last week, Secretary of State Anthony Blinken marked the second anniversary of the protests Calling for the “immediate release of unjustly detained political prisoners” like Osorbo.
“The world will not forget those who bravely spoke out in the face of extreme repression, including the more than 700 people in Cuban prisons who have been sentenced to up to 25 years in prison for exercising their freedom of expression and peaceful assembly. . ”, he added in a statement.
