[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 13 (Wednesday, January 31, 1996)]
[House]
[Page H976]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          CASTRO'S THREATS AGAINST DISSIDENTS' YOUNG CHILDREN

  (Mr. DIAZ-BALART asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute.)
  Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Mr. Speaker, since the time of the visits of two of 
our colleagues to Cuba a few weeks ago, dissidents and independent 
journalists there are facing increased repression. Dissident leaders 
Miriam Garcia, Mercedes Parada Antunes, Leonel Morejon Almagro, Pedro 
Brito Hernandez, and many others, have reported being the victims of 
increasing repression. But perhaps the most spine-chilling example of 
Castro's new wave of brutality is the way in which Vicky Ruiz, a member 
of the dissident umbrella group Concilio Cubano, is being threatened.
  State security has not only repeatedly threatened Vicky Ruiz's 
physical safety, but Castro agents have also told her that, if she does 
not stop her human rights advocacy, her young children, a 9-year-old 
girl and a 6-year-old boy, will be physically assaulted, as will be her 
13-year-old nephew, who also lives with her in the same house.
  I, Mr. Speaker, have personally heard her plea for help sent by 
telephone. All human rights groups, international organizations, our 
government, and all governments have a duty to immediately condemn 
these acts of cowardly brutality with all vehemence, and to intercede 
on behalf of Vicky Ruiz and her young family.

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