February 4, 2021
Cuba’s new Constitution, approved in February 2019, exposed the growth in the organizing capacity of religious institutions in a country that still maintains communism as its official political ideology. As Cubans discussed a proposal to legalize equal marriage within the context of the constitutional reform, a grassroots religious conservative movement revealed a new level of influence.
The emergence of evangelical churches since the 1990s allowed the growth of conservative ideas and groups within religious institutions, despite Cuba’s poor record on religious liberties. Today, evangelical churches exercise influence through new structures and build new narrative alternatives at a community level. Evangelicals, including young Cubans, will influence ongoing debates about civil liberties, including abortion and LGBT+ rights.