At least 70 political dissidents have been arrested in Cuba in an attempt to avert demonstrations during Pope Benedict XVI's visit on Monday.

"They are going to present the pope with a facade, not with the true Cuba," said Ana Celia Rodriguez, a 42-year-old mother of three.

Dozens were arrested in Santiago de Cuba, in southeastern Cuba, where the pope is expected to address a Mass on Monday evening, according to the Cuban Human Rights and National Reconciliation Commission. At least 15 of the detainees were from the Ladies in White group, a well-known group of wives and family members of jailed political dissidents.

Amnesty International warned last week that arbitrary detentions of this sort were steadily increasing and that "repression is routine" in Cuba.

Hoping to see change

This will be the second papal visit since the Cuban revolutions. Many are hoping the visit will help boost social reforms in much the same way John Paul II's 1998 visit led to the allowance of public religious celebrations, which had been banned since the 1960s.

Nobody is expecting a clash between the pontiff and the Cuban government, but some were surprised by the pope's statements on Friday regarding Marxism. He set the tone for his trip to Cuba by insisting that the political system “as it was designed, no longer corresponds to reality,” and that it would be useful to “find new models” of governing.

Pope to pay tribute

President Raul Castro will meet the pope on Monday at the airport in Santiago de Cuba, Cuba's second biggest city, before holding talks with him on Tuesday in Havana. It is unclear whether the pontiff will meet with former Cuban leader Fidel Castro.

During his stay, Pope Benedict is expected to build on improved relations with the state to secure a bigger role for the Catholic Church by expanding its social programs and education course. The Church has said his schedule has not allowed for meetings with dissidents.

The pope will lead a Mass in honor of the Virgin in Santiago de Cuba on Monday, and then visit the nearby sanctuary where it is enshrined in the mountainside town of El Cobre on Tuesday.

The virgin is the island's patron saint, which was revered by Cuba's independence heroes and sits in the foothills of the Sierra Maestra mountains, where Castro and Che Guevara staged the 1959 revolution.

Pope Benedict will then visit Havana on Tuesday, spending less than 48 hours in Cuba before returning to Rome.

tm/ng (dpa, Reuters, AFP, AP)