The Ladies in White rights group asked Pope Benedict XVI on Thursday to press Havana for the release of 13 prisoners the Cuban government promised the Catholic Church it would release. The dissidents are among 52 political prisoners President Raul Castro's government agreed to release following talks on July 7 with Cardinal Jaime Ortega, the archbishop of Havana. The agreement mentioned a period of three to four months, which technically expired on November 7. The Ladies in White, made up of the wives of political dissidents, met with the pope's representative in Cuba and told him 'we feel cheated,' said group leader Laura Pollan. Of the dissidents Castro agreed to release, 39 were let go after accepting to immigrate to Spain with their families. The remaining 13 are refusing foreign exile. Pollan said her group asked the pope's envoy, Archbishop Giovanni Angelo Becciu, to ask Benedict 'to intercede for the 13 that are still in prison.' 'Help from the pope now that the government has missed the deadline for releasing the prisoners would be very good to help move the process along,' Pollan told selfnews. Becciu urged the women to 'remain calm,' saying the government 'has not breached its commitment,' according to Pollan. One of the prisoners, Diosdado Gonzalez, went on a hunger strike on Monday to protest their continued imprisonment. However he started eating again Wednesday after a state security official said that the group would be released in the coming days, a process that could take anywhere from two weeks to a month. The Ladies in White, winner of the European parliament's prestigious Sakharov human rights prize in 2005, also met with Belgium diplomats to increase pressure to release prisoners. Belgium currently occupies the rotating European Union presidency, and the Belgian ambassador said the prisoners 'will be released,' Pollan said. On Wednesday, Ladies in White members met with Spanish diplomats. Dissident sources say there are around 100 political prisoners still jailed in Cuba, in addition to the group of 52. National Assembly speaker Ricardo Alarcon said in Geneva on July 20 that the Americas' only one-party Communist government wants to free all of those on international dissident lists who have not been imprisoned for violent crimes. 