Today, the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom released a new report on the state of the santería (also known as Yoruba) tradition in Cuba. According to USCIRF, the report “provides a brief overview of the traditions of the Santeria community in Cuba and highlights the religious freedom violations that community experiences.” The report gives evidence of religious freedom violations against the Association of Free Yorubas that the Global Liberty Alliance uncovered, thanks to the support of Cuban civil society leaders.
![]() Cuba Archive, in a recent Trafficking in Persons report to the U.S. Department of State, maintains that Cuba engages in trafficking medical professionals internationally. The report mentions Global Liberty Alliance's work uncovering corruption and increasing accountability for Cuba's medical "missions" abroad. You can read the detailed CiberCuba article on the issue, "Gobierno cubano comete tráfico de personas con médicos alquilados en el extranjero, según informe" here. In a show of courage, 15 Cuban priests spoke out against the regime's abuses, urging democracy and freedom for their country. GLA published their letter in English here.
Read more at Breitbart News (English), Babalú Blog, and ADN Cuba (Spanish):
On Monday, December 7, GLA advisor Fr. Fernando Hería, Rector of Our Lady of Charity National Shrine in Miami, was featured in an interview with Breitbart reporter Frances Martel. In their conversation, Fr. Hería stressed that Catholics can fight Communism. He especially called on priests of the Cuban-American diaspora to speak out against Communism.
Read more on Breitbart's website. The Global Liberty Alliance (GLA) renewed calls for sanctioning Cuba's Office of Religious Affairs on November 2, 2020, in response to the October 30 demolition of an Assemblies of God church in Santiago de Cuba, and arrest of the church's pastors and those recording the incident.
On Wednesday, September 2, the Global Liberty Alliance (GLA) sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo urging the U.S. Government to issue sanctions for the Cuban Communist Party officials and others who are complicit in blocking humanitarian aid from U.S.-based charitable and civil society organizations.
![]() As ADN Cuba reported today, Timothy Zuniga Brown will replace Mara Tekach as Chargé d'Affaires at the U.S. Embassy in Havana, Cuba. For her part, Ms. Tekach will take up Mr. Zuniga Brown's current position as coordinator of the State Department’s Office of Cuban Affairs. When asked by ADN Cuba about the appointment, GLA' s Chief Counsel and Policy Advisor Jason I. Poblete stated: "The United States will be well represented in Havana by Tim. He's very familiar not only with the politics involving the United States and Cuba and interested parties, but also with the Western Hemisphere, as well as the importance of Cuban politics in related affairs." Los Estados Unidos estarán bien representados en La Habana por Tim. Es extremadamente conocedor no solo de la política entre Estados Unidos y Cuba y de las partes interesadas, sino también del hemisferio occidental y de la importancia de la política de Cuba en asuntos relacionados", dijo Jason Poblete, abogado de Global Liberty Alliance. As América Tevé reported tonight, Colombia is pulling Cuban healthcare workers from its country, just days after Cuba's medical mission in Mexico was also reported to have returned to Cuba. See around 1:45 to hear GLA's efforts mentioned, and see GLA founding attorney Jason I. Poblete's comments: Yesterday, the U.S. Department of State's Report on International Religious Freedom for 2019 was released. The Report cited the Global Liberty Alliance as providing information about religious freedom violations against the Association of Free Yorubas of Cuba. Here is the quote: According to the U.S. based Global Liberty Alliance, authorities accused the Free Yorubas of 'destabilizing society,' and subjected their leaders to arbitrary detentions and beatings, destruction of ceremonial objects, police monitoring, and searches-and-seizures without probable cause. You can read the full report below:
https://www.state.gov/reports/2019-report-on-international-religious-freedom/cuba/ |