220 Chapter 9
Cuban Catholic Church) expressed dismay at the Catholic Church's
loss of status:
“All of us communicate with the state through the official office.
There are signs of improvement but there is always tension because
they have their own style of working. The Catholic Church never had
to incorporate itself into any special Council, like the Concilio Evangé-
lico. The Catholic Church maintains a unique posture because we have
a historical tradition; but after the Revolution, we ceased being the offi-
cial church.”^16The Concilio Evangélico (Evangelical Council) is a Christian church
council that encompasses all the Protestant denominations in Cuba.
All the churches that belong to the Concilio cooperate with and are
supportive of the Cuban Revolution. The Cuban Catholic Church
remains the only Christian church in Cuba that has not been incorpo-
rated into the Concilio Evangélico. Yet, the COCC keeps its reference
point in the church’s efforts to work with the government, not against
it. But the important thing for church leaders is to stress that they
function independent of the government, something that would be
compromised by joining a council that, in the eyes of the church hier-
archy, restricts their institutional autonomy.
2010: Coming to the Table
In early 2010, a confluence of factors brought the Cuban government
to a bargaining table with members of the COCC functioning as the
intermediaries negotiating on behalf of political prisoners. Quite sud-
denly, the Cuban government had come under harsh international
scrutiny for several incidents involving the dissident community. On
February 23rd, Cuban dissident Orlando Zapata Tamayo died after an
85-day hunger strike protesting the lack of liberty and status of politi-
cal prisoners on the island. Dissident journalist Guillermo Farinas
began his own hunger strike the day after Zapata Tamayo passed away,
denying himself both food and water and demanding that 26 political
- Mons. Ramón Suárez Polcari, interview by author, Havana, Cuba, 2006.