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POLICE NOW TARGETING RELIGIOUS LEADERS IN CUBA
Independent media confirmed the arrests of at least 5,000 people since protests against communism erupted in Cuba on Sunday, a total including those known to be under investigation but not the disappeared.
The human rights group Cuban Prisoners DefendersĀ submittedĀ a list of 162 people to the United Nations on Wednesday suspected of being the victims of forced disappearances, meaning their families have reported them missing, but police have not confirmed their arrest. Cuban police regularly detain individuals perceived to be opposed to the Communist Party for participating in peaceful protests, practicing journalism, or being involved with religious groups not controlled by the Party. The Cuban Observatory for Human Rights, a non-governmental organization,Ā revealedĀ in a report published this month that Cuba has enacted over 30,000 arbitrary arrests against perceived dissidents in the last five years.
Protests erupted in Cuba on Sunday calling for an end to the communist regime. The protests attracted thousands of people in nearly every major city in the country ā spanning the entire island ā and prompted Cuban police to respond by opening fire on protesters, beating them publicly, using attack dogs to maul them, and otherwise violently repressing them. President Miguel DĆaz-Canel, who represents the public face of the Castro family regime, alsoĀ calledĀ on civilians to violently attack protesters on the streets in an āorder of combatā issued late Sunday.
The Cuban independent news outletĀ 14 y MedioĀ reported on Wednesday that it could confirm, citing civil society organizations, āover 5,000 people imprisoned or under investigationā as a direct result of Sundayās protests, among them a disproportionate number of journalists and pro-democracy activists. It noted that the regimeās internet shutdown made it much more difficult to communicate across the island, so there are likely a high number of others who participated in protests but remain incommunicado or whose relatives have not been able to reach journalists to report them missing.
Cuban citizens throughout the country have also expressed concerns over the potential deaths of their loved ones. Reports on social media suggest that hospitals are not allowing family members to visit patients in the hospital recovering from bullet wounds, leaving unclear their health status. The communist regime admitted to one death during the protests on Wednesday, a manĀ identifiedĀ asĀ Diubis Laurencio Tejeda. Authorities did not reveal a cause of death in his case. The statement in which the Ministry of Interior revealed the death also accused protesters of attempting to attack a police station.
In addition to targeting journalists and members of known civil society groups, Cuban regime agents have assaulted and detained religious leaders. The most prominent case so far of such an assault occurred in CamagĆ¼ey where FatherĀ Castor JosĆ© Ćlvarez Devesa, a Catholic priest who had prominently criticized the regime, received a public beating before going missing for nearly 24 hours. ĆlvarezĀ resurfacedĀ late Monday after an international campaign demanding to know his whereabouts.
The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) documented several other targeted attacks on religious leaders on the island in a statement on Tuesday.
āThoseĀ reportedĀ as detained include Yeremi Blanco and Yarian Sierra, two pastors from the Berean Baptist Mission in Matanza and Reverend Yusniel PĆ©rez Montejo of the Eastern Baptist Convention,ā USCIRF noted.
āCuban authorities are detaining religious leaders merely for peacefully protesting and calling for greater respect for human rights,ā USCIRF CommissionerĀ James W. CarrĀ saidĀ in a statement. āPrincipal among human rights concerns in Cuba are the ongoing and systematic violations of religious freedom, which include the persistent intimidation and harassment of religious leaders.ā
The Global Liberty Alliance, a group that does extensive legal work to protect the faithful on the island, also shared reports on Tuesday that members of theĀ Association of Free Yorubas of Cuba, orĀ Free Yorubas, also went missing during the protests. The Yoruba are a Nigerian ethnic group; Cuban Yorubas are practitioners of a hybrid Cuban religion that blends Yoruba paganism with Spanish Catholicism known commonly asĀ santerĆa.Ā The Cuban regime heavily regulatesĀ santerĆaĀ and persecutes those who practice it outside of the auspices of Party-approved priests.
The Global Liberty Alliance denounced on Tuesday that members of the Free Yorubas reported and outsized police presence outside of the residences of some of the most prominent members.
As of Wednesday, the Global Liberty Alliance alsoĀ reportedĀ the disappearance of a Methodist pastor, Carlos RaĆŗl MacĆas LĆ³pez, and his family.
While Christians on the island face significant persecution, the Vatican has not yet issued any substantive statement on the protests or the state violence in response to them as of Wednesday. Pope Francis has visited Cuba with the blessing of the Communist Party, receiving praise from Fidel Castro. Most Christians remaining in Cuba identify as Catholic. . . .
How are you praying for Cuba? Let us know in the comments below!
(Excerpt from Breitbart. Article written by Frances Martel. Photo by Istock)
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God Almighty,I ask You to empower the people of Cuba with inner strength through Your Spirit. Unleash Your Holy Spirit in the land of Cuba. In Jesus name, amen
I’m praying Psalm 7:9 for Cuba.
Dear Lord God and Father, You have not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love, and of a sound mind. Let these dear brothers and sisters, and many like them around the world – including us – not shrink back, but be strong and very courageous, for You are with us wherever we go.
As I read this today, my heart hears the Lord say, ‘The birth pains are beginning and have even now begun across the globe.’Father, make ready the Bride. We cry out for our brothers and sisters in Cuba, let them know Your nearness and be bold witnesses for You. Help them to fix their eyes on Jesus.