Mary Anastasia O’Grady had an article in the WSJ that essentially said the same thing - BXVI is not friendly to the Castro regime, but Archbishop Jaime Ortega of Havana has basically done what most churchmen do in Communist countries...maintain a low profile and don’t rock the boat. He’s gotten some concessions, because the Castro government is eager not to cause any public confrontations with the Church, since Castro is seeking international legitimacy.
IIRC, Ortega negotiated the sending of some of these exiles to Spain, which, as you say, was definitely an improvement over rotting in a Cuban jail. It all got more difficult when Spain got a rabidly socialist government (Zapatero) that sided with Castro.
But if Archbishop is genuinely keeping Catholics from seeing the Pope and keeping the Pope from seeing the truth of the Castro regime, he deserves very severe criticism.
My bishop (a Cuban born refugee who grew up here in the US) is going to Havana to meet with the Pope there, mostly to discuss the canonization of Fr Felix Varela, a 19th century Cuban-born priest (who, oddly enough, spent most of his career working among Irish immigrants in New York City!). I’m watching this with great attention.
I’m glad for the Pope’s visit. Castro may be allowing it for his own reasons, but a re-awakened Christianity will heal the damage done even by half a century of communism. The Castro brothers are not long for this world, and the Pope’s visit reminds everyone that a new day is coming.
I’m always suspicious of penetration of the church by the left, and I understand why a Cuban would be sensitive to any kind of apparent appeasement by church leaders. And I can understand why the church might want to avoid getting drawn into politics. There are times when you and your critics can both be at least partly right.
I remember years ago, when Billy Graham was criticized for some remarks that were rather bland, and avoided criticizing the Soviets after he returned from a trip there. He said something like, there is a bigger game afoot. His point was, his job was to preach the gospel and not get distracted by anything that would get in the way of it. I see this as similar. They must not be seen as supporting the regime but they also must not get drawn into the weeds. Preach Christ, and the politics will ultimately come right. Preach Christ, and the regime ceases to matter.