Pope, in Cuba, says no limits on 'basic freedoms'

CUBA: Pope Benedict XVI on Wednesday wrapped up a visit to Cuba with a call for respect of "basic freedoms," pursuing his persistent prodding of the island's Communist authorities to embrace change.

After an open-air mass in Havana's Revolution Square and a meeting with revolutionary icon Fidel Castro, the 84-year-old pontiff used a final public appearance at the airport in the Cuban capital to convey his message.

With President Raul Castro looking on, the pope said he hoped the "light of the Lord" would help Cubans build a "society of broad vision, renewed and reconciled." "May no one feel excluded from taking up this exciting task because of limitations of his or her basic freedoms," Benedict said.

He added that he hoped Cuba would one day be the home "for all Cubans, where justice and freedom coexist in a climate of serene fraternity" -- perhaps a reference to Cuban exiles, many of whom live in the United States.

Benedict also rounded on the half-century-old US economic embargo on Cuba, saying such "restrictive economic measures imposed from outside the country unfairly burden its people." The pontiff, who was making the first papal visit to Cuba in 14 years, was seeking to bolster the Church's ties with authorities in Havana, and to encourage new and renewed faith in the mainly secular island nation. AFP