Observing Three Kings Day in Cuba: Homes raided, activists detained and children's toys taken on eve of holiday

Rise up in splendor, Jerusalem! Your light has come, the glory of the Lord shines upon you. - Isaiah 60:1 -2

Today is the Feast of the Epiphany and it celebrates the revelation of Christ to humanity. In Spain and Latin America this involves the celebration known as Three Kings Day. This was a long time tradition in Cuba that the communist regime ended in 1969. The Cuban Exile community in Miami in response to this began the Three Kings Day Parade that it continues to celebrate to the present day. Some of the independent journalists in Cuba now describe Three Kings Day as something from outside of Cuba, but local Christians are trying to revive the tradition publically.

Unfortunately in Cuba the secret police in the days leading up to Three Kings Day have raided the homes of opposition activists, beating up dissidents and confiscating toys that were to be handed out to needy Cuban children today.

Lady in White Leticia Ramos, home raided, and arrested yesterday

Yesterday over twitter Cuban independent journalist and labor activist Iván Hernández Carrillo in a series tweets reported on repression against a Lady in White and her family in order to prevent them giving toys to children today:

Combined forces of the national police and secret police raided the home of Lady in White Leticia Ramos this morning (tweeted on January 5th at 1:53pm). Armed forces confiscated the toys that were in the home for Three Kings Day in Cárdenas, Matanzas (1:54pm). In the raid they brutally beat up Randy Monteoca and Alexey Ramos son and brother of the Lady in White, were also arrested (1:55pm). Since this morning the situation of Lady in White Leticia Ramos is unknown, her mobile phone is off or outside the coverage area (6:14pm).  This morning at 11:05am Iván Hernández Carrillo tweeted that "Leticia Ramos and her son Randy Monteoca released yesterday afternoon, the latter with a 2,000 peso fine.

This state security operation is not taking place in a vacuum.  Not only are human rights overall in serious decline in Cuba, but religious repression in 2016 reached levels not seen since 1992.

Let us pray that next year on Three Kings Day state security in Cuba is no longer raiding homes to steal toys. This modern update of an American Christmas classic: The Grinch Who Stole Christmas needs to be ended.

Three Kings return to Baire, Cuba after five decades 

More than 300 activists arrested today in Cuba, many violently assaulted by state security

25 Sundays of repression in Cuba

Ladies in White marching today in Havana, Cuba (Photo by Angel Moya)

The #WeAllMarch (#TodosMarchamos) campaign today marked the 25th Sunday of repression in Cuba against nonviolent dissidents with an escalation in the numbers detained and violence by regime agents. The bloodied face of Yriade Hernandez Aguilera was spread across social media today and his testimony made available by the Patriotic Union of Cuba (UNPACU).


Opposition mobilized today to draw attention to a continuing injustice that arose with the visit of Pope Francis to Cuba. Zaqueo Báez, María Josefa Acón and Ismael Bonet are the three dissidents who were arrested for approaching Pope Francis before his first Mass in Cuba and remain imprisoned three weeks later. The three are members of the Patriotic Union of Cuba (UNPACU) and are on hunger strike. Yesterday, UNPACU's leader Jose Daniel Ferrer Garcia announced that there movement would be protesting to demand the release of the three jailed activists and regime repression. Today that promise was carried out.

In addition UNPACU participated in various activities across the island. For example, in Havana, they joined with the Ladies In White (Damas De Blanco) as they gathered in Gandhi Park after Mass and began their peaceful march only to be attacked and detained by agents of the Castro regime. The march today was dedicated to the martyred founder of the Ladies in White, Laura Inés Pollán Toledo.

Today agents of the Castro regime engaged in a nationwide crackdown in which initial estimates were that over 200 activists were arrested, many of them violently. They also assaulted UNPACU Headquarters in Buenaventura, Holguín and in Santiago. Many activists were detained & beaten. Their cell phones remain out of service.

Earlier tonight Lady in White Sayli Navarro reported over twitter that Ladies in White in Matanzas province had been released but that among them, Leticia Ramos Herreria was one of the most badly beaten by five female thugs of Castro's regime.

At 10:55pm tonight Cuban dissident Antonio Rodiles expressed concern for the Ladies in White whose whereabouts at that later hour remained unknown. At 12:06am Yriade Hernandez Aguilera the Eastern coordinator of UNPACU reported that "more than 300 human rights defenders, of different organizations had been detained."