Havana, July 16 (RHC) Religious institutions in Cuba spoke out in favor of peace and tranquility in the country, as well as the cessation of violence and the elimination of one of the main causes of the recent unrest: the impact of the intensified U.S. blockade.
The Evangelical League of Cuba, with its Pastoral and the group of congregations that comprise it, expressed in a communiqué their rejection of any incitement to violence and any of its manifestations, any act of vandalism, and any call to a confrontation that generates more violence.
This religious entity expressed that Cubans have the right to express their criteria peacefully within an orderly manner and based on respect, that every citizen must be heard and contribute to the good of society by making use of his or her civic participation.
The Cuban Interreligious Platform meanwhile expressed that "we are left with the spiritual duty of being united, always together in function of the God who unites, who blesses and loves this land that is already free and always beyond."
The Oscar Arnulfo Romero Center made "a call to the unity of the nation under respect, love, sovereignty, and peace at the same time as to the peoples of the world not to let themselves be carried away by malicious or false news that only serve to misinform about the Cuban reality."
Signed by Gabriel Coderch Diaz, director of the institution, the statement expresses the Center's condemnation "first of all the inhuman and unethical U.S. blockade of Cuba, as well as all kinds of manifestations contrary to public order, peace and national security, more so in this time of pandemic and shortages associated with it, which only serve to delay recovery and increase the cases of Covid 19, while hindering the enormous efforts of the Cuban state to get out of this situation."
The Evangelical Theological Weekly, based in Matanzas, published a statement that points out that "in recent days, particularly last Sunday, July 11, there have been riots, protests, and vandalism, fundamentally caused by many accumulated dissatisfactions, all these years, which have worsened these last months, but also because they have been encouraged and promoted from outside the country and also from within the nation, through social media.
"As churches, we are interceding for our people by consoling, caring, producing and sharing meaning, offering a message of faith (strength and hope), of dialogue, reconciliation, and peace with justice. In addition, offering 'solidarity and testimony', carrying out works of Diakonia or service", the note specifies.
The Episcopal Church in Cuba also made a call to the "beloved Cuban people", to "Peace and Life in this crucial time that the Cuban Homeland is going through".
The document makes a broad assessment of the reality of the country at present, and among its points, it mentions "that we must admire the work of the scientists who with so much passion were able to obtain vaccine candidates for the relief of the people, and recognize the medical and paramedical personnel who work day and night without rest and almost without resources trying to save their fellow citizens, in the midst of the multiplication of the contagion to scales never before foreseen."
