Tensions in Cuba between dissidents and the Communist leaders are rising ahead of next week's visit by Pope Benedict XVI, with the arrests of more than 50 activists and a showdown at a Havana church.
In operations around the capital yesterday, police rounded up activists with the ‘Ladies in White’ group, which is seeking the release of political prisoners and their loved ones.
An activist with the group said 33 women, including leader Berta Soler, were detained as they were leaving the group's headquarters to attend mass.
Hours later police broke up a protest march by wives and mothers of political prisoners and arrested about 20 dissidents after they strayed off their usual march route, an AFP reporter witnessed.
The Ladies in White, who won the European Union's 2005 Sakharov Prize to honour those committed to the struggle for human rights, has long pressed for the release of political prisoners, carrying gladiola and marching in white.
In Washington, the White House called for the release of all members of the group, saying the arrests underscored the "disdain of Cuban authorities for the universal rights of the Cuban people.”
"We call for the immediate release of all who were detained and for Cuban authorities to abandon their tactics of intimidation and harassment to stifle peaceful dissent," said National Security Council spokesman Tommy Vietor.
"President (Barack) Obama and the American people remain steadfast in standing with (the group) and other courageous voices in Cuban civil society who demonstrate the Cuban people's desire to freely determine their country's future."
By early today, some of those arrested Sunday were released, a ladies' group member said.
But just a week before the pope arrives from Mexico, the arrests highlight the Catholic church's fears that his visit, which church officials want to be strictly spiritual, could end up taking on political overtones.
Cuba is the Americas' only one-party Communist state.
Only about 10% of Cubans are practicing Catholics and around 70 80%, in a country of more than 11 million, identify themselves most with Afro-Cuban Santeria beliefs.
But the Catholic Church in recent years has emerged as Cuba's most influential non-state actor.
Last week, a two-day sit-in style protest at a Havana church by dissidents seeking democratic reforms ended peacefully after the archbishop of Havana ordered the group removed. Police took the 13 protesters in for booking and then released them.
The Havana church has been deeply involved in mediating the release of political prisoners, and some opposition members have been critical of it for cooperating with the regime.
But the church is keen to maintain and expand its influence to try to stoke new Catholic religious fervor in Cuba. After decades of official atheism, the Cuban regime now has cordial relations with Catholics and other churches.
Pope Benedict's will be the first visit to Cuba by a pope since John Paul II in 1998, which helped usher in an era of better church-state ties.
The pope will first travel to Mexico and is then due to visit Cuba between 26-28 March. Pope Benedict will offer mass in Santiago and Havana, and meet with President Raul Castro.
