Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara was imprisoned on charges of contempt and insult to national symbols when widespread protests swept the nation in 2021

Open letter also says that the regime is ‘using art to salvage its public image’

Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara was sentenced to five years in prison in June

After more than a year in prison, Otero Alcántara was convicted of “insulting national symbols”

The letter, signed by more than 300 well-known figures in the arts, adds pressure to calls for the Cuban government to let artists live and work freely

The artist will face a summary trial in ten days while activists say the arrest amounts to "state terrorism"

As the cultural event gets under way, a Cuban-American artist is also blocked from entering Cuba