Protestant pastor arbitrarily detained

A Protestant pastor was arbitrarily detained by Department of State Security (DSE) agents in Camagüey City, in Cuba’s Camagüey Province, on 26 September. Pastor Maikel Pupo Velázquez was charged with ‘disobedience’ in retaliation for attempting to organise a public prayer event and is currently being held in La Cerámica Roja Prison on the outskirts of Camagüey City.  

Pastor Pupo Velázquez, who leads the unregistered Sacred Blessing Word of Fire Church, was issued an official summons on 25 September and warned not to attempt to go to Cándido Gonzalez Morales Stadium where the prayer event was planned to take place. He was threatened with imprisonment if any people gathered at the site.

Sources told CSW that the pastor responded to the summons in person and subsequently called off the event, but out of concern for the safety for any young people who might not have been aware that the event was cancelled, went to the site to warn them to disperse. As he approached the stadium DSE officers from the Technical Investigations Department (DTI) arrived on a motorcycle and arrested him.

Before being moved to La Cermica Roja Prison, PastorPupo Velázquez was held incommunicado for nine days at the local DSE headquarters. His wife was not informed of his detention, but only learned of it after the pastor’s stepfather went to the location where he was being held.

Pastor Pupo Velázquez, who was previously detained in July 2025 after he attempted to deliver medicine and other aid to the families of two political prisoners, led a youth event at which a large number of young people converted to Christianity in late August 2026. A group of over 20 young people then organised and held nightly prayer services on the church premises for a month.

Relatives of the pastor noted his detention comes at a difficult time for the family, as his 16-year-old daughter is currently receiving treatment in the cardiac ward of the Edwardo Agramonte Piña Paediatric Hospital.

CSW’s Director of Advocacy and Americas Team Leader Anna Lee Stangl said: ‘We demand the immediate release of Maikel Pupo Velázquez, who was attempting to peacefully comply with orders from the government to cancel a planned religious event when he was detained. There is no rational justification for the decision of the Department of State Security to detain him for simply encouraging others of his faith to pray for Cuba. To prevent any communication with his wife, even as their teenage daughter is in hospital, is inhumane. We call on the international community to join us in urging the Cuban government to free him and drop all charges against him.’