[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 95 (Thursday, July 16, 1998)]
[House]
[Page H5639]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        CONGRESS STANDS BY THE CUBAN PEOPLE AND AGAINST TYRANNY

  (Mr. DIAZ-BALART asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Mr. Speaker, one year ago today, July 16, 1997, four 
of the most distinguished and respected leaders of the pro-democracy 
movement inside Cuba were picked up in their homes by the political 
police and thrown into Castro's prisons.
  Economist Marta Beatriz Roque, Social Democratic Party President 
Vladimiro Roca, former university professor Felix Bonne, and attorney 
Rene Gomez Manzano have languished in Castro's prisons for 1 year 
without Castro even having decided what to charge them with.
  Yesterday, in an open letter to the foreign press and Diplomatic 
Corps, Vladimiro Roca asked for ``a fair and public trial'' for himself 
and the three other dissident leaders.
  The letter, distributed by his wife, states, ``We wish to draw public 
attention to our situation, and to demand a fair and public trial in 
the presence of the foreign press and any diplomats accredited in Cuba 
who may wish to attend, in proceedings both transparent and above 
board.''
  Mr. Speaker, in what constitutes an embarrassment to mankind, there 
is a conspiracy of silence regarding the suffering of Cuba, but the 
Congress of the United States of America will continue to stand on the 
side of the Cuban people and against the tyranny that oppresses them 
until Cuba is free.

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