The artist is one of the interpreters of Patria y vida, which is nominated in two categories at the Latin Grammys.
“Maykel’s life is in danger in jail.” Thus begins the text of the statement that was published this Wednesday on the Instagram account of Cuban rapper Maykel Castillo, known in the artistic world as Maykel Osorbo.
Since last May, Osorbo has been in the Kilo Cinco prison in Pinar del Río, Cuba. According to the artist, he was arrested for “a song that inspired a people.”
The rapper interprets Homeland and life along with Yotuel Romero, Descemer Bueno, Alexander Delgado and Randy Malcom, who form the duo Gente de Zona, and Eliécer Márquez Duany. The song became an anthem in the protests that took place in Cuba in July of this year. The song is nominated in two categories, song of the year and best urban song, for the 22nd edition of the Latin Grammy.
In the letter, the singer’s partner, Anamely Ramos, indicates that Osorbo “is sick.” “After his last hunger and thirst strike for six days, being held incommunicado for more than two weeks, spending at least four days in a punishment cell; Maykel called to say that he had been taken to the doctor to see the lymph nodes.
And he continues: “We waited several days before publishing because we were all in function of the march called for the 15th and I needed to hear the details in Maykel’s voice. Two days ago I managed to speak to him. I thank the prisoners and their families who have not stopped calling to inform and Carolina Barrero who has been their main interlocutor within Cuba in recent weeks.
Ramos details that “Maykel is full of balls under the armpits, near the clavicle, behind the arm. He has been vomiting, fever, sweating and very tired ”.
He also explains that “they did a biopsy (baff), given what appears to be a serious failure of the lymphatic system, but that test is not conclusive and Maykel already told me that he is not going to let them do any invasive medical procedure.”
Ramos affirms that they do not trust anything they can do to their partner while in prison: neither in diagnoses, nor in treatments. “If he is like this, it is precisely because of his unjust imprisonment and the mistreatment to which he has been subjected long before he was in prison,” he says.
According to Ramos, “Maykel has committed more than 120 acts of police violence in just over a year. Maykel suffered a year and a half in prison for opposing Decree 349. Maykel belongs to that sector of the Cuban people persistently rejected ”.
“The deep injustice that the dictatorship means includes this deep asymmetry where these people are the ones who always pay the highest price for being free,” he adds.
And he concludes by stating that he has “said many times that what he would like the most is not to have to live in a country where the Homeland has to support itself from our bodies. That’s not fair. The most important thing, always, is human life. From the immense concern that has invaded me for a week, I demand that the Cuban State release Maykel Castillo Pérez ”. (I)
Paul is a talented author and journalist with a passion for entertainment and general news. He currently works as a writer at the 247 News Agency, where he has established herself as a respected voice in the industry.
