Editorial Opinion, The Washington Post

HOW IS CUBA preparing for the visit next week of Pope Benedict XVI? By rounding up dissidents, of course.

Four score or so were detained over the weekend, including the leaders and most of the members of the Ladies in White, the group that regularly marches in support of political prisoners. Many were released Monday, but they can expect regular harassment in the coming days. The regime’s practice is to carry out short-term arrests rather than formal imprisonments: According to the Cuban Commission for Human Rights and National Reconciliation, there were more than 600 such detentions in February alone.

If Pope Benedict or the Cuban Catholic hierarchy under Cardinal Jaime Ortega is troubled by this, they don’t show much sign of it. So far, the pontiff has not responded to appeals by the Ladies in White and other dissident groups seeking a few minutes of his time during the three days he will spend in Cuba. He has, however, scheduled two meetings with Raul Castro and made it known that he will be “available” if Fidel Castro wishes to meet with him. Cardinal Ortega, for his part, asked police to expel 13 dissidents who were camped in a Havana church last week in an attempt to push the pope to talk to the Castros about human rights....