By Diana Chandler - Posted at Baptist Press:
Published November 19, 2025
WASHINGTON (BP) – Nicaragua, Cuba and Venezuela form a Latin American authoritarian triad where leaders exert religious persecution to maintain governmental control, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) reported Nov. 18.“In line with the authoritarian governance models of the three regimes, religious entities face persecution for any activity deemed to undermine state power and influence,” USCIRF wrote in an update on persecution there. “In all three countries, the ruling party fully controls government functions and violates human rights to subdue opposition.”
Nicaragua and Cuba are the leading aggressors in the region, USCIRF said, citing among many transgressions Nicaragua’s July arrest of evangelical Pastor Rudy Palacios Vargas and seven of his friends and family, one of whom died of unknown causes while in custody; and both nations’ weaponization of citizenship in stripping certain religious leaders of such status.
Nicaragua has stripped at least 450 perceived opponents of citizenship since early 2023, USCIRF said, including people affiliated with the evangelical Mountain Gateway ministry based in Texas, several Catholic laypeople and others.
Cuba was inspired by Nicaragua, USCIRF said, in passing the 2024 Citizenship Law that allows Cuba to revoke the citizenship of those who engage in acts “contrary to the political, economic, or social interest” of the nation.