Pastor Alain Toledano Valiente is a church leader who has experienced over 15 years of intimidation and abuse from the Cuban authorities. 

Speaking to Catholic Solidarity Worldwide, he said that his church and home had been destroyed twice, he has been charged with the crime of ‘disobedience’ for holding church events, and been banned indefinitely from leaving the country. “They want me to stop being a pastor”, he added.  

Cuban authorities are trying to monitor society and filter out religious elements. Children from faith communities are frequently harassed. Last December, a 12-year-old Jewish boy, Liusdan, was forbidden from entering his school while wearing the kippah (skullcap). In another case, a pastoral couple chose to home-school their children rather than send them to state-run schools, because their children were experiencing severe bullying at school. As a result, the father and the mother are serving their sentences in a maximum-security prison, CSW wrote.

Activists who criticise the regime are also risking their freedom. Anyone who documents the human rights violations committed by the regime automatically becomes a target. Ricardo Fernandez Izaguirre is a religious freedom defender who found himself in the crosshairs after speaking up for freedom of religion or belief for all. In July last year, he was taken off the street after leaving the headquarters of the ‘Ladies in White,’ a peaceful protest group. He was held for a week, and for four of those days, he was denied any form of communication with the outside world.

Churches are not exempt from political pressure. According to CSW, in 2016, Maranatha First Baptist Church had been informed that the government was going to confiscate their church building. Thanks to a massive campaign of protest and information, the authorities backed down; however, they continue to obstruct the church’s attempts to construct a new building.

Christian journalist harassed by Cuban domestic intelligence

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