HAVANA, April 20 (UPI) -- The head of the Roman Catholic Church in Cuba said the country was experiencing its worst crisis in years.
"Our country is in a very difficult situation, certainly the most difficult we have lived in this 21st century," Cardinal Jaime Ortega told a local Catholic newsletter, BBC News reports.
The public wants the communist leadership to "quickly" alter the system to improve the situation of the people, he added.
"I think this feeling has become a form of national consensus and its delay is producing impatience and unease among the people," he said, adding that Cuba should free all political prisoners.
Cuba is experiencing its worst economic crisis because of the continuing U.S. trade embargo, the global economic meltdown and natural disasters affecting the region.
Cuban President Raul Castro has started taking reform steps but at a speed criticized by many as too slow.
