José Conrado Rodríguez, a prominent Catholic priest in Santiago de Cuba and frequent critic of the Castro regime, told Miami’s El Nuevo Herald in June that foreign humanitarian aid sent last year to assist residents of his city following Hurricane Sandy was being diverted to government, military and tourist facilities.

After complaining that “the aid has not reached the people,” the priest described a situation of potential “civil unrest” and a very “high degree of exasperation. The situation was so grave, he warned, “that it could explode at any time with justified and uncontrollable fury.”

For the last 25 years, José Conrado has making almost identical predictions. He’s even gone to the extreme of publicly appealing for martyrdom suggesting that opponents in Cuba give their lives in the struggle against Fidel and Raúl Castro.

However, much of his criticism in private talks about Communist Party leaders in Santiago de Cuba have had clearly racist overtones especially in the cases of Esteban Lazo, who’s black, and Misael Enamorado Dáger, who is mestizo.

José Conrado is noted for two things: First, he’s visited the United States more frequently than any other Cuban priest, usually for political activism and medical treatment a privilege few in his flock enjoy. Second, he holds the record among Cuban priests for the number of trips to the U.S. Interests Section in Havana.

It isn’t by chance that USINT, as reported by WikiLeaks, called this priest in classified dispatches its best source of information.

Last year, a summary of these cables was published in El Nuevo Herald just before Pope Benedict XVI’s visit to Cuba. One might conclude that this isn’t very consistent with Christian values and duties.

Since 2011, Rodríguez has been trying to set up arrangements with lay opponents of the Cuban government, specifically with the founders of the Unión Patriótica de Cuba (UNPACU) and with dissident blogger Yoani Sánchez.

Regarding the alleged diversion of foreign aid to Santiago de Cuba, if what José Conrado is saying is true, then a social explosion should have occurred long before his announcement, considering how much damage Hurricane Sandy caused.

Secondly, Cuba’s leaders must be mad to risk suicide by “diverting” aid from the people of Santiago. That city has a long history of rebellion; residents wouldn’t put up with a situation like the one the priest describes.

After 25 years, José Conrado is again wrong. Perhaps this is why the Catholic Church recently decided to transfer him to Cienfuegos, in order to deal with paperwork rather than preaching.