State Security agents arrested a pastor on Saturday, June 27, in Cabaiguán, a municipality in the province of Sancti Spíritus, during a peaceful religious demonstration that included Cuban flags, music, and slogans such as "Cuba free for Christ."
The events were documented in several videos shared on Facebook by the user Tony Mendoza Bermúdez, who recorded the moment when the pastor was being led to a white 4x4 vehicle by regime agents while church members, including children, witnessed the arrest.
"Where is the pastor going? They're going to have to arrest us all, kids and all! We're all going to the police now! Let's go to the police! Let's go!" one of the attendees is heard saying.
“Against those who sit on chairs and are corrupt, against those who govern from those chairs and are corrupt, we are rising up against those people and declare that God’s justice will prevail,” was heard at the peaceful demonstration, as reported in another video.
When the agents tried to disperse the event, one of the participants firmly responded, “This is not a political demonstration; this is an act of faith. The problem is that you don't understand because you are involved in sorcery and witchcraft,” as seen in the images.
Mendoza Bermúdez publicly requested help to identify the repressors: "Please, someone help me identify the state security repressors so I can expose them. Here, they took the detained pastor." He also wrote: "I know that many of you are afraid to even give a like, but you should be more afraid of being silenced and starving while they continue to steal and extort."
Cabaiguán has documented history of religious repression. In June 2020, evangelical pastor Yasser Caraballo was arrested in that municipality and later released on the condition of selling his pork production to the State at four pesos per pound.
The case adds to a series of detentions of religious leaders in 2026. On March 15, evangelical pastor Rolando Pérez Lora was arrested in Matanzas as he was leaving his home for church.
The repression against faith communities in Cuba is systematic and growing. In 2024, the Alliance of Christians in Cuba documented 996 repressive actions against religious leaders on the island, according to a public statement from that organization. In 2025, 873 violations were recorded, and just in April 2026, the Observatory of Religious Freedom counted 111 cases affecting 71 individuals.
In March 2026, the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) again included Cuba on its list of countries with "serious and systematic" violations of religious freedom, a designation that the Havana regime has systematically ignored.
Mendoza Bermúdez captured the sentiment of many Cubans by stating: “The people cannot allow fear to control the future and the life of Cuba. When we finally realize that we are more than they are, that is when we will understand the power we possess.”
Filed under: