Immigration officials summon Cuban priest who called for public prayer for Venezuela.

The Cuban parish priest Kenny Fernández Delgado revealed details of the interrogation conducted by State Security officers to intimidate him for his posts on social media and the invitation to devotees to hold a family prayer day in the parks of all cities, for Cuba and Venezuela, on Saturday, August 3.

In a Facebook post, the priest began by informing that, “according to the Department of Immigration and Foreigners, it is a double offense to call for prayer in parks or public spaces.”

Fernández Delgado explained why the summons from State Security comes from the Immigration and Foreigners Department, and the answer is the lease of "a small apartment that is rented to Cubans, although that is managed by another person."

"Due to the mere and remote possibility that I might ever decide to rent the apartment to a foreigner, the Department of Immigration and Foreign Affairs has the authority to summon me as many times as they wish, even with less than 24 hours' notice and at least once every 6 months, and without needing to present an official summons," said the religious figure.

Although he explained that he is not interested in renting to foreigners, from that instance they assured that they were not convinced.

"Then I discovered that Immigration and Foreign Affairs has, among other functions, the same role that State Security (G2) generally performs with all citizens, but focused on tenants: to suppress anyone who expresses thoughts different from what they call the revolution, and to harass them over and over again until they are silenced, or until as many repressive measures as necessary are taken to silence them," he summarized.

On the other hand, he blurred the regime's tricks to prevent his participation in the invitation to the public prayer that he himself had proposed.

"Finally, they said that only gatherings within churches and places of worship are allowed. But we know that anything they imagine might be against the revolution can be and has even been repressed as well," he stated.

The parish priest ended up calling attention to a comment made by the officer who attended to him at the summons, a "Colonel Lieutenant who spoke in a 'friendly' manner."

"All self-employed workers are state workers (government). And therefore, they must comply with all the laws of the 'State' just like any state worker, which means they cannot engage in acts that could be considered contrary to the Revolution, such as posting critical messages about the revolutionary process or its allies on social media. This is a significant revelation because it means that in Cuba, regardless of whether you work in non-state management forms, you are a state worker, that is, a government worker," he stated.

Last week, the Cuban parish priest wrote on the social network X that "around 9:45 p.m., almost an hour ago, an immigration officer called me for an appointment at 19 and K right at 10:00 a.m. Later, a Lieutenant Colonel called me to tell me that if I don't go, there will be consequences. Whatever happens to me, we will all be united, praying."

One day prior, in a statement on Facebook, he said that "praying in a park is not prohibited" and invited everyone to join in prayer "without signs, without slogans, without another leader but Jesus Christ, and above all, without fear."

The call to prayer includes the flexibility for each person to pray as they prefer, whether in silence or using known prayers like the rosary.

"Jesus Christ will help us if we ask Him with faith," the parish priest stated, using the hashtag #OremosEnFamilia to promote the initiative.