Holguín, Cuba, police seize Pentecostal church’s donated fans and tithe money

A Pentecostal church in the town of San Germán, in the municipality of Urbano Noris in Holguín province, Cuba, received a private donation of 150 fans from the United States about 10 days before the report. The church, which the source says has been legally registered in the country for more than 60 years, is led by Pastors Juan Carlos Raidel Viamonte and Doraidis Rodríguez Feria. The fans were intended for distribution to churches and missionaries in the province as summer temperatures rose.

The purchase was made through the Bazar Virtual website. The fans are Cuban-made, manufactured by the National Industrial Company Producer of Domestic Utensils (INPUD), and were delivered by the corporation COPEXTEL S.A., which the source describes as dedicated to selling household appliances and offering other services.

According to Pastor Yoel Demetrio, leader of the Missionary Church of Cuba, who spoke to Radio Martí, officers from the National Revolutionary Police (PNR) and State Security were at the church on Holguín’s 29th Street when the fans arrived. They had a search warrant after receiving a complaint that fuel was being sold on the premises. Demetrio said the officers found no fuel. He said the pastors showed the authorities documents on the purchase and on the church’s legal standing, and that a representative of COPEXTEL S.A. told officers that the paperwork was in order and that the purchase was legal.

Demetrio said that, despite the documentation, police decided to seize the fans and 10,000 Cuban pesos that he said came from donations by members of the congregation. He said pastors were arrested and interrogated. He also said that 10,005 pesos found in the pastoral house were tithes and offerings, and that police said that money would also be collected and confiscated. He described the pastors as harassed by the authorities. These are his statements, and the source does not include an official police account.

Demetrio said that Bishop Adonis Gato Cruz, president of the Pentecostal Church Assembly of God of Cuba, met with Caridad Diego Bello, who heads the Office of Religious Affairs of the Communist Party of Cuba. According to Demetrio, she said the origin of the fans was under investigation. He added that authorities in Holguín had already decided to sell the fans, and that the equipment was taken from Urbano Noris to the city of Holguín to be sold through the retail network.

Demetrio said a formal complaint has been filed with the Office of the Public Prosecutor and that the complaint has also been sent to Christian Solidarity World. He said leaders of religious works in Cuba are closely concerned about the matter, and that he is president of the Cuban Missionary Foundation, which he said is aware of the needs of missionaries and of the poor in Cuban camps.

Source: Read the original report (translated from Spanish)