Pastor of a church was arrested after questioning the ban on leaving the country imposed on him

On 9th November 9, the pastor of a church showed up at the immigration office in the city of Baracoa as he had been summoned because the Ministry of the Interior prohibited him from leaving the national territory until further notice. When the official from that office told him that he could not leave for an event to which he had been invited by the Pentecostal church to which he belonged, the pastor demanded that he be told the reasons why he could not leave the country. At that time a Ministry of the Interior official told him that he was not allowed to leave the country at least for now, as a result of "talking things over with people who visit the church where he worked". The pastor replied that all he was doing was quoting the word of God that was written in the Bible and that he had not written it, and he assured him that he would not ask for any documents to leave the country again because his work was with his community. As a result of this response, the pastor was arrested for an alleged lack of respect for authority and was taken to the National Revolutionary Police (PNR) unit where he was detained from 2 pm to 4 pm the same day. He was released after an official warning was issued for allegedly disrespecting an officer of the State Security Department (DSE). This pastor is not the only member of a church who has been the victim of offenses like this, other members of other churches in the municipality have also been victims of similar acts. A few years ago, an Italian-born priest, member of the first Catholic Church in the municipality, was also victim of a similar situation, with the difference that he was expelled from the country.