The Cuban government is mounting a campaign to curb the influence of religious leaders, experts have told the US Commission on International Religious Freedom.

The government last year exiled an influential Protestant pastor, Alain Toledano Valiente, and several other religious leaders have been jailed by authorities after public anti-government protests. The role of religious leaders is an important one, in a country where, despite years of Communist rule, 70% of the people identify themselves as religious.