Cuban Pastor, Family Arrive in U.S. After Suffering Under Regime
Authorities imprisoned, fined church planter who fought for religious
freedom.
By Compass Direct News
The Rev. Carlos Lamelas, 50, his wife Uramis and two daughters,
Estephanie, 18, and Daniela, 10, landed at Miami International Airport
Thursday evening (July 7) on a direct flight from Havana.
Lamelas, who once served as national president of his denomination in
Cuba, was granted asylum in the United States due to persecution he has
endured for more than five years at the hands of Cuban authorities. On
Feb. 20, 2006, security officials conducted an early morning raid of his
home and arrested Lamelas.
They accused the successful evangelist and church planter of "human
trafficking," a charge related to aiding Cubans who wish to escape Cuba
without government permission. Those close to Lamelas, however, said
police targeted him because he had challenged the Castro regime on
religious liberty issues.
During his imprisonment, hundreds of letters poured in from fellow
Christians around the world, confirming their prayers for him and
offering encouragement. Jailers admitted to Uramis Lamelas that the
correspondence created difficulties for them, and that they "had decided
on a change in procedure."
Four months after his arrest, Lamelas was unexpectedly released.
Authorities tried him in court in December of 2006. The state
prosecuting attorney recommended acquittal on the human trafficking
charge, which carries a sentence of up to nine years in prison.
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Later that month, however, the court convicted Lamelas on a previously
unannounced charge of "falsifying documents" and fined him 1,000 Cuban
pesos (US$45). The move was seen as an effort to save face and send
Lamelas a message that he was still under surveillance.
Denied means of employment following his imprisonment – leaders of his
denomination had earlier expelled Lamelas from the church at the behest
of government authorities – he supported his family as a freelance
photographer.
Fearing another unexpected arrest and possible long-term imprisonment,
Lamelas applied for political asylum in 2010 but was denied. He
described the ordeal to friends as "our spiritual waters of Mara. As
when Moses was leading the God's people through the wilderness and,
hungry and thirsty, they found the bitter waters of Mara."
A U.S. official in Havana familiar with the Lamelas case encouraged him
to reapply for asylum. Following interviews with the family on March 22,
the Department of Internal Security determined they qualified as
political refugees.
The family will be resettled in Texas under the auspices of the Division
of Refugee Affairs of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
Lamelas admitted that the news that they had qualified as political
refugees came as a shock, albeit a welcome one. Tense months of waiting
and uncertainty had aggravated nagging health problems – he has suffered
from chronic stomach ailments since his imprisonment. But once he
learned of the asylum decision, he began to recover.
"For our part, we have been open to the will of God, and we know He will
take us where we can best serve Him," he wrote. "Our moral commitment
with the Lord's work is permanent and without borders . . . We know that
many brothers and sisters have collaborated for our benefit – we're
sorry not to know specifically who they are. Nevertheless, we want them
to know that our love and gratitude is sealed in our hearts for the rest
of our lives."
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