Castro v. the Virgin

On an island where the people are 90% Roman Catholic, Fidel Castro cannot feel secure until he either tames or destroys the church. So far, Cuba's Communist regime has achieved neither objective, despite a campaign of imprisonment, expulsion and dinning propaganda. Last week Castro's men attempted to interfere with a religious procession in Havana. Their reward was the first open anti-Castro riot by Cuba's increasingly restive populace--a riot that Castro's trigger-happy militia put down only by firing into the crowd.

The occasion was Havana's'annual procession in homage to Cuba's patroness, the Virgin of Charity. It is always held in the afternoon, but this year Castro's Interior Ministry decreed that it could only take place before 9 a.m. Havana's Auxiliary Bishop Eduardo Boza Masvidal, 46, pastor of Our Lady of Charity Church, refused, canceled the parade. But Havana's Catholics were not to be denied.

"Libertad." By 5 p.m. on the appointed afternoon, Boza's church and the narrow, cobbled streets surrounding it were packed with 4,000 people. A few began to call out "Cuba Si, Rusia No"--and "Libertad." Before long, the chants swelled into a continuing roar. A group of youths climbed the church belfry and rang the bells, but they could barely be heard. The demonstration went on for three hours, mounting in intensity as the crowd chanted "Down with Castro!" One Havana police captain wormed his way into the church, confronted Boza, then startled everyone by ripping off his insignia of rank and saying, "I am with you!" The crowd carried him outside on its shoulders. Soon several soldiers tossed down their Czech burp guns and joined the throng.

A boy picked up a portrait of the Virgin Mary and started off in the direction of the presidential palace. The crowd surged forward, chanting: "To the palace!" Two blocks away a cordon of militiamen opened fire. The boy carrying the Virgin's picture fell dead. Most of the crowd scrambled wildly for cover; a few fell to their knees and inched forward. Castro's men moved in, swinging clubs and rifle butts. The toll: one dead, six wounded.

Whose Martyr? As always, Castro had his own explanation. The regime said that the crowd outside the church was really composed of pro-Castro Cubans, incensed at the "fascist priests" and "hooligans" holed up inside with weapons. One priest had fired into the crowd outside, according to the official explanation, killing 17-year-old Arnaldo Socorro. Claiming Socorro as a martyr, the government trucked some 50,000 workers to his funeral. What the Communists did not explain was that Socorro was a militant member of Cuba's Young Catholic Workers.

Castro ordered Auxiliary Bishop Boza arrested for "encouraging plotting among members of the clergy, nuns, youngsters of Catholic Action." The militia followed that up with the mass arrest of as many as 100 priests. The repression may turn Cubans even further against Castro. From across the island came reports of similar anti-Communist Catholic demonstrations in Camagueey, Colon, Sancti Spiritus, Caibarien. Arriving in Miami from Havana, a priest told of rebel pockets operating once more in the hills. The government partially confirmed the report by executing six more Cubans, and handed out prison sentences to 112 others for "counterrevolutionary activities."

The regime got a reminder that the underground is not dead. Ambushers opened fire on a car carrying Castro's top Communist political adviser, the editor of the mouthpiece newspaper Hoy, spade-bearded Carlos Rafael Rodriguez. The car was splattered with bullets, but Rodriguez was not hit.

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