Cuban authorities have blocked exiled Pastor Alain Toledano Valiente from returning to the island to visit his adult daughter, who is facing yet another surgery for advanced breast cancer.
Toledano Valiente, a leader in Cuba’s unregistered Apostolic Movement, shared in a Facebook video that his daughter Susana’s life is again in danger and that he has been denied the chance to be with her. “I was informed my daughter… was scheduled for yet another operation and that her life was again at risk,” he said, pleading with the government to lift the travel restriction.
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As reported by The Christian Post, the pastor was forced into exile in July 2022 under a 30-day ultimatum by Cuban State Security: leave the country or face long-term imprisonment. While he and part of his family were granted emergency parole in the United States, Susana remained in Cuba, where she was diagnosed with cancer just weeks after the separation. Despite several surgeries, her health has worsened amid island-wide medical shortages.
Toledano Valiente said he’s been “repeatedly denied permission to re-enter Cuba,” even missing the funeral of a close family member. The country’s Department of State Security under the Ministry of the Interior reportedly issued a standing no-entry order, though no formal justification has been given.
Calling on the Cuban government to “stop manipulating the rights and lives of Cuban citizens,” the pastor demanded the lifting of the travel ban to exercise his basic right to be with family. Christian Solidarity Worldwide’s advocacy director, Anna Lee Stangl, condemned the government’s actions, stating that they had “not only forced the pastor into exile but were now prolonging his punishment.”
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The Apostolic Movement continues to face intense pressure from the Cuban state, including forced relocations, surveillance and restrictions aimed at silencing unregistered religious groups.
Let us lift up Pastor Toledano in prayer, asking God for a miraculous healing for Susana, peace for the family and divine intervention that would open doors for their reunion. And let us pray that communist regimes across the world would crumble and fall, and that freedom would prevail for the people they oppress.
James Lasher is staff writer for Charisma Media.
