Papa Benedict XVI aanza ziara nchini Cuba

Papa Benedict XVI (kushoto) akiwa na Rais wa Cuba, Raul Castro muda mfupi baada ya kiongozi huyo wa Kanisa Katoliki kuwasili Santiago de Cuba kuanza ziara ya siku tatu nchini humo.

Pope Benedict XVI arrived in Cuba on Monday in the footsteps of his more famous predecessor, saying he holds great affection for Cubans on both sides of the Florida Straits and has heartfelt hopes for reconciliation.

President Raul Castro warmly greeted the pope, who said he was coming as "a pilgrim of charity" as he arrived at the sweltering airport in Santiago, Cuba's second largest city.

The pontiff, who last week said Marxism "no longer responds to reality," gave a more gentle tweak to his hosts by expressing sympathy for all islanders, including 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."

In his own remarks, the Cuban leader assured the Pope his country favors complete religious liberty and has good relations with all religious institutions.

He also criticized the 50-year US economic embargo and defended the socialist ideal of providing for those less fortunate.

"We have confronted scarcity but have never failed in our duty to share with those who have less," Castro said, adding that his country remains determined to chart its own path and resist efforts by "the most forceful power that history has ever known" - a reference to the United States - to thwart the island's socialist model.

The Pope's three-day stay in Cuba will inevitably spark comparisons to John Paul II's historic 1998 tour, when Fidel Castro traded his army fatigues for a suit and tie to greet the Pope and where John Paul uttered the now-famous words:

"May Cuba, with all its magnificent potential, open itself up to the world, and may the world open itself up to Cuba."

In his remarks 14 years ago, John Paul singled out Cuban prisoners jailed for their ideas, something Benedict did not do in Monday's speech.

Cuba has released dozens of political prisoners in recent years, often through agreements with the church, and denies it holds any now. Officials refer to dissidents as mercenaries in the sway of its U.S. enemies.