The speculation by the news media about the impact of the Pope’s visit will have on Cuban society is over. Nothing has change, the Pope did not meet with the dissidents, and hundreds of them were arrested. The Pope did not addressed the human rights issues in his speech. The Castroit regime repression continuous unabated.Cuban Dissidents Arrested On Way to Apostolic Nunciature in Havana
Capitol Hill Cubans: Cuban Dissidents Arrested On Way to Apostolic Nunciature in Havana
at 12:24 AM Sunday, September 20, 2015
Various Cuban dissidents were invited yesterday afternoon -- at the last minute -- to greet Pope Francis at the Apostolic Nunciature in Havana.
However, they were arrested by Castro's secret police as they headed to the Nunciature.
Among those arrested were Berta Soler, head of The Ladies in White, along with her husband, Angel Moya, a former Amnesty International prisoner of conscience.
Also arrested on her way to the Nunciature was renowned democracy leader, Marta Beatriz Roque.
Earlier in the day, over 20 members of The Ladies in White and at least 30 activists from the Cuban Patriotic Union (UNPACU) were rounded up and arrested, in order to prevent them from attending Sunday's Papal Mass.
Other activists arrested include former Amnesty International prisoner of conscience, Librado Linares, Agustin Lopez and Carlos Olivera, who was arrested along with his wife Yenisleydis Millo, a member of The Ladies in White.
Meanwhile, the headquarters of The Ladies in White in the Lawton neighborhood of Havana remains besieged by Castro's repressive brigades.
Pope Francis will not be able to see the dilapidation of buildings near by the Malecón (seaside boulevard) unless he change his itinerary. Of course no chance, the regime would not allow his entourage to do that.The Sacred Way
https://generacionyen.wordpress.com/2015/09/08/the-sacred-way/comment-page-1/#comment-45941
Yoani Sanchez
on September 8, 2015
https://generacionyen.files.wordpress.com/2015/09/calle-reina-centro-habana_cymima20150908_0010_16.jpg
Reina Street in Central Havana. (14ymedio)
Yoani Sanchez, 8 September 2015 — The paint drips into the cracks and holes and over the rusted metal poking through the columns and the ceilings. A colorful layer that covers over cobwebs, cracks and dirt, like make-up masks scars and wrinkles. Havana preens for the arrival of Pope Francis. The facades along the streets are touched up where the Bishop of Rome will pass by and popular humor has derisively re-baptized the path “The Sacred Way.” It is an ephemeral blush, rushed, one that the rain and the months will wash away.
They have not been able to camouflage the people, however, with optimism. The strokes of the painters, rushing to meet their schedule, don’t cover the skin or the worries. From early in the morning, Habaneros go out with their bags hanging from their shoulders looking for food. “Not even the pope coming has put something in the shops,” complains a woman on the corner of Manrique and Salud, while a friend directs her to Galiano Avenue where, she assures her, “they have good hot dogs for sale.”
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.Photos of the day: Havana, labyrinth of ruins
Photos of the day: Havana, labyrinth of ruins | Babalú Blog
By Carlos Eire, on November 18, 2014
From Martha Beatriz Roque: images of Hell on earth.
This building in Havana, one block from the seaside boulevard known as El Malecón, is home for several families.
The total number of people crammed into this building is 36, ranging in age from elders in their 70's and 80's to children as young as 3. One young woman is pregnant and expecting to give birth within the next few weeks. Some of the residents live on the roof, in hand-made wooden shacks.
No maintenance or repairs have taken place in over forty years, despite constant complaints from those who live there
Photos of the day: Havana, labyrinth of garbage
Photos of the day: Havana, labyrinth of garbage | Babalú Blog
By Carlos Eire, on November 16, 2014, at 3:11 pm
Triumph of the Revolution, chapter 259,475, 993, section F.
Images supplied by Cuban dissident Martha Beatriz Roque.
Location: intersection of Maloja and San Nicolas streets in central Havana.
Garbage everywhere, blocking sidewalks and the street. Numerous complaints to authorities, no response.
Rats and roaches multiplying and rapidly and taking over the neighborhood.Viva la Revolucion! Vamos bien! Requetebien!
This is how streets in La Habana look after 495 years of its foundation. Tons of garbage due to the lack of collection that accumulate during months, where the rats, mosquitoes and roaches proliferate out of control, spreading and infecting the people with leptospirosis, dengue fever, dysentery, etc.
The sanitary situation in La Habana has deteriorated due to these sources of contamination plus the breakdowns in water and sewer mains, which the Castroit regime has been unable to solve.
Pope Francis claimed he did not know about any political arrests while he was in Cuba. In reality more than 100 dissidents were forcefully arrested during his visit.In Havana, Pope Francis is no John Paul II
https://www.aei.org/publication/in-havana-pope-francis-is-no-john-paul-ii/
Marc A. Thiessen @marcthiessen
September 22, 2015 10:44 am
Foreign and Defense Policy, Latin America
This morning, the Washington Post editorial delivers a scathing review of Pope Francis’s visit to Cuba:
The pope is spending four days in a country whose Communist dictatorship has remained unrelenting in its repression of free speech, political dissent and other human rights despite a warming of relations with the Vatican and the United States. Yet by the end of his third day, the pope had said or done absolutely nothing that might discomfit his official hosts….
Dozens of other dissidents were detained when they attempted to attend an open air Mass. They needn’t have bothered: The pope said nothing in his homily about their cause, or even political freedom more generally. Those hunting for a message had to settle for a cryptic declaration that “service is never ideological.”
To see how right this assessment is, contrast Pope Francis’s homily in Havana with that of Pope John Paul II 17 years earlier. (I was in the crowd in Havana on January 25, 1998, when the Holy Father delivered his moving message of solidarity with the oppressed people of Cuba).
Pope Francis (L) and former Cuban President Fidel Castro hold hands in Havana, Cuba, September 20, 2015. Picture taken September 20. REUTERS/Alex Castro.
Click link above for full article.
For many years, churches affiliated with the Apostolic Movement, an evangelical network of churches in Cuba have complained of persecution and have given evidence of repeated violations of their religious liberty. They have been denied the right to register and receive official recognition. A number of churches have been demolished without warning while others have been shut down. The Castroit regime has not given any explanation for this anti-religious campaigns of all faiths, but continues to maintain that there is religious freedom in Cuba.What the ‘Pope Francis effect’ hasn’t delivered in Cuba
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...-pope-francis-effect-hasnt-delivered-in-cuba/
By Nick Miroff October 7, 2015
In this Sept. 20 photo, Pope Francis visits with Cuba's Fidel Castro, in Havana. (Alex Castro/AP)
HAVANA -- Pope John Paul II's visit in 1998 put Christmas back on the Cuban calendar. When Pope Benedict XVI arrived in 2012, the Cuban government made Good Friday a national holiday. Both men brought the Catholic Church a bigger role in Cuba's public life.
Pope Francis? Well, maybe all the good holidays were already taken.
Two weeks have passed since Francis left Cuba, and there has been no sign yet that his visit -- and his rapport with Fidel and Raul Castro -- have led to any new concessions for the church.
Prior to Francis's arrival, the government said it would pardon 3,522 prisoners, a gesture also made during the two previous papal visits. But no announcements have followed. "Nothing," said Havana religion scholar Enrique Lopez Oliva. "You'd think we would have heard something by now."
Click link above for full article.
For many years, churches affiliated with the Apostolic Movement, an evangelical network of churches in Cuba have complained of persecution and have given evidence of repeated violations of their religious liberty. They have been denied the right to register and receive official recognition. A number of churches have been demolished without warning while others have been shut down. The Castroit regime has not given any explanation for this anti-religious campaigns of all faiths, but continues to maintain that there is religious freedom in Cuba.
As an example, on November 20th, 2007 the Church of the Apostles in the Abel Santamaria neighborhood of Santiago de Cuba was razed to the ground by the Castroit regime. Music and audio equipment and other church property were confiscated by the regime. The pastor Alain Toledano, was not given advance notice and the reason for the demolition of the church. The telephone lines of the pastor and other church leaders were disable during the demolition, which could not communicate which each other. This type of behavior only takes place in tyrannical countries like in the island of Dr. Castro.For many years, churches affiliated with the Apostolic Movement, an evangelical network of churches in Cuba have complained of persecution and have given evidence of repeated violations of their religious liberty. They have been denied the right to register and receive official recognition. A number of churches have been demolished without warning while others have been shut down. The Castroit regime has not given any explanation for this anti-religious campaigns of all faiths, but continues to maintain that there is religious freedom in Cuba.
This new link works: Religious freedom worsening in Cuba: 'There is a crackdown happening' | Christian News on Christian TodayA report released by Christian Solidarity Worldwide on January 26, 2015, reported the increased of violations of religious freedom in Cuba. The report said that the number of recorded violations has risen year after year. There were 220 recorded incidences in 2014, up from 180 the previous year, 120 in 2012, and 40 in 2011, and that the incidents have become more violent. The report also states that “Everything's monitored, so the Cuban government has complete control over telephone lines and internet connection. Any pastor or church official who tries to send information out is doing that knowing that what they are doing, the government's going to know about and that comes with repercussions.”
Link for entire article: 404 Not Found - Christian News on Christian Today...
This is another issue Pope Francis failed to mention or address during his visit to Castrolandia. The Castroit regime has interned Jehovah’s Witnesses in forced-labor concentration camps before, and had not allow them to profess their religion free of repression. The regime does not tolerate religious groups to operate freely if it feels they represent a threat to its political power.Cuba: Wave of church demolitions halted by sit-in
Cuba: Wave of church demolitions halted by sit-in | Christian News on Christian Today
Mark Woods Christian Today Contributing Editor Published 02 November 2015
A spontaneous sit-in at a church in Cuba scheduled for demolition has forced authorities to halt the bulldozers.
Around 500 protesters had taken part in a march through the city of Santiago de Cuba. Simultaneous marches were held in Guantanamo and Contramaestre. A demonstration was also held at the local Cuban Communist Party (CCP) offices to protest continuing government confiscations and demolitions of church properties.
The protesters were gathered in front of the CCP offices when they learned that demolition had begun on an Assemblies of God church.
The protesters marched to the church and found that it had already been partially demolished. They gathered under the roof, which was still resting on the frame of the building, and told the authorities that if they wished to continue the demolition, it would have to be carried out with them inside.
Click link above for full article.
The Castroit tyrannical regime, which called itself Marxist-Leninist, materialist and atheist, remains the most restrictive place in Latin America for Catholics. The Churches of all religions are not allowed to operate any types of schools. Pastors and their families are especially vulnerable, and many have faced beatings, had their property seized, destroyed or both, and even faced imprisonment as a result.Dissidents beg to see the Pope: Struggle for freedom and dignity in Cuba a Catholic movement
Dissidents Beg to See the Pope - WSJ
The struggle for freedom and dignity in Cuba is essentially a Catholic movement.
Pope Francis and Cuban President Raúl Castro in Havana, Sept. 19. Photo: Zuma Press
Por Mary Anastasia O’Grady
Domingo, 20 de Septiembre de 2015 18:25 EDT
The first victory we can claim is that our hearts are free of hatred. Hence we say to those who persecute us and who try to dominate us: ‘You are my brother. I do not hate you, but you are not going to dominate me by fear.’
Those words were spoken in 2002 by Oswaldo José Payá—a Cuban Roman Catholic and the founder of the island’s Christian Liberation Movement. He was addressing the European Parliament, which had given him the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought. He emphasized his dream of Cuban reconciliation: “We are going to seek the truth together. This is the liberation which we are proclaiming.”
Payá was brave, eloquent and dedicated to nonviolent change. That made him dangerous to the regime. In 2012 he was killed when the car he was riding in, according to its driver, was run off the road by another vehicle. The Castro regime did not allow a transparent investigation of the crash.
Click link above for full article.
The Castroit regime keeps shutting down evangelical and other denominations churches. This is the type of regime that the Obama administration ingratiate itself with, one that is openly hostile to Christianity.'Witch Hunt' Against Churches in Cuba Despite US Relations
'Witch Hunt' Against Churches in Cuba Despite US Relations
By Stoyan Zaimov , Christian Post Reporter
December 2, 2015|12:15 pm
(Photo: Reuters/Enrique de la Osa)
Worshippers carry a statue of Jesus Christ during a Via Crucis (Way of the Cross) procession on Good Friday in Havana, April 6, 2012. Bells rang from Roman Catholic churches throughout Havana on Friday to remember the death of Jesus Christ as Cubans celebrated a holiday on Good Friday for the first time in more than half a century. The day off, granted at the request of Pope Benedict on his recent visit to the communist island, translated into quieter streets than usual, but only sparse attendance at a Mass in the city's main cathedral presided over by Cardinal Jaime Ortega.
Cuban officials have reportedly ordered the demolishing of all churches in a neighborhood in the city of Santiago de Cuba, an action some Christians are calling a "witch hunt."
"There is a witch hunt against churches in Cuba at this time, mainly against the churches of apostolic and prophetic ministry. The communists have intensified in their hatred and persecution of the church following the Pope's visit to Cuba and the re-establishment of relations with the United States," said the Rev. Alain Toledano, who leads one of the targeted churches in the Abel Santa Maria neighborhood, according to a report by Christian Solidarity Worldwide on Tuesday.
The church Pastor Bernardo de Quesada Salómon has confirmed to the independent Cuban outlet 14 y medio that the building “does not exist; it was demolished entirely.”Cuban Police Demolish The Roof Of An Evangelical Church In Camagüey
Cuban Police Demolish The Roof Of An Evangelical Church In Camagüey / 14ymedio | Translating Cuba
14ymedio, Camaguey, 8 January 2015 – The police, on Friday, demolished the roof of an evangelical church in Camagüey, according to Fernando Vázquez Guerra, coordinator of the Patriotic Union of Cuba (UNPACU) in the province. The center of worship, at number 27 Fourth Street in the Versalles neighborhood, is led by pastor Bernardo de Quesada Salomon, founder of Apostolic Move, a Christian movement that separated from the Cuban Council of Churches in 2003.
Police agents stormed the pastor’s house at dawn, and violently arrested him and took him to the police station on Avellaneda Street, near the railroad station, according to the evangelical pastor Alexis Segundo Medina, who lives in Camaguey.
Several independent journalists and activists have reported police raids and cuts to their phone service to prevent them from approaching the Versalles neighborhood, according to Henry Constantin, a contributor to 14ymedio, who commented before he was arrested for trying to leave his house.
Click link above for full article.
Photo of one of the two churches demolished by the regime security agents. The atheist Castroit monarchical tyranny is celebrating its 57 years in power since it took political control of the island in 1959 by demolishing churches and arresting Pastors, in a campaign to intimidate Christians. Without a strong and moral USA, most of the world will drift into totalitarianism and secularism.Cuba: Churches demolished and pastors arrested in latest government crackdown
Cuba: Churches demolished and pastors arrested in latest government crackdown | Christian News on Christian Today
Harry Farley Junior Staff Writer, 12 January 2016
Two churches have been demolished and several church leaders arrested in the latest state crackdown in Cuba.
Reuters
As the Cuban state restricts religious freedom, Cuban soldiers have reportedly arrived in Syria to join the Russian effort in supporting the regime of President Bashar al-Assad.
Both churches were part of the Apostolic Movement which is unregistered by the Cuban government and were destroyed without warning on January 8, according to Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW).
"Just after 4am police and state security agents broke down the door and handcuffed Reverend Bernardo de Quesada Salomon and his wife Damaris, taking them to two separate prisons while the demolition took place," said a statement from the religious freedom charity.
Click link above for full article.
Photo of one of the two churches demolished by the regime security agents. The atheist Castroit monarchical tyranny is celebrating its 57 years in power since it took political control of the island in 1959 by demolishing churches and arresting Pastors, in a campaign to intimidate Christians. Without a strong and moral USA, most of the world will drift into totalitarianism and secularism.
The Castroit regime Office of Religious Affairs purpose is to monitor, obstruct and restrict the activities of all religious groups. This office deny authorization for a number of religious activities and use other regime agencies to fine religious organizations, confiscate and destroy their churches.Cuba: Tenfold Increase in Religious Freedom Violations in 2015
Capitol Hill Cubans: Cuba: Tenfold Increase in Religious Freedom Violations in 2015
at 11:30 AM Monday, January 18, 2016
Cuba: Unprecedented Crackdown in Religious Freedom in 2015 Drives Spike in Violations
An unprecedented crackdown on churches across the denominational spectrum in Cuba in 2015 has fueled a spike in reported violations of freedom of religion or belief (FoRB), according to a new report by Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW).
Figures compiled by CSW, which are not exhaustive but which serve as an indicator of the level of FoRB violations, reveal a tenfold increase - with 2,300 separate violations recorded in 2015 compared to 220 in 2014. Many incidents involve involved entire churches or, in the case of arrests, dozens of victims. A digital illustration by CSW highlights the crackdown on churches in Cuba.
The spike in cases was largely due to the government declaring 2,000 Assemblies of God (AoG) churches illegal, ordering the closure or demolition of 100 AoG churches in three provinces, and expropriating the properties of a number of other denominations, including the Methodist and Baptist Conventions. Legally registered and unregistered religious groups across the denominational spectrum reported varying degrees of hostility from the government.
Click link above for full article.
Cuba has no incentive to reform now. Obama has surrendered. the pope has surrendered. Cuba's dictatorship has won. the Cuban people have lost.
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