[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 303 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

<DOC>






117th CONGRESS
  1st Session
S. RES. 303

  Supporting the people of Cuba in their demands for freedom and the 
fulfillment of basic needs and condemning the Communist regime in Cuba.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             July 15, 2021

 Mr. Rubio (for himself, Mr. McConnell, Mr. Marshall, Mr. Graham, Mrs. 
Blackburn, Mr. Scott of Florida, Mr. Daines, Mr. Kennedy, Mr. Scott of 
  South Carolina, Mr. Tillis, Mrs. Capito, Mr. Cruz, Mr. Cotton, Mr. 
 Braun, Mr. Barrasso, Mr. Lankford, Mr. Hawley, Mr. Moran, Mr. Hoeven, 
  Mr. Blunt, Mr. Cramer, Mr. Risch, Mr. Inhofe, and Mrs. Hyde-Smith) 
submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee 
                          on Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
  Supporting the people of Cuba in their demands for freedom and the 
fulfillment of basic needs and condemning the Communist regime in Cuba.

Whereas, on July 11, 2021, thousands of people in Cuba raised their voices 
        against socialism, tyranny, and oppression;
Whereas the Cuban people, tired of living under a brutal dictatorship, 
        peacefully protested against the Communist regime throughout Cuba, from 
        major cities such as Havana, Santiago, and Santa Clara to small towns 
        and villages;
Whereas protesters have assembled at the headquarters of the Communist Party of 
        Cuba chanting, ``Cuba isn't yours!'', ``We are not afraid!'', 
        ``Freedom!'', and ``Homeland and Life'';
Whereas these protests are only the latest in the Cuban people's long struggle 
        for freedom, which has included--

    (1) the Christian Liberation Movement, which has advocated for 
political change in Cuba since 1987;

    (2) the 1994 Maleconazo uprising in Havana, during which thousands of 
protesters rose up against the disastrous economic policies of the 
Communist regime in Cuba;

    (3) the Varela Project, which, in 1998, proposed a law advocating for 
democratic political reforms within Cuba;

    (4) the Ladies in White movement, founded in 2003 by the wives and 
relatives of those imprisoned by the regime; and

    (5) the San Isidro Movement, which was formed by artists, journalists, 
and academics in 2018 to protest the restrictions imposed by the Communist 
regime in Cuba on the Cuban people's right to free expression;

Whereas, since 1959, the Communist regime in Cuba has repressed political and 
        economic freedoms, including by--

    (1) preventing Cubans from owning private property and using property 
stolen from Cuban-Americans, many of whom are now United States citizens;

    (2) forcing Cubans employed at foreign firms to register with a state 
employment agency that confiscates the bulk of their earnings; and

    (3) restricting the access of the Cuban people to the internet by using 
equipment and systems produced and installed by entities controlled by the 
Chinese Communist Party;

Whereas the Communist regime in Cuba has not acted to preserve the lives and 
        well-being of the Cuban people during the COVID-19 pandemic and left 
        Cubans in dire need of food, medicine, and other basic necessities;
Whereas the Communist Party of Cuba has for years sought to silence those it 
        considers its political opponents through the use of police harassment, 
        forced detainment, and torture, including--

    (1) dismissing and disparaging Oswaldo Paya, founder of the Christian 
Liberation Movement, and obstructing a credible investigation into the 
questionable circumstances of his death in a car crash in 2012;

    (2) imprisoning 75 dissidents, journalists, and human rights advocates 
during the ``Black Spring'' in Cuba in 2003;

    (3) imprisoning Jose Daniel Ferrer Garcia, founder of the Patriotic 
Union of Cuba (UNPACU);

    (4) arresting journalist Camila Acosta in March 2021 for sharing 
information on Facebook;

    (5) detaining Ivan Hernandez Carrillo, an independent labor union 
leader, multiple times;

    (6) imprisoning journalist Roberto Quinones Haces; and

    (7) detaining the leaders of the San Isidro Movement, including Luis 
Manuel Otero Alcantara, Esteban Lazaro Rodriguez Lopez, Maykel Osorbo, and 
many others;

Whereas the Communist regime in Cuba has been responsible for numerous 
        atrocities against those that stood up for the rights of the Cuban 
        people, including the extrajudicial assassinations of innocent civilians 
        and activists by firing squad and other brutal methods, such as during 
        the Tugboat Massacre of 1994 and the shoot-down of the Brothers to the 
        Rescue aircraft in 1996;
Whereas the Communist regime in Cuba is taking steps to silence protesters and 
        their message by shutting down internet access throughout Cuba, 
        including by seizing and assaulting photographer Ramon Espinosa;
Whereas the Communist regime in Cuba has already taken steps to violently 
        suppress protests, including deploying heavily armed troops and tear gas 
        to disperse protesters;
Whereas hundreds of Cubans have been wounded by that use of violence by the 
        Communist regime in Cuba, and 67 individuals have been arrested by the 
        regime;
Whereas Miguel Diaz-Canel has openly called for bloodshed to quell the protests 
        by calling on ``revolutionary'' citizens to ``battl[e] in the streets'';
Whereas the Communist regime in Cuba has for years resisted the efforts of the 
        United States and its allies to bring freedom to Cuba, including by--

    (1) threatening the mass deportation of people in order to destabilize 
local government services in the United States;

    (2) harboring terrorists and fugitives from the United States wanted 
for committing violent crimes in the United States; and

    (3) jamming the radio broadcasts of Radio and TV Marti, which provide 
critical information on the outside world to the Cuban people; and

Whereas, since 1959, the United States has stood steadfastly in support of the 
        freedom of the Cuban people: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the Senate--
            (1) expresses support for the people of Cuba on their 
        courageous efforts to advance freedom and democracy in Cuba;
            (2) calls on Cuban security forces to respect the 
        fundamental rights of the Cuban people to peacefully protest 
        while raising their voices and demanding ``Libertad'';
            (3) calls on the Communist regime in Cuba to immediately 
        release all political prisoners and calls for the end of acts 
        of repression and arbitrary imprisonment of members of the 
        opposition, artists, and journalists;
            (4) calls on the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry 
        of the Revolutionary Armed Forces to refrain from physical 
        violence and any other acts of repression against the people of 
        Cuba;
            (5) urges the European Union and Latin American and 
        Caribbean allies--
                    (A) to express their solidarity with all the Cuban 
                people;
                    (B) to speak out against the repression of the 
                freedom-loving people of Cuba;
                    (C) to condemn acts of violence against the Cuban 
                people by the military and security forces of Cuba; and
                    (D) to cease cooperation with the murderous and 
                corrupt Communist regime in Cuba;
            (6) urges President Biden to coordinate an international 
        effort through--
                    (A) calling a meeting of the United Nations 
                Security Council;
                    (B) engaging the European Union and the 
                Organization of American States (OAS) to condemn the 
                oppression of the Cuban people by the Communist regime 
                in Cuba; and
                    (C) leading the effort to impose multilateral 
                sanctions on the regime and against those violating the 
                human rights of the protesters; and
            (7) encourages President Biden and the Secretary of State 
        to publicly condemn the violence, arbitrary arrests, 
        persecution, threats, and intimidation against the people of 
        Cuba.
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