N.C. Baptists, UNC keeping strong ties with communist Cuba

N.C. Baptists, UNC keeping strong ties with communist Cuba

BY WILLIAM F. WEST : The Herald-Sun
bwest@heraldsun.com
Jun 17, 2006 : 9:45 pm ET

DURHAM -- Baptists are hardly all amassed in America's Bible Belt. They also can be found in Fidel Castro's Cuba.

A small group, sponsored by the Cary-based North Carolina Baptist Men, has just returned from working to build a retirement home in the communist island-nation.

"On any given Sunday in Cuba, there are over 200,000 people worshipping in Baptist churches," said Neil Yarborough, an attorney back from his second trip since December 2004.

Though Castro is head of an atheist state, experts say the Marxist dictator doesn't get involved in religion, as long as houses of worship don't become centers of politics.
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http://www.herald-sun.com/durham/4-745204.html

Posted on Sun, Jun. 18, 2006
Families torn by travel ban to Cuba come out in protest
Nearly 100 demonstrators gathered outside Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen's office to protest a Cuba travel ban that they think is unfair.
BY LAURA MORALES
llmorales@MiamiHerald.com

Cuban-born Maria de la Torre, 73, has a big family on the island -- several orphans she raised and their children. She hasn't been able to see them in many years.

``These are like my own children and grandchildren. I love and miss them.

''But I can't go visit them,'' said de la Torre, a member of the Association of Christian Women in Defense of the Cuban Family.

She and other members of her group joined activists from Democracy for America Miami-Dade in a demonstration Saturday outside the office of U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, a Republican who supported restrictions on travel and remittances to Cuba that were enacted in 2004.

Nearly 100 sun-crisped protesters crowded at the intersection of Sunset Drive and Southwest 92nd Avenue, flashing signs with slogans like ''Breaking Up the Family is Compassionate Conservatism?'' and ``Travel Restrictions Do Not Equal Freedom.''
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http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/14845076.htm