Dissidents restricted as Pope visits Cuba

As Pope Benedict XVI travels to Cuba today for the second leg of his visit to Latin America, Christian Solidarity Worldwide is warning of a lockdown on several dissidents.

Dissidents in Holguin City, in eastern Cuba, have been prevented from leaving their homes and travelling to El Cobre, one of the stops on the Pope's tour of the country.

Caridad Caballero, a member of the Ladies in White, has been prevented from attending church for 14 weeks.

CSW reports that Caballero was arrested by police along with her husband and teenage son to stop them from going to Sunday morning Mass at Jesus Christ Redeemer Church in the Pueblo Nuevo neighbourhood of Holguin City.

Many other members of the Ladies in White were prevented from attending Sunday morning mass, and roadblocks were set up in some areas to prevent members of human rights or pro-democracy groups from accessing churches.

"Las Damas de Blanco" was formed in 2003 by the wives and mothers of 75 dissidents jailed in 2003 following a crackdown on Fidel Castro's opponents. They march in Havana every Sunday to demand the release of political prisoners and call for freedom.

Four women from the Rosa Parks Foundation have been held by the authorities since being arrested on their way to Mass. They have been unable to speak with outsiders and authorities refuse to say when they will be released.

CSW’s Advocacy Director Andrew Johnston said the Cuban government should have used the Pope's visit to Cuba to demonstrate its commitment to religious freedom.

"However the last few months has seen a sharp escalation in religious freedom violations. A number of individuals have had their right to manifest their beliefs impeded after being barred from religious activities on account of their political affiliations," he said.

"Some religious groups have not been free to operate without interference from the government, and the reports that CSW has received indicate that the government crackdown has affected Christians across all denominations.

"We urge the Cuban government to guarantee religious freedom for its citizens, and to establish regular judicial channels to arbitrate religious affairs and guarantee church property, removing this responsibility from the Office for Religious Affairs of the Central Committee of the Cuban Communist Party.”

The Pope is travelling to Cuba after a two-day visit to Mexico, where he criticised the violence caused by warring drug cartels.

Speaking about Cuba to reporters en-route to Mexico last week, the Pope said the Church "is always on the side of freedom, freedom of conscience, freedom of religion".

He said it was evident that Marxist ideology “no longer corresponds to reality” in the country and that “new models” needed to be found.