Baptist Pastors Arrested for Aiding Guantanamo Churches
Two Baptist pastors were arrested and detained by the Cuban government recently after distributing financial aid to needy churches in Guantanamo province in the eastern coast of the island nation.
Cuban pastors Ruben Ortiz Columbie and Francisco Garcia Ruiz were arrested Oct. 3 and have since been held in prison. They are accused of “illicit financial activity,” though Cuban church leaders have defended them, saying that all the aid money, sent from Baptist churches in Florida, has been sent legally and openly.
Furthermore, church leaders say they are puzzled by the arrest because the Eastern Baptist Convention, in which both men are leaders of, has been carrying out aid works in Cuba for years. The Eastern Baptist Convention is one of the largest denominations in Cuba....