Religious activist goes on hunger strike to protest "regulated" Cubans

Religious activist Guillermo del Sol Pérez - a member of the illegal Old Catholic Church of Santa Clara - has declared a hunger strike to protest for the rights of more than a hundred Cubans who are prohibited from traveling by the Government of the Island.

The activist, who is also director of the independent news agency Santa Clara Vision, has also opened the campaign #Ni1RegulatedMore on social networks, in order to give visibility to the problem, as indicated by the Patmos Institute on his blog.

Del Sol Pérez declared a hunger strike after his son, Adrián del Sol Alfonso, a member of his congregation and independent communicator, was prevented from traveling on Monday, as he announced on his social networks.

Both Del Sol Alfonso and the independent journalist, Martha Liset Sánchez Solís, director of the publication street crocodile, of the Cuban Institute for Freedom of Expression (ICLEP), were banned from leaving the country with the purpose of participating in conferences on religious freedom in Trinidad and Tobago.

The day before his departure, Adrián del Sol was warned by State Security agents that they would not let him travel, but despite the threat, both he and his father went to the “José Martí” International Airport in Havana.

After checking his ticket with the airline and checking in his luggage, Immigration agents prevented him from crossing the border to board the plane and told him that it was "regulated."

Faced with the arbitrariness, both held a peaceful protest at the airport, which ended with the arrest of both, who were taken to the Boyeros police station, where they were fined and then released.

The Patmos Institute has indicated that Guillermo del Sol could suffer serious consequences for his health, since he suffers from various diseases, including diabetes, severe hypertension, heart disease and respiratory problems, in addition to having suffered two thromboses and a serious accident just a few years ago. months.

Since July 2018, the Patmos Institute has published a list of Cubans affected by the so-called “regulation.”

At the time the registry began, the list consisted of 52 names, but currently the number reaches 130 regulated ones.

The Patmos Institute recalls that, after the immigration reform of January 2013, which made the procedures for traveling outside of Cuba more flexible and eliminated the "exit permit" that Cubans had to request from the authorities to leave the Island, it has been regularized. the practice of "regulation."

This is a procedure with which the authorities of the Ministry of the Interior punish independent journalists, activists, opponents, religious people and artists opposed to the regime.