Cuba: Brand new president, same old pressure

There have been numerous arrests of members of the activist group, Ladies in White, as reported by Panampost on 24 April 2018, Infobae on 30 April 2018 and Diario de Cuba on 6 May 2018. The arrests in May took place as the women were on their way to a church service. The Ladies in White are a Christian-based opposition movement founded in 2003 by wives and other female relatives of jailed dissidents. Rossana Ramirez, persecution analyst at World Watch Research, comments: "In April 2018, Miguel Diaz-Canel was elected President of Cuba, ending the long administration of Fidel and Raul Castro (LaVanguardia, 19 April 2018). He has declared that he is not a reformer and that he will defend the ideals of the Cuban revolution, which means that restrictive measures against any activity opposing the regime remain in place. This has been clearly illustrated by the large number of arrests reported above. All Christians are aware that they still cannot speak out and live their Christian lives freely without putting themselves at risk, as was made abundantly clear when members of the Ladies in White group were arrested on their way to a church service."