{"id":34391,"date":"2023-07-14T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-07-13T23:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/csw-yeo.1wp.site\/blog\/into-exile-yordanys-diaz-arteaga-6501\/"},"modified":"2026-09-18T22:08:28","modified_gmt":"2026-09-18T21:08:28","slug":"into-exile-yordanys-diaz-arteaga-6501","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.csw.org.uk\/zh\/blog\/into-exile-yordanys-diaz-arteaga-6501\/","title":{"rendered":"Into Exile: Yordanys D\u00edaz Arteaga"},"content":{"rendered":"

It is believed that more than 300,000 people have fled Cuba since nationwide protests swept the country on 11 July 2021. Many of them are religious leaders, journalists, human rights defenders and others who were given no choice but to leave the island under intense pressure from the Cuban government. CSW\u2019s \u6d41\u4ea1<\/a> series tells some of their stories.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reverend Yordanys D\u00edaz Arteaga was the pastor of Emmanuel Church, from the Reformed Christian Church of Cuba, a historic denomination with legal registration and a presence in the country since 1943. The denomination was also a member of the Cuban Council of Churches (CIC). Like most other leaders of registered religious groups in Cuba, and especially those in the CIC, D\u00edaz and his denomination enjoyed a degree of religious freedom, provided they line cooperated with and supported the Cuban government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The pastor and his family began to experience harassment when the reverend began to question the motivations of his denomination for belonging to the CIC. In mid-2019 he was elected president of the denomination, much to his surprise. With the support of pastors in the denomination, he began to make various internal reforms. These were not to the liking Office of Religious Affairs of the Central Committee of the Cuban Communist Party (ORA) and soon thereafter, he received several warnings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

In September of the same year, his eight-year-old son was repeatedly bullied by his schoolteacher, who began to mistreat psychologically the minor with contempt, tearing up his homework and claiming that he did not do it, making fun of his mistakes, and encouraging his peers to bully and ridicule him. This affected the boy emotionally and psychologically and on 7 January 2020 Reverend D\u00edaz Arteaga moved his son to a different school. The following day, late at night, Reverend D\u00edaz Arteaga\u2019s wife received a brief call and a voice simply said, \u2018I warned you.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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By April 2020, 24 members of the Emmanuel congregation pastored by Reverend D\u00edaz Arteaga had stopped attending services. When Reverend D\u00edaz Arteaga reached out to them, the individuals all said that the reason for their sudden absence from church services was because State Security agents had visited their homes and warned them to stop congregating in a church in which \u2018the pulpit was used to talk about politics,\u2019 which Reverend D\u00edaz Arteaga clarifies was never the case.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The tensions between Reverend D\u00edaz Arteaga and the ORA were so great that on 4 November 2020 the denomination decided to withdraw from the CIC. From that point on the pastor and his family, members of his denomination and their churches across different provinces of Cuba, began to experience a significant number of threats, offensive phone calls, other types of harassment, building lockdowns and additional FoRB violations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On 4 January 2021, Mar\u00eda de los \u00c1ngeles P\u00e9rez Men\u00e9ndez, an ORA official who acts as the liaison between the ORA and the CIC, called Reverend D\u00edaz Arteaga to tell him that she was concerned about the decision the denomination, under his leadership, had made to leave the CIC. After a few minutes, the official said goodbye, openly threatening the pastor, and warning him that the decision would bring consequences to the denomination and repercussions for Reverend D\u00edaz Arteaga and his family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Days later, Reverend D\u00edaz Arteaga received a written order from the Provincial Cuban Communist Party informing him that all public or home gatherings of his church were prohibited due to an outbreak of COVID-19 cases in the region, even though other programs in the country such as tourism, recreation and cultural events would remain open.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Over subsequent months, Reverend D\u00edaz Arteaga and his church were subjected to consistent harassment, including a forced search of his vehicle by a police officer, multiple anonymous, offensive and threatening phone calls to his home, and the denial of a religious visa extension to a Mexican missionary who had been working with the denomination for two years. Dozens of retired pastors from the denomination were also denied a pension increase that was brought in by the Cuban government in February 2021.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

A year later, on 1 February 2022, Reverend D\u00edaz Arteaga D\u00edaz\u2019s home was raided<\/a> by State Security, and he was subsequently detained incommunicado in a State Security facility for six hours. The authorities confiscated computers, printers, and other technology equipment for both personal and church use as well as several calendars and plain white T-shirts that the pastor had intended to take to those who had been imprisoned after the 11 July 2021 protests in order to help them keep warm upon his release, the pastor was put under house arrest for 48 hours, and was told that as he was under investigation, therefore his mobile and landline telephone services were terminated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the afternoon of 10 March 2022, Reverend D\u00edaz Arteaga was summoned for questioning at the State Security headquarters. At the meeting, he was notified that the items found during the search of his home in February would be confiscated and he was warned that if he attempted to appeal, he would be brought to court and charged with crimes against state security.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The following day, Reverend D\u00edaz Arteaga appeared at the Ministry of Justice to collect the certificates that confirmed his position as president of the Reformed Christian Church of Cuba, however, the documents were not given to him due to the ongoing investigation. Days later, the government denied visas to several professors who were meant to come to teach classes at the denominational seminary directed by Reverend D\u00edaz Arteaga. This forced the institution to suspend a considerable number of important teaching activities for the formation of seminarians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On 31 July 2022, after 14 years of harassment against him, his wife and his children, during which he faced raids on his house, threats against his church, and the constant threat of losing custody of his children, Reverend D\u00edaz Arteaga and his family left Cuba. They are now in a safe place in another country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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This week CSW has been telling the stories of some of those who have fled Cuba since the 11 July protests in our new \u2018Into Exile\u2019 series. Read them all here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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