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 

Three Kings Day in Cuba and religious freedom violations

Ladies in White in Cuba on January 6, 2013

Three Kings Day also known as the Epiphany was observed in 2013 by the regime in Cuba with detentions of children, the homes of activists stoned, and death threats.

At the same time opposition activists attended Mass and gave gifts to children to celebrate a holiday that has a long history in Cuba, although suppressed for decades by the Castro dictatorship. The Ladies in White together with the Cuban Patriotic Union organized an event with 250 children to celebrate the day of the Kings in Palmarito de Cauto.

Agents of the regime took part in acts of repression to sabotage efforts to celebrate The Epiphany on the Eve of Three Kings Day and on the holiday itself the Cuban government engaged in a campaign of intimidation and harassment. Rosa Maria Payá reported over twitter on January 5th at 4:27pm: "We just found out they have thrown a stone against the door of our house, I wonder what will be next."

At 10:23am on January 6, 2012 Jose Daniel Ferrer Garcia reported over twitter that in "Santiago de Cuba: 3 kilometers from the city of Palma Soriano, the political police stopped a private passenger lorry with over 80 people. Detained in the truck were 60 children and adults traveling to ​​Palmarito de Cauto to participate in an activity for Three Kings Day.

Three Kings Day disappeared as a holiday in the early 1960s only to resurface in 1998, along with Christmas, with Pope John Paul II's visit to Cuba. Nevertheless, religious repression in Cuba continues to be a serious problem. Christian Solidarity Worldwide has reported a dramatic increase in harassment and persecution of people of faith in Cuba in 2012 stating:

CSW documented 120 reported cases of religious freedom in 2012, up from a total of 30 in 2011, some of which involved entire churches and denominations and hundreds of people. The number does not include the men and women who were arrested and imprisoned for the duration of Pope Benedict XVI’s visit in March which local human rights groups estimate to be upwards of 200.

The Castro regime is channeling the spirit of King Herod in trying to repress the free exercise of religion in Cuba and harassing children.