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Alexandria, Virginia 22314
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NEWS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Veronica Mayer
Friday, March 27, 2020 (703) 566-3037

HOMESCHOOLING MOTHER RELEASED FROM PRISON

Days After Cuba Closes Schools, Mother Serves Out Sentence for Homeschooling

Alexandria, Virginia - On March 27, Ms. Ayda Expósito Leyva, of Guantánamo, Cuba, was
released after over eleven months of prison for “Other Acts against the Normal Development of a
Minor.” This is two weeks before her April 14, 2020 release date, and eight months after she and her
husband petitioned for her conditional release in July. Her husband and fellow pastor Ramón Rigal
Rodríguez, jailed for the same charge as well as for illicit associations, meetings, and protests, is serving
out the rest of his two-year sentence and is due for release in 2021.
On April 25, 2019, Pastor Rigal and Ms. Expósito were arrested and imprisoned for giving their
children homeschooling instead of the state school that the Cuban government demands. On May 21,
the husband and wife were sentenced to two and one years of prison respectively. They were pressured
into sending the children to state school so that they could live with their grandparents until their
parents’ release. Meanwhile, the children have been staying with their paternal grandparents, one of
whom is afflicted by serious health issues. Due to the COVID-19 outbreak, on March 24, Cuba closed
state schools; they will reopen for remote learning on March 30.
An independent lawyer in Cuba considers the sentences “an excess in judicial discretion; given
that the minors’ education was the greater good, there was no political, civil, or legal reasoning for
issuing a prison sentence to both parents. The children are the ones who end up suffering the most.” In
late April 2019, the Global Liberty Alliance (GLA) and the Home School Legal Defense Association
petitioned the Organization of American States’s Inter-American Commission on Human Rights for
precautionary measures for the Rigals. “They should be freed immediately and should’ve never been
imprisoned to begin with for homeschooling their children,” said Jason Poblete, GLA Chief Counsel.
In July 2019, despite the lack of rule of law in Cuba, the Rigals appealed their sentences and
requested parole for Ms. Expósito. The regime denied the appeal four months later, stating that Ms.
Expósito would only be freed upon her “reeducation,” when she learned that the government had her
children’s best interests at heart. Pastor Rigal wrote from prison, “even though they accomplished what
they wanted, they want to continue punishing us. They are trying to destroy a family.”
While it is reassuring for the Rigal family that Ms. Expósito has been released, Pastor Rigal is
still in prison. GLA has been working to free the Rigals, and will continue to do so in defense of their
fundamental right to worship freely and their freedom of conscience.
GLA is committed to defending fundamental rights and the rule of law. You can find more
information about GLA’s work for people of different faith traditions on our website, our Facebook
page, or our Twitter account.

A part of The Global Rule of Law & Liberty Legal Defense Fund
globallibertyalliance.org
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