Over 100 anti-government activists were arrested Sunday in Cuba, and detainees are waiting to hear if they will be released Monday, according to dissidents.

According to The Associated Press, about 53 members of the Ladies in White group were arrested, the group's leader Berta Soler said. Soler added that about 36 dissidents were also arrested during the group's traditional march through Havana after Sunday Mass.

United States Assistant Secretary of State Roberta Jacobson said that the U.S. is "concerned about violent silencing of peaceful voices for change." She is scheduled to meet with Cuban officials Friday for the second round of talks on re-establishing diplomatic relations.

Still, many Cubans are afraid to express themselves openly and are not confident of a bright future for their country, Havana Times reports. Some of them have a main goal in life which is to live "anywhere but Cuba." They hope to flee from a country filled with dictatorship, State control and decadence.

"Today's Cuba isn't the one many (or most) of us want (for different reasons), but neither is it the same Cuba we had fifty years ago," author Veronica Vega wrote.

According to Vega, Cuba is slowly moving toward civil consciousness.

Meanwhile, the U.S. and Cuba are pushing to move forward in normalizing relations, New Haven Register Politics reports.

President Barack Obama took the first steps by ordering the opening of an embassy in Cuba and announced that he looks forward to the lifting of the trade embargo. The embargo, which has been on the country for about 54 years, could only be lifted if Congress approves.

"We can't be buried in the past. We have to move into the future," U.S. Rep. Rosa L. DeLauro said. "We have 50 years of policy that has failed."

DeLauro said the most pressing issues with Cuban relations are to move forward with the embassy, take Cuba off of the terrorist list and for the U.S. to lift the embargo.

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