Vatican City: Pope seeks leniency with Cuban dissidents

Dismayed by Cuba’s crackdown on dissent, Pope John Paul II decried harsh sentences handed down against the island’s dissidents and implored Fidel Castro to show leniency.

In a letter made public Saturday, the pontiff also denounced the execution of three men who seized a ferry in a failed bid to reach the United States.

The plea was conveyed to Castro on April 13 — Palm Sunday — two days after a firing squad killed the men, who taken the boat and its 50 passengers April 2 in Havana Bay.

A Vatican official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the letter had not been publicized to give Castro a chance to respond.

Cuba has come under criticism for sentencing 75 dissidents to prison terms ranging from six to 28 years on charges they collaborated with American diplomats to subvert the nation’s socialist system.