[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 100 (Wednesday, July 27, 1994)]
[House]
[Page H]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: July 27, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
  TRAGIC INTENTIONAL SINKING OF REFUGEE FILLED TUGBOAT OFF CUBAN COAST

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from Florida [Ms. Ros-Lehtinen] is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, I come before the House this 
afternoon, just like my colleagues, Lincoln Diaz-Balart, Bob Menendez, 
Bob Dornan, and Dan Burton did before me, to bring to the public's 
attention an incident which has been inconceivably hidden from the 
American public, by most of the international press. I refer to the 
recent sinking by the Castro regime of a tugboat filled with over 70 
Cuban refugees attempting to flee the island.
  Mr. Speaker, our community in south Florida has been stunned by this 
great tragedy. Although we are accustomed to expecting the cruelest and 
most barbaric acts by the Castro regime, this incident ranks among the 
most inhumane and the most monstrous the regime has committed in its 35 
years of totalitarian rule.
  Some might not believe the gory details. A tugboat filled with over 
70 passengers was allowed, on purpose, to sail 7 miles from the coast, 
and then was mercilessly attacked with water cannons and rammed 
continuously by the Castro regime until the tugboat was split in half.
  Fathers and mothers held up their sons and daughters up to full view 
in hopes of arising some feelings of compassion from Castro's thugs. 
But to no avail. After ramming and attacking the boat, survivors have 
reported that the Cuban vessels sailed in circles around the damaged 
tugboat so as to create a whirlpool effect that would lead to the slow 
death of the Cuban refugees in the ocean.
  But, Mr. Speaker, the obvious incompassion of the regime does not 
stop here. The regime is actually blaming this barbaric incident on the 
United States. Yesterday, during a speech given by Fidel's brother, 
Raul Castro, the regime did exactly this. Among his most incredible 
statements were: ``The lives lost on the bottom of the sea have to be 
blamed first of all on the United States and their permanent aggressive 
attitude against our country * * *.'' Raul Castro then went on to say 
that the pursuing Cuban boats were just trying to deter the refugee 
vessel from making what he called a ``death trip.'' Unbelievable, Mr. 
Speaker.
  As usual, the facts do not mean anything for the Communist regime. 
Although it was not the United States who rammed the boats, it was not 
the United States who shot water cannons at the boat, nor was it the 
United States who purposely aided in the acceleration of the Cuban 
refugees drowning, yet somehow, in some way, this incident, according 
to the Castro regime, was the fault of the United States.
  As the old saying goes, Mr. Speaker, if this were not so tragic it 
would be ironically funny. But the oppression and complete disregard 
for human rights against the Cuban people has been occurring in Cuba 
for the past 35 years.
  Yet, as the cameras of the world and the international community's 
eyes are on the human rights violations in other spots on the globe, 
those violations which occur in Cuba are somehow forgotten or, worst 
yet, ignored. The Cuban people's misery is allowed to go unreported. 
Instead, we find stories in major newspapers, as my colleague Diaz-
Balart pointed out last night, of Cuba's tourism attractions or about 
the so-called reforms the regime seeks to implement.
  Yet some voices clamor for the acceptance of Castro and his bloody 
regime through the implementation of relations with the regime. Some 
voices incessantly blame all that is wrong in Cuba on the United States 
embargo. I bet they're still trying to come up with a new excuse to 
explain this latest incident by the regime against the Cuban people.
  We are tired of excuses; the Cuban people are tired of excuses. It is 
time for all those who have made up excuses for Castro, and those who 
lobby for the lifting of the United States embargo on Cuba, to wake up 
and listen to the voices of desperation of the Cuban people. Castro 
will not reform; Castro will not change his ways. Castro is only 
interested in maintaining himself in power without regard to anything 
or anybody.
  In this day and age, Mr. Speaker, when freedom is apparently sweeping 
the globe, some forget that there are still regimes which put a very 
small price on the life of its citizens. The Castro regime has and 
still continues to embody this evil.
  But let it be known that we will continue our struggle for democracy 
in Cuba. We will continue to actively condemn the human rights 
violation of the regime and the lack of freedom on the island. The 
Cuban people will not forget, either.
  As one of Cuba's greatest sons, Jose Marti, once said, ``Ver un 
crimen en silencio, es cometerlo.''--``To witness a crime in silence, 
is to commit it''.

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