Alberto Reyes: "True Victory of a Corrupt Power Isn't Jailing Dissidents"

Father Alberto Reyes, a fervent critic of the Cuban government, sent a heartfelt message this Saturday to political prisoners and their families, acknowledging his perspective as an outsider to their harsh reality. In a text shared on Facebook, Fr. Reyes advises them to pray to God with genuine words from their soul. He encourages them to express their pain, anger, and fear, but above all, to seek the light for their souls so that imprisonment does not corrupt them.

For the parish priest of the Archdiocese of Camagüey, the regime's true victory doesn't lie in jailing those who question it but in destroying their spirit, filling them with hate and resentment forever. Therefore, he prays constantly that the mistreatment Cuban prisoners endure doesn't kill their smiles or consume their hope.

A Message of Hope and Resilience

Below, CiberCuba shares the full text of his publication.

"I've Been Thinking... (LXXVI) by Alberto Reyes Pías

I've been thinking about what to say to the families of our political prisoners. Recently, someone asked me what I would say to the families of our political prisoners, and I spoke without asking for permission, a necessary permission, because behind someone imprisoned for defending their stolen freedom lies so much pain, so much helplessness, so much uncertainty... that touching that reality is like touching something sacred.

Now I want to put in writing what I said and other thoughts I have, from the humility of an outsider who can only reach their cells through soul connections.

I dare to speak to all those who accompany their prisoners: children, parents, spouses, siblings... And not only to those who saw their relatives imprisoned for the events of 11J, but also to the families of those who were already imprisoned before and the long list of those who have been jailed since. And I want to speak in singular, addressing each one of you.

I ask you to pray to God, however you conceive Him, and with the words that come from your soul. Praying is talking to God, and everyone knows how to pray because everyone knows how to speak. Talk to Him about yourself, your pain, your anger, your fear. Shout before God, cry if tears come, argue with God if necessary, but place in His hands all the burdens that weigh you down, all the times you've said: 'I can't take it anymore,' all the times you've cried: 'How much longer?'

Pray for them, again and again, every day: ask for their health, their integrity, but also for the light of their souls. Pray that this time doesn't corrupt their vision, so that one day, when what are now their prisons become museums of horror and barbarity, people who visit them can ask: 'How was it possible for them to come out of here loving, forgiving, embracing? How was it possible for them not to come out filled with hate and vengeance?'

The victory of a corrupt power isn't jailing those who question it but breaking them inside, making them slaves to hate, resentful forever, thirsting for eternal revenge. That would be their greatest triumph, as it would allow them to create a generation that continues their legacy, a generation incapable of breaking the chains of contempt and hatred towards those who are different, chains that are today the prison of those who rule us.

Ask God that the bars imprisoning their bodies do not imprison their souls, that the darkness of their cells does not extinguish the light in their eyes, that the mistreatment does not prevent smiles from blooming, that the uncertainty of waiting does not consume their hope.

Pray, knowing that you are heard and understood, because who else but Jesus knows of false trials, abandonment, loneliness, torture, and pain? To whom better than Christ on the cross can we entrust those who are crucified today for raising their voices on behalf of an entire people?

To be continued..."