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Cuban pastor Enrique de Jesús Fundora and his wife.

Into Exile: Enrique de Jesús Fundora

Posted on 11/07/202313/07/2023 by cswpress in Cuba, Into Exile, Latin America

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 government. CSW’s Into Exile series tells some of their stories.

In 2017, 26-year-old Pastor Enrique de Jesús Fundora and his wife established a ministry they named God Shakes Cuba and the Nations a part of the Apostolic and Prophetic Movement. This immediately made them a target of the government and cost Pastor Fundora his job as a chef in a private restaurant.

In July 2021 Pastor Fundora began to open ‘houses of prayer’ where he met with the relatives of people imprisoned because of their involvement in the 11 July protests, to pray for them and comfort them. In January 2022 Fundora was summoned by State Security, Cuba’s intelligence agency. He was interrogated and accused of holding conspiratorial meetings and of buying water and distributing it to those who had participated in the protests.

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Al Exilio: Enrique de Jesús Fundora

Posted on 11/07/202313/07/2023 by cswpress in Al Exilio, Cuba ES, español, Latin America ES

Se cree que más de 300.000 personas han huido de Cuba desde que las protestas a nivel nacional arrasaron el país el 11 de julio de 2021. Muchos de ellos son líderes religiosos, periodistas, defensores de los derechos humanos y otras personas que no tuvieron más opción que abandonar la isla bajo la intensa presión de el Partido Comunista de Cuba. La serie Al Exilio de CSW cuenta algunas de sus historias.

En 2017, el pastor Enrique de Jesús Fundora, de 26 años, y su esposa establecieron un ministerio al que llamaron ‘Dios sacude a Cuba y las Naciones’ como parte del Movimiento Apostólico y Profético. Esto inmediatamente los convirtió en un objetivo del gobierno y le costó al pastor Fundora su trabajo como chef en un restaurante privado.

En julio de 2021, el pastor Fundora comenzó a abrir ‘casas de oración’ donde se reunía con familiares de personas encarceladas por su participación en las protestas del 11 de julio, para orar por ellos y consolarlos. En enero de 2022 Fundora fue citado por la Seguridad del Estado, el organismo de inteligencia de Cuba. Fue interrogado y acusado de realizar reuniones conspirativas y de comprar agua y distribuirla a quienes habían participado en las protestas.

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Why are Cuba’s religious leaders going into exile?

Posted on 10/07/202313/07/2023 by cswpress in Cuba, Into Exile, Latin America

Following the peaceful protests of 11 July 2021, many Cuban religious leaders and members of communities of faith have joined the largest ongoing wave of emigration since the start of the Cuban Revolution in 1959.

The Cuban government requires that all religious groups and associations obtain legal registration from the Ministry of Justice, but make it almost impossible for them to do so. Since the Revolution, the government has granted legal status to only a handful of groups, and has stripped some, which had a legally recognised presence on the island prior to 1959 of their legal status. As a result, the vast majority of religious groups that did not have a legal presence on the island before 1959 exist outside the law, automatically making them targets of discrimination and harassment.

Over the past two years, Cuba has sent hundreds of dissidents to prison, where for those who hold religious beliefs, their faith often is used by prison guards as a pressure point. The government regularly violates the Nelson Mandela Rules, refusing to allow political prisoners to received religious visits, possess religious materials or participate in religious services inside the prisons. Political prisoners’ religious faith is regularly, publicly ridiculed. Among the growing number of political prisoners are leaders of unregistered religious groups.

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¿Por qué los líderes religiosos de Cuba escapan al exilio?

Posted on 10/07/202313/07/2023 by cswpress in Al Exilio, Cuba ES, español, Latin America ES

Tras las protestas pacíficas del 11 de julio de 2021, muchos líderes religiosos cubanos y miembros de comunidades de fe se han unido a la mayor ola de emigración en curso, desde el comienzo de la Revolución Cubana en 1959.

El gobierno cubano exige que todos los grupos y asociaciones religiosas obtengan el registro legal del Ministerio de Justicia, pero este organizmo les hace casi imposible obtener dicho registro. Desde la Revolución, el gobierno ha otorgado estatus legal a solo un puñado de grupos, y ha despojado de su estatus legal a algunos que tenían una presencia legalmente reconocida en la isla antes de 1959. Como resultado, la gran mayoría de los grupos religiosos que no tenían presencia legal en la isla antes de 1959 existen al margen de la ley, lo que los convierte automáticamente en objeto de discriminación y hostigamiento.

En los últimos dos años, Cuba ha enviado a cientos de disidentes a prisión, donde los guardias a menudo utilizan su fe como punto de presión para aquellos que tienen creencias religiosas. El gobierno viola regularmente las Reglas de Nelson Mandela, negándose a permitir que los presos políticos reciban visitas religiosas, posean materiales religiosos o participen en servicios religiosos dentro de las prisiones. La fe ó religión de los presos políticos es ridiculizada públicamente con regularidad. Entre el creciente número de presos políticos se encuentran líderes de grupos religiosos no registrados.

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With echoes of ‘the most difficult time in North Korean history’, the international community must do more to bring about change

Posted on 29/06/2023 by cswpress in Asia, North Korea

Earlier this month, the BBC released information gathered from exclusive interviews with three individuals living inside North Korea. Their reports have brought the country back into the headlines, revealing the devastating reality of the situation for North Korean citizens since the COVID-19-triggered border closure in January 2020. They describe widespread starvation and brutal repression, without feasible means of escape.

Hanna Song from the North Korean Database Centre for Human Rights (NKDB) said in an interview with the BBC ‘This [report] takes us back to the most difficult time in North Korean history.’

Song is referring here to the widespread famine of the 1990s known as the arduous march.

The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) was founded in 1948 under the leadership of Kim Il-Sung. The communist nation’s economy was built on a system of state control: a public distribution system for food and material goods, and a state-assigned job system dictating citizen employment.

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