A Cuban Protestant pastor in exile has denounced the Cuban government for refusing to allow him to return to the island to be with his adult daughter who is battling advanced breast cancer.
Pastor Valiente’s daughter
In an emotional video message posted on social media on 13 May, Pastor Alain Toledano Valiente said “This morning I received the information that my daughter, Susana, has to go back on the operating table. Her life is at risk once more…I want this message to get to all of those in seats of power in Cuba. You must stop playing politics, you must stop playing with the lives of Cubans and with the rights of Cubans… I demand my rights… to enter my country and to be with my family…”
Pastor Toledano Valiente was a target of the Cuban government for over 20 years because of his leadership in the Apostolic Movement, a charismatic Protestant Christian network which the government has refused to register. On 25 June 2022, Cuban State Security gave him a 30-day deadline to leave the country or face the possibility of long-term imprisonment. Pastor Toledano Valiente, his wife and two minor daughters were granted emergency parole in the United States in July 2022. Since then, he has been blocked from boarding flights to the island, including to attend the funeral of a close family member. He has been told that there is a no-entry order against him issued by Cuba’s Department of State Security, which is under the Ministry of the Interior.
Due to their age, Pastor Toledano Valiente’s two adult daughters were not eligible to accompany the family to the US and were forced to remain in Cuba. In August 2022, Susana Toledano Benitez was diagnosed with cancer. Numerous operations and treatments have failed, so far, to stop its advance, and she is due to undergo additional operations in the coming days. Her condition, like that of many others, has been exacerbated by chronic shortages of medicine across the island.
The Cuban government uses subtle methods of persecution to target Christians. Christian leaders are often summoned by government officials for questioning or detained up to 48 hours to pressure them, and churches are demolished by hired gangs so the government can deny responsibility. Legal church buildings are seized, and no new church buildings have been legally built in the country since the revolution. Many believers meet in illegal house churches, often extensions of the pastor’s home or shaded structures in the backyard of a family’s home. Churches continue to grow through active evangelistic activity, but some believers have never owned a Bible because of government oppression. Many Christians are closely watched and are effectively under house arrest. In addition, Christians are often denied jobs and educational opportunities.
Can he gain entry on a holiday visa? Can another member of the family gainentrance instead – if it would be fairly safe?