Clock ticking in Cuba

Protests ramp up ahead of papal trip to Cuba; arrests decried

Berta Soler, left, leader of Ladies in White, a group started by family members of imprisoned dissidents, poses with members of the group in Havana.

A Catholic News Service story reveals that protests in Cuba get a government response in the U.S., in spite of the fact that those imprisoned by their unfriendly government have all been released.

With the clock ticking down to Pope Benedict XVI's visit to Cuba March 26-28, efforts to ramp up peaceful public protests of government policies were being met by government crackdowns.

More than 70 members of the "Damas de Blanco," or Ladies in White, were arrested during protests March 17 and 18 as they attempted to stage marches from the home of their late leader Laura Pollan to mark the anniversary of a 2003 crackdown on dissidents known as Cuba's Black Spring. They were released a few hours later, according to wire service reports.

For full story see The B.C. Catholic website.