[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 94 (Tuesday, July 19, 1994)]
[House]
[Page H]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: July 19, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                   CASTRO'S CONTINUING ACTS OF MURDER

  The SPEAKER pro tempore Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from New Jersey [Mr. Menendez] is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. MENENDEZ. Mr. Speaker, I join all people of conscience, 
regardless of race, ethnicity, color, creed, or ideology in condemning 
the outrageous acts of brutality committed off the coast of Cuba by the 
government of Cuban dictator Fidel Castro.
  Last Wednesday, Cuban Government tugboats chased and deliberately 
killed up to 40 Cuban citizens fleeing the horror of Castro's Cuba. 
They were hosed down by Castro's thugs, Mr. Speaker. Hosed down with 
high pressure gauges. They were hosed down so hard that they flew off 
the boat, undersea, and drowned. Women and children were among those 
killed. The fierce thrust from pressure hoses yanked children ages 10 
and under from their mother's arms into the sea to die. Even a 4-month-
old baby was among them. Men and women slammed into the boat's walls by 
the gushing firehoses. Eventually, after being rammed by Cuban 
Government tugboats, the boat capsized amidst a whirlpool, throwing 
those aboard off.
  One woman, Ms. Maria Victoria Garcia Suarez, survived to tell about 
it. While back in Cuba, having gone through this event, in an 
incredible display of courage, she defied the Casto regime and told 
foreign reporters in detail how she lost her husband, her 10 year-old 
son, her brother, three uncles, and two other brothers. A whole family 
wiped out. She and her son used a floating cadaver to remain afloat, 
but her son could not hold on, she lost his grip, and he drowned.
  The cynicism and utter cruelty of this act is highlighted by the 
method that the Cuban Government chose for this death chase. Rather 
than stopping those who fled at the coast, Castro's thugs allowed them 
to go 7 miles offshore where no one could see their acts of murder. 
Forty-five minutes from the coast. Then they went for the kill.
  The more details we learn about, the more barbaric we discover this 
act is.
  Now, one would think that the people of conscience who work in the 
U.S. Government would respond with outrage to this heinous act. One 
would think that the editorial boards of our national media, such as 
the Washington Post or the New York Times would respond with horror and 
put it in print with the same conviction that they ask for a lifting of 
the U.S. trade embargo on Castro. One would think that the 
international community would respond with indignation. One would think 
that those countries such as Mexico, Spain, and Canada, who are so 
eager to make a quick, cheap buck in Castro's Cuba would express their 
indignation by withdrawing their blood money. One would think so, Mr. 
Speaker.
  But sadly, tragically their response, in a word, is silence. 
Deafening silence.
  I ask: What will it take? What will it take for the U.S. Government 
to act as forcefully with the Castro dictatorship as it has with the 
other regimes in this hemisphere or abroad? What will it take for the 
international community to remove the rose-colored glasses through 
which it views Castro's dictatorship?
  What will it take to get the lost lives of 40 men, women, and 
children, including a 4-month-old baby--which is a small sample of the 
atrocities that occur daily in Cuba--to merit even the tiniest footnote 
in our national press?

                              {time}  1920

  Tonight I call on the Clinton administration to demand an 
investigation by the Organization of American States into this 
incident. I call upon the United Nations to condemn these cold-blooded 
acts of murder. I call upon our Ambassador to the United Nations to 
lead that effort.
  Mr. Speaker, where are the communities of civilized nations, and 
where are our colleagues who speak so eloquently of human rights in 
different parts of the world when it comes to the question of the 
violation of those basic rights for the people of Cuba?
  Enough is enough, Mr. Speaker. Enough is enough. The time to break 
the silence is now. Join us. Join us in breaking the silence. Join us 
in striking a blow on behalf of human rights, not only for the people 
of Cuba, but throughout the world.

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