{"id":26467,"date":"2019-11-24T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-11-24T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/csw-yeo.1wp.site\/prayer\/prayer-diary-cuba-4463\/"},"modified":"2026-09-18T21:57:28","modified_gmt":"2026-09-18T20:57:28","slug":"prayer-diary-cuba-4463","status":"publish","type":"prayer","link":"https:\/\/www.csw.org.uk\/es\/prayer\/prayer-diary-cuba-4463\/","title":{"rendered":"Prayer Diary: Cuba"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/227d0647c49dedd02ff7381e88957ebf.jpg\" alt=\"\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Church leaders, human rights defenders and other activists continue to face government harassment and arbitrary detention in the wake of the approval of a new constitution that further restricts freedom of religion or belief. Despite this worsening situation, there has been an unprecedented show of unity among the denominations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><b>Sunday 24 November<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On Friday 12 July, independent journalist Ricardo Fernandez Izaguirre was taken off the street by state security agents as he went about his work documenting freedom of religion or belief violations. Though he was released one week later, his position remains precarious. Pray for God to protect Mr Fernandez Izaguirre and all those who document human rights abuses in Cuba, often at great personal risk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><b>Monday 25 November<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When he was abducted, Mr Fernandez Izaguirre was leaving a session documenting religious freedom violations experienced by the Ladies in White, a peaceful protest group consisting of wives and female family members of political prisoners. State officials frequently forcibly prevent the Ladies in White from attending Sunday Mass by arbitrarily detaining them for the duration of the service, then dropping them off in a remote area to find their own way home. Pray for God to grant these courageous women the justice they are seeking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><b>Tuesday 26 November<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Another way in which the government exerts pressure on religious leaders is by stopping them from travelling abroad to share their stories. In July, four evangelical leaders were prevented from boarding flights to the US, where they intended to attend the US State Department Ministerial to Advance Religious Freedom. Pray that future visits abroad can proceed smoothly for all religious leaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><b>Wednesday 27 November<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In June, seven Protestant denominations, including the five largest in terms of membership, joined together to launch a new Cuban Alliance of Evangelical Churches in a show of interdenominational unity that has not been witnessed since the 1959 Revolution. Pray for continued strength and unity, and that their efforts would lead to true religious freedom in Cuba.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><b>Thursday 28 November<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This unity initiative follows the February referendum which approved a new constitution that further restricts freedom of religion or belief. Many religious figures and human rights activists were involved in the \u2018No\u2019 campaign, and as a consequence are experiencing severe harassment from the state. Give thanks for their courage and pray that God would shield them from further intimidation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><b>Friday 29 November<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Pray for wisdom and insight for our Latin America Team as they work to protect and promote freedom of religion or belief in Cuba.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><b>Saturday 30 November<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Heavenly Father, as we see further restrictions on freedom of religion or belief in Cuba, we ask you to protect the human rights defenders and religious leaders who courageously speak out against repression and violations. We praise you for their courage, unity and perseverance, and commit their safety to you. Amen.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In Cuba church leaders, human rights defenders and other activists continue to face government harassment.<\/p>","protected":false},"featured_media":8136,"template":"","regions":[140,137],"class_list":["post-26467","prayer","type-prayer","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","regions-cuba","regions-latin-america"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.csw.org.uk\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/prayer\/26467","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.csw.org.uk\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/prayer"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.csw.org.uk\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/prayer"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.csw.org.uk\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/prayer\/26467\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":41137,"href":"https:\/\/www.csw.org.uk\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/prayer\/26467\/revisions\/41137"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.csw.org.uk\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8136"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.csw.org.uk\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26467"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"regions","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.csw.org.uk\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/regions?post=26467"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}