| Jailed Cuban Baptists accused of illegal economic activity |
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| By Bob Allen | |
| Thursday, October 15, 2009 | |
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MIAMI (ABP) -- Cuban authorities say two Baptist leaders held in jail for 11 days in a city on the eastern end of the island are suspected of illegal economic activities. Associated Baptist Press first reported Oct. 13 that Rubén Ortiz-Columbié, coordinator for special projects of the Eastern Cuba Baptist Convention, and Francisco "Pancho" Garcia, director of the convention's teen department, had been arrested Oct. 3 and held without formal charge since then. They were being held in the city of Santiago de Cuba. The following day El Nuevo Herald, a Spanish-language sister paper to The Miami Herald, reported that Ortiz, 68, and Ruiz, 46, were arrested by agents of Cuba's National Revolutionary Police as they entered the province of Guantanamo to deliver financial aid to churches. A prosecutor's report obtained by the newspaper said authorities seized the equivalent of about $4,000 from the men at the time of arrest. It said the men were trying to aid a group of small agricultural producers in the region -- without authorization from the appropriate government body -- through an effort the document called the "Fishermen's Project," or "Proyecto de Pescadores." Ortiz's son, Ruben Ortiz, pastor of First Hispanic Baptist Church in Deltona, Fla., told El Nuevo Herald his church has been sending money to Cuba to help buy food and support repairs of church buildings, many of which were damaged by three hurricanes last year. Cuban authorities said the men are being detained as a precautionary measure while they complete the case file. The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of Florida is licensed to send funds to the Eastern Cuba Baptist Convention and has transferred $7,000 since October 2008. The younger Ortiz told the newspaper that he sent paperwork documenting the transfer to Cuba Oct. 12. -30- This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it is senior writer for Associated Baptist Press. Previous story: Cuban Baptist leaders in custody; charges unclear                 Comments (4)
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written by KT2005, October 17, 2009
nedward,
Are you a communist or something? First, the Saudis give millions of dollars to support Muslims in America. America, being a free country, allows the funds to come in. You are justifying a dictator who robs Cuban citizens from their God given rights. Wicked dictators are to be resisted and even fought. Of coarse liberty loving Southern Baptist would support the oppressed. That's what the Bible says we are to do. My goodness, you sound like you would be a Tory supporting the crown during our revolution in 1776. All Baptist support liberty, and you sir need to get on the right side of history! ...
written by nedward, October 19, 2009
Dear Sir or Madam:
How dare you assume that I am a Communist! Christ's imperative to we who follow Him is to love our enemy! We are called on to be peace makers even when it means taking an unpopular stand. When I am in Cuba working with humanitarian projects and our Cuban Christian brothers and sisters there are some who call me an agent of the CIA. When I return to the U.S. and give an intelligent presentation on Cuba I am called a Communist. We here in the U.S. do not have a corner on all truth! So we must stand against all dictators - have you bothered to follow U.S. foreign policy lately regarding dictators who are our friends and to whom we give support? Do you shop at WalMart? If so, you are supporting the Communist system of the Republic of China - where most of the merchandise there is manufactured. Hypocracy rules in the SBC!!!! ... written by KT2005, October 20, 2009
Christ was indeed a peacemaker, but he was not a pacifist. (Luke 22:36) I never said the U.S. is the guardian of "all truth." But there is inherent injustice in arresting a man simply because he carries $4,000. Men are made in the image of God. They are to rule the earth. Such a responsibility requires free speech and freedom to worship God according to ones own conscience. All evil dictators protect themselves by oppressing the people. You condemn those who call Raul what he is: a dictator that by his rule has robed his people of basic freedoms, economic prosperity, and thereby oppressed the poor. One does not love the Cuban people by defending their dictators arrests of good, honest men.
As far as your Walmart rant, yes I do shop at Walmart. There is a common belief that communism will fall in China as free market principles prevail. By creating a middle class in China we will empower a class of people to clean up corruption. Eventually a powerful middle class will require freedom. This process is slow but working. Why don't we do this in Cuba you ask? Because it is wiser to wait for the dictator and his brother to die. When they are gone revolution will be possible and likely. Since you have visited Cuba you know how much the people have suffered there. Readers alone are responsible for the content of the comments they post here. The comments are subject to the site’s terms and conditions of use and do not necessarily reflect the opinion or approval of the ABP News. Readers whose comments violate the terms of use may have their comments removed or all of their content blocked from viewing by other users without notification.
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Having just returned from Cuba and participating in the National Consultation of Baptists of Cuba (including folks from the Eastern Baptist Convention and the Western Baptist Convention as well as the Fraternity of Baptist) and their efforts to revive COEBAC, I am aware of the fact there are are two sides to this story.
Large sums of funds coming into Cuba, without documentation of the origin of the funds and especially funds from Florida are always, with good reason, suspect to Cuban authorities regardless as to who might be the person carrying in the funds, religious or otherwise!
I agree, from a certain perspective, that there is a lack of freedoms and individual rights in Cuba under the current regime. I also know that the Cuban justice system has, from my point of view, serious flaws.
However, this does not blind me to the fact that there is an understandable perspective from the Cuban view of this story.
Florida is the known capital of Cuban Americans who have held U.S. foreign policy toward Cuba captive for 50 years - it is home for Posada, a known terrorist who participated in killing 75 Cuban citizens and considered a hero - more radical, rightwing, Southern Baptist in Florida make no secret of their opposition to the current Cuban government and are not above sending in funds for subversive activities.
Imagine a Muslim cleric from Iraq coming into the U.S. with a substantial amount of money as a "gift" to a mosque in the U.S. with no documentation as to the origin of the funds and how they will be distributed. It does not take a brain surgeon to predict the reaction of U.S. officials.
I would be interested in hearing the Cuban side from Cuban Baptists like the Rev. Raul Suarez, Director of the Centro Memorial Martin Luther King in Havana.
Let's hear both sides of this story before rushing to judgement.