Cuban artist’s new exhibit portrays path to freedom

FORT MYERS, Fla.- A man who survived a dangerous and harrowing ordeal in pursuit of freedom will be showing his artwork in Southwest Florida.

Antonio Guerrero fled Cuba on a homemade raft in 1992. His artwork shows his feelings about escaping communism.

People like Guerrero often serve a stunning reminder of those who have been oppressed, and deeply cherish the freedom this country provides.

Through his paintings, Guerrero tries to share what he went through, to get here.

He remembers how he felt, growing up near Havana; his art reflects his life.

“Sad, very sad. You don’t have freedom to do things.”

He was forced to join the Cuban army at 18 years old and served in Africa. That showed him, cultures, more open and interesting than Castro’s Cuba.

“When I come back, I was completely out of my mind. I was like, this place is not for me.”

What he did, was build a raft. Three inner tubes, a slab of wood, a small sail, and two paddles. Antonio, a friend, and a cousin, fled Cuba in the spring of 1992.

“We just decide to die trying, or stay here forever and do nothing!”

They spent four and a half days at sea, with a large shark swimming nearby.

“You don’t know if you are going to make it,” said Guerrero. “It was a scary time, but deep inside of us, we know, we are going to do it.”

Finally, a plane spotted the raft, and the U.S. Coast Guard picked up the three refugees.

Now, Guerrero is a U.S. citizen, and uses art to touch others.

“It’s pretty much about immigration, escape, pain, and for freedom.”

Guerrero accepts the efforts to normalize relations between the United States and Cuba, but warns “everything in Cuba is best for the government always, not for the people.”

The Guerrero exhibit opens Friday evening at Davis Art Center in Fort Myers, and runs through the first week of April.