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A group of Cuban Christians, both inside and outside the island, has published an open letter titled “The Decisive Hour for Cuba,” in which they denounce the crisis the country is experiencing and call for a political change that paves the way for a democratic transition.
The initiative was announced by pastor and Baptist chaplain Joanna Columbié, a Cuban academic exiled in Miami, who explained that the document is signed by priests, pastors, laypeople, and members of various faith communities.
The text begins with a quote from civil rights leader Martin Luther King: “Only a stagnant religion has among its ministers and faithful individuals who sing the glory of God in heaven while overlooking the conditions that make the earth a hell for man.”
The signatories indicate that, as Christians, they cannot remain silent in the face of the suffering of the Cuban people and assert that there is a moral responsibility to support the country amidst its crisis.
“The Cuban people have been living in a constant tension between hope and frustration. We have been direct witnesses to divided families, young people without a future, elderly individuals without relief, and citizens deprived of fundamental rights,” states the letter.
The document also highlights the poverty affecting the population, the extended blackouts, and the economic difficulties faced by many families on the island.
"The extreme poverty that suffocates so many families on the island is heartbreaking, the long blackouts that plunge the people into darkness, and the daily misery that arises from structures incapable of sustaining life with dignity," they point out.
The authors of the text also mention the impact of mass migration and the restrictions faced by some citizens within the country, including those who have been classified as "regulated," which prevents them from leaving Cuba without public explanations.
The letter also denounces that more than a thousand political prisoners remain incarcerated on the island for reasons related to the exercise of fundamental rights such as freedom of expression, conscience, and civic participation.
In the document, the signatories assert that for decades the country's authorities have ignored the demands of the population.
"Over the past 67 years, the dictators who hold power in Cuba have been called upon to listen to the demands of their own people and to open up genuine spaces for participation, but they have never listened or acted," the text states.
The signatories assert that they are not requesting reforms within the current political system, but rather a change that allows for the initiation of a democratic transition.
"We are not asking for a political concession or reforms within the system, but rather we are demanding justice and a change that should begin with the decision to step down and relinquish power in favor of freedom and an immediate democratic transition," they state.
The letter also includes a reflection addressed to the Church in Cuba, urging it not to remain silent in the face of the national crisis.
"In the current circumstances that the Cuban people are experiencing, the institutional silence of the Church is unjustifiable," the document warns.
The authors argue that the Christian faith cannot remain neutral in the face of human suffering and that the Church must denounce the injustices that affect human dignity.
The document concludes with a message of hope for the country's future and a call for Cubans to not remain indifferent to the national situation.
Among the signatories are the Catholic priest Alberto Reyes, the writer and former political prisoner Angel Santiesteban Prats, the opposition leader and coordinator of UNPACU José Daniel Ferrer, the nun Nadieska Almeida Miguel, as well as several pastors and laypeople both on the island and abroad.
The document is also supported by the organizations Instituto Patmos, the Alliance of Unregistered Cuban Churches (AICNOR), and Welcome to Freedom.
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