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The human rights group Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) reports that at least three Protestant churches have been forcibly closed down in Cuba.
The closures follow legislation affecting house churches which was announced last year.
Reports suggest that two of the churches, in the western provinces of Guantanamo and Holguin, were forcibly closed. The first was confiscated by local authorities in August and the other threatened with demolition at the end of last year.
A third church, in a suburb of Havana, was demolished while church members looked on at the end of the year. All were accused of being ‘illegal constructions’ by the authorities to justify the closures.
The new legislation, Directive 43 and Resolution 46, was announced in April in the wake of Pope John Paul II's funeral, and required all house churches to register with the authorities.
Church leaders expressed their concern at the time that the registration process was so complicated as to be practically impossible. Many believed that this was actually an attempt to shut down the house church movement across the island.
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