HAVANA, Aug 7, 02 (CWNews.com) - A Catholic Cuban bishop on Wednesday rebuked people in Canada who he said he pressured nearly two dozen Cuban youths attending World Youth Day last month to defect from the Communist country.
Bishop Carlos Baladron, president of the youth committee of the Cuban bishops conference, said: «Never before has a Church delegation been wrapped up in something similar.» He added, «From our first days in Canada, there were notable pressures by some people living there ... exhorting the Cubans not to return to their country.»
Out of the delegation of nearly 200 Cubans who attended World Youth Day in Toronto, 23 decided to seek asylum. Bishop Baladron said news coverage of the Cubans' defection «indicates that a religious event such as this ... can be taken advantage of by those with determined political interests.»
This World Youth Day was the first one in which Cuban dictator Fidel Castro had allowed such a large delegation to attend an overseas Catholic event.
Bishop Baladron said that Catholics in Cuba do not face repression for their religious beliefs, despite the defections in Canada. «In order to do something like this (defect), you say things ... that aren't true,» said Baladron. «We haven't had any religious persecution, neither there (in Canada) nor here.» Human rights groups and Cuban dissidents disagree, noting the strict government controls on public preaching and outdoor religious events and a ban on Church-run schools. They also note the harsh penalties against those who would publicly dissent from the government's pro-abortion laws and attacks on democracy activists.
The Canadian organizers of World Youth Day also lamented the actions of those who seek to be free of the repressive Communist regime. «It is very unfortunate. It's not the reason why we put on World Youth Day,» Paul Kilbertus, the event's communications director, said at the time. «They came for other reasons and they took advantage.»
CWNews DAILY NEWS BRIEF © Copyright 2002 Domus Enterprises
7. august 2002