{"id":34403,"date":"2023-09-19T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-09-18T23:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/csw-yeo.1wp.site\/blog\/cubas-political-police-threaten-young-evangelical-christian-because-of-his-6605\/"},"modified":"2026-09-18T22:08:30","modified_gmt":"2026-09-18T21:08:30","slug":"cubas-political-police-threaten-young-evangelical-christian-because-of-his-6605","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.csw.org.uk\/es\/blog\/cubas-political-police-threaten-young-evangelical-christian-because-of-his-6605\/","title":{"rendered":"Cuba’s political police threaten young evangelical Christian because of his leadership"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Yoe Su\u00e1<\/em>rez<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

7 September, the day on which 19-year-old YouTuber Iv\u00e1n Daniel Cal\u00e1s Navarro was to celebrate his 20th birthday was going to be an unforgettable day, and it was, but in a very different way. That day, he received a summons, delivered to his house in Havana, for 8 September 2023, to present himself at a police station known for imprisoning and punishing political dissidents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although this was the first time he had received an official summons, Cal\u00e1s Navarro is certain that he became a target of the political police beginning in 2017, when, at the age of 14, he decided to share his faith and created the \u2018Voz De Verdad\u2019 [Voice Of Truth]\u2019 YouTube channel \u2013 which now has 7000 followers – and when a few years later he began to work as a youth leader in his congregation, the Nazareth Baptist Church, which is part of the Baptist Convention of Western Cuba, a registered denomination with a historic presence on the island.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Surveillance of Cal\u00e1s Navarro became even more intense after the peaceful protests of 11 July 2021 when, in less than a month, the Cuban regime announced Legal Decree 35, which regulates social media. According to FRANCE 24<\/a>, the law prompted concern in Cuba because of its implication for freedom of expression. The law punishes any content that is critical of the government, or which the authorities deem to be \u2018fake news\u2019, or which incites protests. The government maintains that the law is meant to fight cyber-terrorism, however members of Cuban independent civil society believe that the law is nothing more than the formalisation of the censorship that has spread across the island since internet use has grown more widespread.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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The regime regularly targets independent communicators, especially those with wider audiences, and people in positions of leadership in civil society. The case of the young YouTuber is a clear demonstration of this.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

On 8 September, scores of Christians mobilized in prayer and shared news about the summons on social media. Cal\u00e1s Navarro arrived at the police station, accompanied by his family, four pastors, friends, and fellow church members, but only his pastor – who had baptised him and officiated his marriage \u2013 accompanied him to the door where Officer \u2018Mario\u2019 of the political police, also known as the Department of State Security (DSE) which, under oversees counter-intelligence for the Castro regime, was waiting for him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another officer, \u2018Olivia\u2019, who had subjected Cal\u00e1s Navarro to multiple interrogations while he was completing his Obligatory Military Service (SMO) between 2022 and 2023, was also present.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cal\u00e1s Navarro asked to pray out loud before the \u2018interview\u2019 began, and the military officers permitted this, but then mocked him when he finished praying. They told him that this was proof that Cuba respects religious freedom, because they were aware of comments he had made on social media about religious freedom violations which he had not been questioned about before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They also asked him to sign a document that obliged him not to say anything critical of the authorities, and not to promote counter-revolutionary ideas through his social media accounts where he is always talking about various current issues from a Christian perspective.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cal\u00e1s Navarro refused to sign the commitment, and when one of the officers threatened to harass him with phone calls he told them that if they wanted to know anything else they could summon him again and speak to him at the police station. \u2018My commitment,\u2019 Cal\u00e1s Navarro said to them, \u2018is to \u2018present myself before God, as a workman who does not have to be ashamed, who correctly handles the word of truth,\u2019 as Timothy 2:15 says. Why? \u2018Because we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard.\u2019 says Acts 4:20. The only thing I do is bless my land.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

Between 2020 and 2021, Cal\u00e1s Navarro broadcast weekly on Facebook Live about the barriers to the full enjoyment of religious freedom on the island, such as the prohibition on access to the media (all of which is in the hands of the State), the failure to recognise the right to conscientious objection, and the fact that parents cannot choose what type of education their children should receive.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

A few months before the summons, he took up a position as a youth leader at his church. The young man had given a class on what religious freedom means, and shared some pictures of himself in front of a room of teenagers, with a blackboard behind him, on social media.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His influence in the community had already become clear years ago through the \u2018Routes with a purpose\u2019 initiative, which he organized along with other young evangelical Christians, as they met up for \u2018bicicleteadas\u2019<\/em>[massive bicycle outings], where scores of Christians pray in the most distant points of the capital, interceding about the critical economic and spiritual situation of the country. This activity also meant that Cal\u00e1s Navarro\u2019s message was heard outside the circle of faith communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As he adjusted his large eyeglasses, Cal\u00e1s Navarro, explained to me that even as a small YouTube channel, his interviews with Christian singers had attracted thousands of views.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cal\u00e1s Navarro mentioned that on the afternoon of 8 September, the military officers \u2018were worried that I am around young people, that I have participated, I\u2019ve served, and I\u2019ve been part of the leadership of events for hundreds of young Cuba Christians. The youth worry them, and because of this, they talked to me about the votes for leaders of the University Student Federation at the university, where I refused to vote, although they kept insisting that I do so, so that they could get a 100% vote in the room.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After the threats finished, Cal\u00e1s Navarro asked if he could pray for his interrogators, for their families and for Cuba and they allowed him to do this as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once he was at home again, the young Baptist admitted on social media: \u2018Yes, I am afraid for my life. But God is in control. God is stronger than the DSE. God is the King of Kings.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Yoe Su\u00e1rez<\/a> is an independent journalist who has written extensively about human rights and freedom of religion or belief issues in Cuba.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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By Yoe Su \u00e1 rez 7 September, the day on which 19-year-old YouTuber Iv\u00e1n Daniel Cal\u00e1s Navarro was to celebrate his 20th birthday was going to be an unforgettable day, and it was, but in a very\u2026<\/p>","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":12552,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_seopress_news_disabled":"","_seopress_video_disabled":"","_seopress_video":[],"_seopress_pro_schemas_manual":[],"_seopress_pro_rich_snippets_disable_all":"","_seopress_pro_rich_snippets_disable":[],"_seopress_pro_schemas":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"regions":[140,137],"class_list":["post-34403","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","regions-cuba","regions-latin-america"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.csw.org.uk\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34403","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.csw.org.uk\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.csw.org.uk\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.csw.org.uk\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.csw.org.uk\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34403"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.csw.org.uk\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34403\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":42128,"href":"https:\/\/www.csw.org.uk\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34403\/revisions\/42128"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.csw.org.uk\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12552"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.csw.org.uk\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34403"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.csw.org.uk\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34403"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.csw.org.uk\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34403"},{"taxonomy":"regions","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.csw.org.uk\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/regions?post=34403"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}