Cuba’s Crackdown—622 Religious Freedom Violations in 2023

cuba's crackdown

CUBA’S CRACKDOWN. 3 years after Cubans took to the streets in protests, Cuba keeps cracking down on religious freedom. The 622 violations in 2023 almost matched the 657 in 2022, the first full year after the protests. During the July 2021 protests, 1000’s expressed frustration with shortages of basics like food & medicine.

Cuba’s crackdown has targeted religious groups and leaders with surveillance, interrogation and threats. Those seeking to remedy the food and medicine shortages with humanitarian aid faced extra repression. CSW says they “were harassed, fined, and, in many cases, saw the aid they were attempting to distribute confiscated.”

Moreover, Cuba pressured churches to expel relatives of political prisoners from their congregations. And Cuban political prisoners increased fivefold in 2021. For others, its policies of social isolation and arbitrary detention led to a migration wave from the island.

Like Belize & other nations, Cuba requires that churches register with the government to operate legally. But if the government ignores their applications, they risk closure or fines if they continue to operate. And once they register, they still face surveillance and even infiltration by government agents.

The US State Department lists Cuba as a “country of particular concern” for religious freedom. This rogues’ gallery includes notorious offenders like China, Iran and North Korea. Like China and North Korea, Cuba is communist. And true to communist ideology, they tolerate no other God but the state.

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Photo by Harry Shelton on Unsplash