Exiled pastor denied visit to daughter with advanced cancer

Text: CSW

A Protestant pastor forced into exile by the authorities is being denied entry to Cuba to visit his daughter, who is seriously ill with cancer. 

According to Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW), Pastor Alain Toledano Valiente’s adult daughter, Susana Toledano Benitez, is battling advanced breast cancer and is once again scheduled for surgery. 

In an emotional video message posted on Facebook, Pastor Toledano Valiente said: 
“this morning I received the information that my daughter, Susana, has to go back on the operating table. Her life is at risk once more…I want this message to get to all of those in seats of power in Cuba. You must stop playing politics, you must stop playing with the lives of Cubans and with the rights of Cubans… I demand my rights… to enter my country and to be with my family…’   

Denied Registration 

For more than 20 years, Pastor Toledano Valiente has been a target of the Cuban government and its security apparatus due to his leadership in the Apostolic Movement—a charismatic Protestant Christian network that the authorities have refused to register. 

On June 25, 2022, the Cuban state gave him a 30-day ultimatum: leave the country or face long-term imprisonment. With little notice, Pastor Toledano Valiente, his wife, and their two underage daughters were granted permission to enter the United States in July 2022. 

Since then, he has been prevented from boarding flights to the island—even when he tried to attend the funeral of a close family member. He has been informed that Cuba’s Department of State Security (DSE), which operates under the Ministry of the Interior, has issued a formal ban prohibiting his entry. 

Due to their age, Pastor Toledano Valiente’s two adult daughters were not eligible to accompany the family to the United States. They were forced to remain in Cuba. In August 2022, Susana Toledano Benitez was diagnosed with cancer. Multiple surgeries and treatments have so far failed to stop the progression of the disease. She is scheduled to undergo additional operations in the coming days. Like so many others on the island, her condition has been worsened by the chronic shortage of medicine across Cuba. 

“The authorities continue to punish him and his family for the ‘crime’ of leading a religious group the government refused to register.” 
— Anna Lee Stangl 

Further Punishment 

CSW’s Head of Advocacy, Anna Lee Stangl, states: 
“The Cuban government appears unsatisfied with having forced Alain Toledano Valiente, his wife, and their two younger daughters into exile. The authorities continue to punish him and his family for the ‘crime’ of leading a religious group the government refused to register, tearing them apart even in times of crisis. We urge President Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez and Minister of the Interior Lázaro Alberto Álvarez Casas to immediately lift the ban preventing Pastor Toledano Valiente from returning to Cuba on humanitarian grounds, and to allow him to be with his daughter in this difficult time.”