Son of pastor in Cuba remains jailed amid civil unrest

A pastor was briefly detained in Cuba after uploading a Bible teaching video on YouTube, while the 16-year-old son of another church leader on the island remains in custody after being accused of participating in a protest march, an advocacy group reported.

Jonathan Muir Burgos, son of Tiempo de Cosecha Independent Church Pastor Elier Muir Ávila, was arrested along with his father on March 16 in Morón, Ciego de Ávila. The pastor was released the same day at 5:30 p.m., but Jonathan was accused  of participating in March 13-14 protests in Morón and was interrogated about whether he called for freedom, according to Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW).

The protests were part of the civil unrest across Cuba following blackouts and severe shortages of food and medicine. During the protests in Morón in the early hours of March 14, protesters sacked and then set on fire the Cuban Communist Party offices in the city, with one protestor reportedly shot.

“Freedom of religion or belief activist the Rev. Mario Felix Lleonart Barroso has called for urgent action on Jonathan’s behalf, noting similarities between the case and the arrest of Pastor Lorenzo Rosales Fajardo and his teenage son following the nationwide protests of 11 July 2021,” CSW reported.

Jonathan has a serious medical condition, and CSW reported there are concerns for his health.

“The Cuban government has a long history of targeting the children of church leaders as a pressure tactic,” the group stated. “Earlier this month, government officials attempted to forcibly take the 23-year-old son of another unregistered pastor into military service.”

CSW demanded the Cuban government immediately release Jonathan into the custody of his parents.

“The detention of a 16-year-old child with a serious medical condition simply because he attempted to exercise his freedom of expression is unconscionable,” CSW Director of Advocacy Anna Lee Stangl said in a press statement. “Despite the gravity of the situation on the island – with rampant hunger, scarcity of medicine, outbreaks of disease and the failure of the power grid – the answer of President Miguel Canel Diaz and the Cuban Communist Party is to round up and imprison those who dare to call for change.”

Churches must receive official approval to operate in Cuba, and those ministering outside that regulatory framework often face surveillance, warnings and restrictions. In 2024 religious leaders acting at the request of the Office of Religious Affairs of the Central Committee of the Cuban Communist Party, along with local government officials, warned Pastor Muir Ávila that only churches accepted by the Party could operate, and that only pastors recognized by the state could minister.

Pastor Detained

In Peñas Altas, Matanzas, police on March 15 held Pastor Rolando Pérez Lora for three hours following his arrest in a park soon after he finished uploading a Bible teaching video to his Pregonero de Cristo (Christ’s Herald) YouTube channel, according to CWS.

“The pastor told CSW that this is a weekly practice, and that while he is recording people often gather to listen, and some request prayer, which his wife, Gelayne Rodríguez Ávila, provides,” CSW reported.

The pastor’s wife uploaded video of his arrest to social media in which two police officers are seen forcing the pastor into a patrol car as Pastor Pérez Lora objects that he hasn’t done anything wrong and is being mistreated.

“He is eventually forced into the patrol car as the cries of his young children can be heard,” CSW reported. “Dozens of internet users quickly shared the video on other Facebook accounts, causing it to garner over 300,000 views in less than 24 hours and sparking demands to know the pastor’s whereabouts and condition. The pastor was taken to the Playa Police Station and held there for three hours before being released.”

Authorities in Cuba have targeted him since he became a pastor in 2011, he told CSW. Previously he pastored a church in the eastern province of Las Tunas.

“We were always persecuted,” Pastor Pérez Lora told CSW. “State Security in Las Tunas summoned me many times, they harassed me, sending [police] patrols to my house...every time we went out to do a spiritual walk, to pray for the town, we were followed constantly by the police.”

The arrests of Pastor Pérez Lora in Matanzas and Pastor Muir Ávila and his son in Morón continue a long history of targeting of both pastors for leading independent, unregistered churches, the Rev. Lleonart Barroso of civil society group the Patmos Institute told CSW.

Stangl said CSW condemns the arrest of Pastor Pérez Lora, “who has clearly been targeted simply because he shared his faith publicly and because of his influence in his community. While we are relieved that he was released within hours, he never should have been detained in the first place.”

Cuba ranked No. 24 on Open Doors’ 2026 World Watch List of the 50 countries where it is most difficult to be a Christian.