Madrid/The Episcopal Church has joined the many Protestant Churches that had shown their support for the cause of influencer and activist Anna Sofía Benítez, known as Anna Bensithrough a release published this Monday in which they also denounce the living conditions of Cubans and the growing inequality between them.
“As the Body of Christ on this earth, we cannot remain silent in the face of the pain that we are all suffering at this hour in our history,” opens the letter, published on the Church’s website and on its social networks. The text is structured in five blocks, the first being the one that describes what they call “our reality”, a panorama that speaks of migration that “tears families apart”, rising prices of basic products and increasing inequality.
Among the main concerns is the lack of water, food and medicine, the “unbearable blackouts”, the deterioration of the health and education systems despite the “titanic effort” of workers in both sectors, who contribute their “vocation” despite everything. “These are not abstract realities, but they materialize in the lack of bread on the table, in the sick without treatment, in the new generations without education and in mothers without hope,” he summarizes.
“These are not abstract realities, but they materialize in the lack of bread on the table, in the sick without treatment, in the new generations without education and in mothers without hope.”
The Episcopal Church, after citing a short list of others that have already raised their voices for Anna Bensi, expresses its “frustration and pain at the use of violence, intimidation and harassment, by police forces, against those who decide to raise their voices and demand their rights,” and cites the Constitution as the source of the right to freedom of expression.
“We are pained by the suffering that these actions are causing in thousands of families, especially young people. To silence the voices of young people is to silence the present and the future of the country. In the face of all this we say: enough!! because we firmly believe that no Cuban should raise his hand against another Cuban, neither for political reasons nor for any other reason,” the text denounces. In the letter, the Church says it joins the “weak and dispossessed,” as well as those who suffer the consequences of expressing their discontent.
Although the call is “to the mercy of God”, so that the authorities listen to the people “whom they are called to serve and protect and not to continue asking for more sacrifices”, the letter is addressed directly to the Government. “With no intention of confrontation, but of dialogue,” he emphasizes, before closing the text by highlighting the Church’s commitment to “serving and accompanying” the people.
The letter is signed by Ángel Roberto Rivera Rodríguez, IX bishop of this denomination in Cuba, but it is signed by more than twenty reverends of the Church.
The case of Anna Bensi and her mother, Caridad Silvente, both noted members of the Baptist Church, has awakened a wave of solidarity among a dozen Protestant Churches on the Island. Among them are the Baptist Convention of Western Cuba, the Evangelical Pentecostal Church (Assemblies of God), the Evangelical League, the Methodist Church, and many others that have spoken out through statements or open letters in support of the activist.
The letter is signed by Ángel Roberto Rivera Rodríguez, IX bishop of this denomination in Cuba, but it is signed by more than twenty reverends of the Church
Benítez and Silvente were tried on last Thursday October 1st for a crime against the honor of a State Security agent, who reported the recording and dissemination of images of him by both women when he went to both women’s homes to deliver a summons. The Popular Municipal Court of Eastern Havana, in Cojímar, considered them guilty and announced, verbally, a sentence of two years of limitation of freedom for each one, the terms of which are unknown exactly until the official communication.
The case has been widely reported by the international press, which was even able – in an atypical way – to be at the doors of the court and collect statements from Anna Bensi. The activist has received support not only from Protestant churches but from many other opponents and Christians, such as Anthony Martínez, quoted this Monday in a police unit after having accompanied the influencer at trial.
