Cuba and Nicaragua are on the US religious freedom blacklist

he County administration The United States included a group of countries, including Cuba and Nicaragua, on the “Countries of particular concern for committing or tolerating very serious violations of religious freedom“, according to Statement issuedlast Thursday, January 4, by the Minister of Foreign Affairs Anthony J. Blinken.

Countries identified by the government body in this section of the list also include Burma, the People's Republic of China, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Eritrea, Iran, Pakistan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan.

Although the main reasons why these countries were added to the list were not explained, the Foreign Secretary said it was based on a commitment to “promoting freedom of religion or belief,” which “was a core objective of the Foreign Office.” US policy since Congress passed and passed the International Religious Freedom Act in 1998.

Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez Barilla He justified this decision

What Foreign Minister Rodriguez Parrilla ignores is that there is ample evidence of the Cuban government's lack of integrity in its actions with the island's religious community. Just, In 2022, the Cuban Observatory for Human Rights counted more than a thousand measures against the exercise of religious freedom in Cuba..

In a press release published in mid-January 2023, That organization reported that a total of 1,030 actions taken by the authorities against religious freedom were reported in the country..

This was also mentioned in the annual report of the US State Department on international religious freedom The Cuban regime intensified its repression against Christian leaders and activists during 2022.

The document states that the Cuban government continued to detain religious leaders from multiple religious denominations and issued harsh prison sentences for their participation in the July 2021 protests.

Last October, the same The US government has requested the release of two Cuban religious leaders held in prison by the Castro regime.

Brian NicholsUndersecretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs at the State Department, recalled on his Twitter account Loreto Hernandez García and Pastor Lorenzo Rosales Fajardo, both imprisoned for their participation in the country's protests. 11c.

last year, One of Cuba's important religious ceremonies, such as the procession of the Virgin of Charity, was prohibited to the Catholic community of EsmeraldaIn Camagüey.

At the same time, hunger is increasing in the country and there are shortages of medicine and fuel. The priest briefly emphasized that “people's lives are drowning.” Alberto Reyes.