The Pentecostal pastor Ariel Limias Leiva, 53 years old, remains isolated in Villa Marista —the main detention center of State Security in Havana— without his family being able to see him or learn about the charges that may be brought against him, as reported by his wife to Martí Noticias this Sunday.
Limias was arrested on Friday in front of the National Capitol in Havana after walking from Monte Street to the steps of the building while carrying a sign with the messages "Down with the Dictatorship" and "No more absurd political discrimination" written on both sides.
Four police officers detained him minutes after he had been on the stairs. While being arrested, he was heard shouting "Down with the Dictatorship."
He was first taken to the Dragones police station in Old Havana, and later transferred to Villa Marista to continue the investigation.
His wife, Yulia Morales Zamora, recounted that on Saturday she went to that facility with the mother and brother of the detainee to bring him toiletries. "Yesterday, we were at Villa Marista late into the night, his mom, his brother, and I," she said.
The instructor in charge of the case informed them that Limias "is still under investigation" and that they will communicate the charges once they are filed. The authorities assured that the detainee is in good condition and has received his medications, but the family was unable to verify this directly.
"They won't let us see him; he remains uncommunicated," denounced Morales Zamora, who recounted how the transfer from Dragones took place: "State Security came and took him away. They didn't even allow us to get close; we could only see him from a distance."
The authorities have scheduled a family visit for next Friday, October 9th. “Let us hope in God’s mercy that we can see and embrace him on Friday,” stated the wife.
This is not the first time Limias has faced consequences for protesting. In July 2021, just days after the demonstrations of July 11, he walked through Havana holding a sign that read "Freedom"; he was arrested and fined. "This isn't the first time he has gone out to hold a peaceful protest. He did the same in 2021, and they imprisoned him," confirmed Morales Zamora.
The case is part of a pattern of repression against evangelical religious leaders in Cuba during 2026. One day before Limias's arrest, evangelical pastor Rolando Fidel Pérez Lora was arrested while heading to a court in East Havana to attend the trial of activist Anna Bensi, marking his third arrest of the year.
The intellectual and activist Alina Bárbara López Hernández reacted to the Limias case by stating that Christian churches in Cuba could become a political force capable of challenging the regime if their followers take the defense of the persecuted as a matter of faith.
Limias Leiva, associated with the Assembly of God and residing in Old Havana, works as a painter at the San José fair. His wife, also a pastor of the same congregation, connected the protest to the living conditions of their neighbors and the absence of freedoms on the island.
Related videos:
Filed under: