SANTIAGO, Cuba —Pope Benedict XVI arrived in Cuba on Monday, gently pressing the island’s longtime communist leaders to push through “legitimate” reforms their people desire, while also criticizing the excesses of capitalism.
President Raul Castro greeted him at the airport with a 21-cannon salute and military honor guard, yet few ordinary Cubans lined Benedict’s motorcade route into town.
Santiago’s main plaza came alive when Benedict arrived for evening Mass, his main public event before he heads today to Havana.
Benedict’s message was subtle, taking into account the liberalizing reforms that Raul Castro has enacted since taking over from his brother in 2006 and the greater role the Catholic Church has played in Cuban affairs, most recently in negotiating the release of dozens of political prisoners.
“I carry in my heart the just aspirations and legitimate desires of all Cubans, wherever they may be,” he said. “Those of the young and the elderly, of adolescents and children, of the sick and workers, of prisoners and their families, and of the poor and those in need.”
