He Ministry of Foreign Affairs The United States has placed a group of nations, including Cuba and Nicaragua, on a list of “Countries of particular concern because they have committed or tolerated particularly serious violations of religious freedom“said a statement from the Foreign Minister last Thursday, January 4th Antony J. Blinken.
Countries identified by the government agency in this section of the list also include Burma, the People's Republic of China, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), Eritrea, Iran, Pakistan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan.
Although the main reasons that led to the inclusion of these countries on the list are not clear, the Foreign Minister argued that they were based on the commitment to “promoting freedom of religion or belief,” which had been “a central objective of foreign policy.” of the United States since the passage and passage of the International Religious Freedom Act by Congress in 1998.”
The Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla He justified this decision on
What Foreign Minister Rodríguez Parrilla ignores is that there is ample evidence of the Cuban government's lack of integrity in its approach to the island's religious community. Only, In 2022, the Cuban Observatory for Human Rights (OCDH) counted more than a thousand complaints against the exercise of religious freedom in Cuba.
A press release published in mid-January 2023 states: This organization reported that a total of 1,030 actions by authorities against religious freedom were reported in the country..
This is also stated in the US State Department's annual report on international religious freedom The Cuban regime intensified repression against Christian leaders and activists in 2022.
The document states that the Cuban government continued to arrest religious leaders from several religious communities and impose harsh prison sentences for participating in the July 2021 protests.
Last October, himself The US government demanded the release of two Cuban religious leaders held in prison by the Castro regime.
Brian NicholsUndersecretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, recalled on his Twitter account Loreto Hernández García and Reverend Lorenzo Rosales Fajardo, both of whom were imprisoned for their participation in the protests 11y.
Last year, One of the most important religious festivals in Cuba, such as the procession of the Virgin of Mercy, has been banned from the Catholic community of Esmeraldain Camaguey.
Meanwhile, hunger in the country is increasing and medicine and fuel are becoming scarce. In short: “People's lives are declining,” the priest emphasized. Alberto Reyes.