Washington, USA - U-S Treasury officials have fined the Alliance of Baptists 34-thousand dollars after citing five of its member churches, including Birmingham's Baptist Church of the Covenant, for engaging in banned tourist activities in Cuba.
The alliance's executive director, The Reverend Stan Hastey (HAY'-stee), says the group will appeal the fine, which would constitute about ten percent of the Baptist group's operating budget.
The Treasury letter charges that church members did not engage in a full-time schedule of religious activities as required, but also visited Cuban craft markets and a beach resort.
But Hastey insists those activities were either part of, or incidental to the group's religious mission, and suggests that the Bush administration may have singled out the Alliance of Baptists because of its opposition to the U-S economic embargo of Cuba.