(ETH) – An Assemblies of God Church has reportedly been demolished in Cuba by orders of the government and now a new report from the Christian Post is revealing that Christian leaders there in a southern Cuban town have faced ongoing pressure from government agents to sign an official statement declaring that the recent destruction of the Assemblies of God Church was legal.
The information comes from Christian Solidarity Worldwide, which is an international watchdog group that supports persecuted believers in over 20 countries. The organization reports that authorities in Santiago de Cuba are attempting to cover their tracks after a church affiliated with one of the largest demonstrations in the country was destroyed last Friday.
The Church that has been targeted is located in the Abel Santamaria neighborhood of Santiago de Cuba and is led by Pastor Fausto Palomo Cabrera and is one of the largest legally-recognized religious bodies by the Cuban communist regime, which often cracks down on non-state-sanctioned churches and believers.
This isn’t something that came overnight as reports show that the church has faced harassment and threats for over five years now and began back in 2015. The government claimed that the church’s destruction was officially carried out for the construction of train tracks.
A local pastor not affiliated with the church, Alain Toledano, was even arrested for just filming heavy machinery at the church early last Friday morning as well as two members of the church named Adrián Arza and Félix Daniel González also being detained and held incommunicado for nine hours.
