Cuba is in a state of collapse as never before. And Cubans themselves have never suffered as much as they are now as the first quarter of the 21st century closes. Despite the many challenges confronting Cuba, its history has been significantly nourished by courage from the evangelical community. Public protests, solidarity with other causes, and accusations toward the terrible social and economic situation on the island are some of the ways in which this is being expressed. Those actions fit a trend of growing nationwide civil disobedience that took place from 2018 to 2022.

The enemies of freedom also noticed the growing evangelical influence in Cuban society, and they condemned it out of fear. In July 2025, the British media outlet BBC reported how Cuba, once a de facto atheist state, was experiencing a rise in evangelicalism amidst the worst national economic crisis in 30 years. Outreach Aid to the Americas, a U.S. nonprofit that has supported Cuba’s faith community for over 30 years, believes that the rapidly growing evangelical community may be approaching 20% of the population, or about half the size of Catholic membership.

Frei Betto, a Catholic theologian close to the Castro regime, told the BBC that he was concerned about “the emergence of neo-Pentecostals as a political force,” because “most of them oppose the Revolution” and promote values ??such as “meritocracy.”

In addition to philosophical differences between neo-Pentecostals and a few leftist Catholic theologians, there has been a stark difference in evangelicals’ actions regarding the totalitarian state. In the same month as Betto’s complaints to the BBC, evangelical leaders and laypeople continued to act and speak out on various social issues. Several supported the rebellion against the Masonic leader imposed by the regime; they continued to provide medicine and food to families of political prisoners despite government repression; and they criticized the lack of religious freedom and the social crisis under the Revolution from a Christ-centered perspective.

And this was just a sample from 2025. The evangelical community once again demonstrated how much potential it still holds to advance civic resistance in defense of civil liberties on the island.

Denouncing Mandatory Military Service

Another example in 2025 were evangelicals who were key in exposing human rights violations related to the Mandatory Military Service (SMO, in Spanish) put in place by Castro in the 1960s.

On May 19, Luis Guillermo Borjas and Roxana Rojas, pastors of the Assemblies of God in Isla de la Juventud, were arrested after testifying in favor of their son, Kevin Lay Lauredio, who was accused of deserting the SMO. At his trial, they presented medical evidence justifying his inability to participate in the SMO for medical reasons, which the authorities dismissed as lies.

The atmosphere in the courtroom became tense when the pastors protested being called liars. Borjas accused the prosecution of acting unjustly and mentioned divine justice, thus provoking an immediate reaction from the military court, which prohibits religious references. As such, they were charged with contempt and disobedience, with the prosecution alarmingly requesting an eight-year prison sentence.

Rojas, who suffers from heart and blood pressure problems, was sent home and later hospitalized in serious condition. Her youngest son had to be cared for by church members during her hospitalization. Borjas, for his part, was held incommunicado at a police station without access to visits or food.

In January 2025, the dissident movement known as the Cuban Republican Party, with evangelicals such as María Cristina Garrido and Luis Rodríguez Pérez leading it on the island, launched the #NoToCompulsoryMilitaryService campaign. Its activists carried signs in the streets and disseminated messages online following explosions resulting from an accident at a military warehouse in Holguín, where 13 people died, nine of them teenage recruits.

As tragic as the Borjas-Rojas case was, it did serve to revive criticism of mandatory military service for men. And the evangelical community spearheaded the reaction. It united, once again, registered and unregistered groups, in favor of freedom of conscience and criticism of the Castro regime’s penal system. For example, David “Siloetano” Espinosa, an evangelical, shared a personal experience where his mother prevented his death due to medical negligence during military training.

On March 21, Pastor Carlos López Valdés from the Evangelical Gospel League called on the conscience of the people and the church, denouncing the injustice suffered by Borjas and Rojas. For him, this was not an isolated incident, but “an open wound in the soul of Cuba.” López Valdés exhorted the church to awaken: “You were not called to be a spectator of injustice, but the light of the world and the salt of the earth.” This is not a time for spiritual cowardice, he insisted, but rather for exercising the gifts of the Spirit such as power, love, and self-control.

The pastor also addressed those in power: “Do not fear the gospel, fear the judgment of God,” and added that God sees the lies in the government and hears those who suffer in silence. Hopeful and defiant, he concluded by urging Cuba not to give up: “May your heart not become accustomed to oppression. Cry out to God, cry out with truth.” He said this with his “heart burning for the Kingdom” and with “the certainty that justice would break through like an unstoppable river.”

On May 22, Cuba’s Assemblies of God bravely published an official declaration, along with a photo of its national leaders. “We strongly condemn the actions that have taken place in the case of the Assemblies of God pastors,” the text began. It described the arrest as “an extreme judicial action” and demanded their immediate release. The Assemblies of God was applauded and joined in solidarity by other denominations, such as the “Rehobot” Apostolic Ministry in Santiago de Cuba, and AICNoR (an independent, non-registered churches association).

After three days in prison, and following evangelical pressure, the regime released Pastor Borjas on May 24. The church, united, showed its increasing political strength.

A source from Assemblies of God told a leader of AICNoR that they would continue fighting for Kevin’s release from compulsory military service and the annulment of the trial scheduled for June against the pastoral couple. Upon hearing the news, the General Executive Presbytery of Assemblies of God published:

“We thank our Lord Jesus Christ, and His divine justice that resulted in the release of our unjustly imprisoned pastor. We thank every Council and Church that used the most powerful weapon, prayer, and showed their support, love, and Christian sympathy.”

And they added the quote from Psalm 34:17: “The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them; he delivers them from all their troubles.” Borjas, for his part, said upon leaving prison that God had put him there for a purpose: “I was able to convert five people while there.”

The echoes of the case continue. The artist Sacramento José Acebo, from the LEC, sent a letter to the National Assembly of People’s Power (ANPP), criticizing the judicial system. His final paragraph read:

“Faith is the first and last resource a person can have in life. To strip parents of the right to express their disagreement with a situation in which they find themselves completely defenseless and powerless in the face of the danger in which their child’s life may be, becomes a ruthless attitude that any competent court would avoid.”

On the other hand, the Cuba State Security in Chaparra, Las Tunas, summoned Pastor Ronaldo Pérez Lora for criticizing the treatment of the Borjas-Rojas couple. “My call was made in love, not to promote violence,” he said. “I believe we must be increasingly united. If one of us falls, we must all be there.”