Source: www.csw.org.uk
Date: March 28, 2026
Major blackouts. Soaring food prices. Severe shortages of medicine, food and fuel. Cuba is facing its worst economic crisis in decades – and the strain is being felt across the island.
The crisis has triggered widespread unrest, with over 150 protests reported in March alone.
As people are plunged into darkness by power cuts and the worry of an uncertain future, let’s respond in prayer – remembering Jesus’s promise in John 8:
“I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
How are Christians responding?
Religious groups have long stepped in to meet the urgent needs in their communities, for example by providing food, medicine and shelter.
Yet instead of supporting these acts of compassion, the government has criminalised them. Why? Because offering these services exposes the government’s inability or refusal to do so itself.
But even in the face of hostility and pressure – even while enduring hardship themselves – religious leaders continue to serve their communities.
Please pray:
- For religious leaders and communities who are striving to meet the urgent needs of their neighbours. Ask God to provide and to protect them from harassment and interference.
- For the release of political prisoners, and encouragement for their families. Those in prison often suffer disproportionately when there are any kinds of shortages on the island. Many are held in inhumane conditions and denied religious rights. Their families on the outside often face pressure, too – people like Marta Perdomo have been blocked from attending church in an effort to isolate them.
- For God to soften and transform the hearts of those in authority. Pray that they would listen rather than repress those who speak out about the serious needs across the island. May they seek ways to support those leading initiatives to feed the hungry, house the unhoused, and heal the sick.
- For a peaceful, structured transition to democracy and a Cuba where the rights of all are upheld. Ask God to build a sense of unity among religious leaders, and give wisdom as they shepherd their communities towards peace, justice and reconciliation.
- For young people who see no future for themselves in their own country. The exodus of young people has contributed to difficulties in recruitment into the military. The government’s strategy has been to try to force more young men into obligatory military service.
Here are three young men you can pray for by name:
20-year-old Kevin Lay Laredo Rojas is the son of Assemblies of God pastors. He was sentenced to four years in prison for desertion after he fled forced induction into the military – despite having a medical exemption.
23-year-old David Rosabal Cabrera is another pastor’s son. Just a few weeks ago, his father told us that the local police chief came and threatened to take David into military service ‘whether he wants it or not… at nighttime, at dawn, whatever.’ David is married and has two children.
16-year-old Jonathan Muir Burgos was detained along with his father (a pastor) on 16 March, in connection with protests that took place in their city a few days earlier. While the pastor was released, Jonathan remains in prison. If charged, he could be tried as an adult.