After receiving asylum in the US in July, the couple was informed by government official that they would not be issued exit visas, or “white cards”, as they are called in Cuba. Following negative press coverage, officials told the family they would in fact be allowed to leave, but three months on they say they have yet to see any indication that they will be permitted to go into exile. The family told Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) that they are concerned about the long delays and contradictory messages.

Pastor Gude, a national leader in a fast growing network of independent churches called the Apostolic Movement, served almost three years of a six and a half year prison sentence on trumped up charges. He was released on conditional liberty earlier this year but is prohibited from preaching or from travelling outside the city of Camaguey.

Pressure on other pastors in Cuba is also increasing. Another couple, both pastors from the same religious network in Camaguey as the Gude family, have been repeatedly cited by government officials and threatened with imprisonment and forcible closure of their church. On the most recent occasion, Benito Rodríguez and Bárbara Guzmán were ordered to appear at the local Ministry of Justice on 11 October and fined 200 Cuban pesos (approximately one month’s salary in Cuba).

Last month a Baptist pastor in the province of Santa Clara, Mario Felix Lleonart Barroso, was put under house arrest on multiple occasions. Officials warned the family that they could be a target of an “act of repudiation”, government orchestrated mobs often mobilised by officials to intimidate and attack human rights and democracy activists.

CSW’s Special Ambassador Stuart Windsor said, “We are deeply concerned at the news that Cuban officials have once again declined to issue the Gude family an exit visa. News of increased pressure and threats against other church leaders is also extremely worrying. CSW calls on Cuba once again, to uphold its commitments as a signatory to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and to cease harassment of religious leaders. We hope that the government will also honour its promise to the Gude family to allow them to leave the country and begin a new life in the United States without any further delay.”

CUBA (ANS) — A Pastor’s wife who miscarried after a neighbor attacked her, stood before a Cuban court yesterday accused by the authorities of ‘disturbing the public order’ on that day.

According to Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW), Gilianys Meneses Rodriguez, daughter-in-law to Reverend Roberto Rodriguez and wife to Pastor Eric Gabriel Rodriguez, was attacked on the street by the wife of a neighbour in December 2008.

CSW says the attack was the latest in a campaign of harassment against the Rodriguez family, carried out with the tacit support of the authorities, due to the families’ involvement in the Interdenominational Fellowship of Evangelical Pastors and Ministers in Cuba (Spanish acronym; CIMPEC) decision to leave the Cuban Council of Churches (CCC.)

“The neighbors first contaminated the families’ drinking water well, broke the water pipes, and septic tank before accusing Gilianys’ husband of aggressive behaviour. As a result of the violence, Gilianys miscarried after eight weeks pregnancy. The entire family has been forced to move away from their home in Placetas due to concerns for their safety,” CSW said in a media release.

Gilianys, a mother of two girls, is now the third member of the Rodriguez family to be summoned to appear before the Placetas Tribunal, CSW said.

Her father-in-law was national president of CIMPEC until October 2008 when the Cuban authorities removed him, following the decision of CIMPEC to withdraw from the CCC. CIMPEC cited illegal government interference in their internal affairs as the reason for their withdrawal.

CSW said the harassment and legal proceedings against the family began after the difficulties between CIMPEC and the CCC. Reverend Roberto Rodriguez has since been summoned to appear in court four times on charges of ‘threatening behavior.’

Gilianys’ husband, Pastor Eric Gabriel Rodriguez, was tried on the same charges as his father in December 2008 and has been sentenced to one year probation.

There has been an increase in reported violations of religious liberty since Raul Castro took power in early 2008.