After Pope Criticizes Marxism, Cuba Diplomatic
Cuba will listen with respect to Pope Benedict XVI during his visit next week even if he differs with island leaders, the country’s foreign minister said Friday after the pontiff described Marxism as out of step with the times.
Benedict made the comment to reporters during his long flight to Mexico, the first stop in his six-day tour. While it was in keeping with the Vatican’s position, it was an unexpectedly blunt statement to come just days before he will be on Cuban soil.
Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez avoided any clash over the statement.
“We consider the exchange of ideas to be useful. Our people have deep convictions developed over the course of our history,” Rodriguez said at a news conference. “Cuba will listen with all respect to his holiness.”
He added that the Cuban system “is a democratic social project, genuinely chosen, which is constantly perfecting itself.”
Benedict said it is “evident that Marxist ideology as it was conceived no longer responds to reality,” and exhorted Cubans to “find new models, with patience, and in a constructive way.”
Asked about reports of harassment and detention of dissidents on the island, Benedict said the church wants “to help in the spirit of dialogue to avoid trauma and to help bring about a just and fraternal society.”
Benedict’s comments were as bold as any his predecessor, John Paul II, made during his historic 1998 tour of Cuba. But they stopped short of directly challenging the country’s single-party political model, which has been in place for five decades. Benedict arrives Monday in the eastern city of Santiago de Cuba.
Robert A. Pastor, a professor of international relations at American University and former national security adviser for Latin America during the Carter administration, said Benedict’s words seemed calculated to initiate a dialogue about political change while giving the Cubans space to maneuver by underscoring the importance of gradualism.
“He placed himself on the side of freedom, but not necessarily in a manner that would put the Cuban regime on the defensive,” Pastor said. “They will not be excited by this. They won’t be happy with it. But I think they have to be realistic enough to understand that the pope could say nothing less.”