Cuba has refused to allow exiled Pastor Alain Toledano Valiente to return to the island nation to be with his adult daughter, who is undergoing another round of surgery for advanced breast cancer. The government has maintained a travel ban against the pastor since his forced departure in 2022.
Toledano Valiente, a longtime leader of Cuba’s unregistered Apostolic Movement, has accused Cuban authorities of blocking his return during a family medical emergency, the U.K.-based group Christian Solidarity Worldwide reported.
In a Facebook video, he said he was informed his daughter, Susana, who remains in Cuba, was scheduled for yet another operation and that her life was again at risk. He appealed to the Cuban government to allow him to return to the country to be with her.
Get Our Latest News for FREE
Subscribe to get daily/weekly email with the top stories (plus special offers!) from The Christian Post. Be the first to know.
The pastor was forced into exile in July 2022 after receiving a 30-day ultimatum from Cuban State Security: leave or face long-term imprisonment. The order followed more than two decades of official targeting due to his role in the Apostolic Movement, which has been denied legal registration by the government.
The pastor, his wife and two younger daughters were granted emergency parole in the United States, but his two adult daughters, including Susana, remained in Cuba.
Just weeks after their separation, Susana was diagnosed with cancer. Since then, her condition has worsened despite multiple surgeries and ongoing treatment. Medical shortages across the island have compounded her condition.
Toledano says he has been repeatedly denied permission to re-enter Cuba. He was previously barred from attending the funeral of a close family member and told there is a standing no-entry order against him, issued by the Department of State Security under the Ministry of the Interior.
He hasn’t been able to see Susana in person since his departure from the country.
In the public video statement, the pastor called on Cuban officials to stop manipulating the rights and lives of Cuban citizens. He said he was exercising his basic right to be with his family and demanded the lifting of the travel ban.
Susana’s case is one of several where family separation has been caused by a crackdown on unregistered religious groups.
The Apostolic Movement, a network of charismatic churches, has long faced pressure from the state, including surveillance, threats and forced relocations.
Anna Lee Stangl, CSW’s director of advocacy, said Cuban authorities had not only forced the pastor into exile but were now prolonging his punishment by refusing to let him return, even during a family crisis. She urged the Cuban president and interior minister to revoke the travel prohibition on humanitarian grounds.
The no-entry order has not been formally justified, but State Security continues to enforce it.
