He was born in Havana on June 4th, 1932 and died on january 3th, 2008. Son of the journalist Lisandro Otero Masdeu. He studied elementary and high school in his hometown. He was pupil of the School of Journalism and of the Philosophy and Letters of the University of Havana. He also studied in Le Sorbonne. He took part in the underground struggle against Fulgencio Batista´s dictatorship. After the Triumph of the Revolution he was appointed general director of Havana Municipality (1959). He was Chief Editor of Revolución newspaper (1960-1961). He took part in the Conference for National Sovereignty, Economical Emancipation and Peace, held in Mexico in 1961.
He was Secretary of the National Association of Writers and Artists of Cuba (UNEAC) (1961-1963), elected for it on its First Congress (1961), and director of Cuba magazine (1963-1968). Novel Award in the 1963 Casa de las Américas Contest by La situación. In 1965 he wom Mention in the Biblioteca Breve Contest from Seix Barral Publishing House, Barcelona, with his novel Pasión de Urbino.
In 1966 he was elected Vice President of the National Council of Culture. From 1967 to 1968 he directed Revolución y Cultura, its official organ. In 1967 he attended the Second Latin American Congress of Writeres, held in Mexico. Besides he visited, United States of America England, Spain, Italy, Denmark, Sweeden, Belgium, Hollanda, Federal Republic of Germany, Switzerland, the former Soviet Union, Hungary, Poland.
He was cultural adviser of the Embassy of Cuba to Chile and Great Britain. He colaborated in Bohemia, Carteles, Granma, Juventud Rebelde, El Mundo, Casa de las Américas, Unión, La Gaceta de Cuba, from Cuba and in Partisans and Europe, both from France. Author of the script of the muisical comedy El solar, filmed and staged as a ballet.
His works have been translated to German, Italian, French, English, Russian, Rumanian, Bulgarian, Hungarian, Czech.