Pastor detained after protesting outside Havana Capitol

Pentecostal pastor Ariel Limias Leiva, 53, remained detained and incommunicado at Villa Marista in Havana several days after holding a one-person protest outside the National Capitol.

Limias was arrested Friday, October 2, shortly after reaching the Capitol steps with a sign reading Down with the Dictatorship and No More Absurd Political Discrimination. He was first taken to the Dragones police station in Old Havana and later transferred to Villa Marista.

His wife, Yulia Morales Zamora, said the family had been unable to see him and had received no precise information about possible charges. Morales went to the facility with the pastor's mother and brother to deliver toiletries. Published information says an investigator told relatives that Limias was under investigation without specifying alleged offenses.