3 Latin American Nations Labeled ‘Authoritarian Triad’ Of Religious Persecution
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 reported on 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.
In Venezuela, USCIRF noted governmental threats to religious leaders not deemed supportive of President Nicolas Maduro, whose latest election the international community widely considers fraudulent.
In January, hooded Venezuelan state security members captured Carlos José Correa Barros, a Christian journalist and director of the human rights group Espacio Público, and held him in a hidden location for a week before releasing him after a nine-day confinement, USCIRF said.
The commission also noted Madura’s launch of the “My Well Equipped Church” refurbishment program, describing it as “an aggressive strategy to secure evangelical support,” complete with cash stipends to 13,000 pastors. The move copied Cuba’s mode of cultivating relationships with religious leaders willing to support the government, USCIRF noted.
Broadly, the three nations persistently harass religious communities through surveillance, threats of imprisonment, arbitrary detentions and arrests, control of religious messages including sermons and public attacks. The nations enact laws that unjustly restrict the activities and legal status of religious groups; practice favoritism in attempts to control messaging and deny religious freedom to prisoners.
The U.S. State Department in 2022 designated Cuba and Nicaragua Countries of Particular Concern for “engaging in or tolerating systematic, ongoing and egregious violations of religious freedom” under the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998. USCIRF recommended U.S. governmental responses in its 2025 Annual Report, including sanctions of those culpable in violations.
The 2025 annual report does not address Venezuela, but violations there and in Nicaragua are so widespread that many consider them crimes against humanity, USCIRF said in its update, downloadable here.
This article has been republished with permission from Baptist Press.
Diana Chandler is Baptist Press’ senior writer.