[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 32 (Tuesday, March 2, 1999)]
[House]
[Pages H862-H863]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     CUBA REMAINS A STALINIST STATE

  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, the past few weeks the Castro 
dictatorship has initiated an all-out crackdown on the internal 
opposition and the independent press, who day after day fight for 
freedom, for democracy and for human rights in Cuba.

[[Page H863]]

  Yesterday, under strict secrecy, four of Cuba's most prominent 
dissidents, Felix Bonne, Marta Beatriz Roque, Vladimiro Roca and Rene 
Gomez Manzano were put on trial after spending almost 600 days in 
prison with no charges filed against them.
  The crime committed by these four freedom-loving individuals: 
Drafting a document that criticizes the Cuban communist regime's 
repressive policies. And it was entitled ``The Homeland Belongs to All 
of Us.'' This document called for the establishment of democracy in 
Cuba and the holding of free elections on the island. The dissidents 
now face up to 5 years in prison and more on these trumped-up charges.
  It has been reported that dozens of independent journalists and other 
dissidents were summarily rounded up this past weekend on the eve of 
the trial. The purpose of this massive wave of arrests was to assure 
that opponents of the regime did not tell the international community 
of the Roman circus that the dictatorship dares to call a fair and a 
just trial.
  Despite the strengthening totalitarian nature of the Castro regime, 
the internal opposition in Cuba continues to work tirelessly to call to 
the attention of the world the plight of the Cuban people. In response 
to the valiant efforts of the Cuban internal opposition, merely 2 weeks 
ago Fidel Castro imposed yet a new law on the island that punishes up 
to 15 and more years in jail any Cuban who disseminates what the regime 
considers counterrevolutionary information.
  Leading human rights organizations around the world have noted the 
intensification of human rights abuses on the island of Cuba. Human 
Rights Watch, Amnesty International, the Inter-American Commission on 
Human Rights, and the recently released U.S. State Department Human 
Rights Report all concur that the Cuban regime continues to 
systematically violate the fundamental civil and political rights of 
all of its citizens.
  Cuba today remains the Stalinist state that it has been for 40 years 
under Fidel Castro. The rights of freedom of expression, freedom of 
association, freedom of religion, and all of the other rights that free 
men and women enjoy are denied to the Cuban people. The latest 
crackdown is but the most recent example of this four-decade old 
nightmare that has engulfed the island.
  Mr. Speaker, the United States Congress must continue to raise our 
voice in support of the freedom fighters in Cuba who day in and day out 
put their lives on the line to create a Democratic opening on the 
island.
  Last year, during his visit to Cuba, Pope John Paul II called on the 
Castro dictatorship to open up Cuba to the world. A year after the 
Pontiff's visit, Castro has not even opened Cuba up to its own people. 
On the contrary, the regime continues to tighten the noose of 
repression around the necks of the people of the island.
  The people of Cuba need the solidarity of the United States and all 
the nations of the world. Let us not turn our backs on them at this 
critical time.
  This week my congressional colleagues and I will be submitting a 
resolution which will detail facts on the Castro regime and on the 
international community. We call upon the United Nations Commission on 
Human Rights in Geneva to help the Cuban people, because this provides 
a forum for discussing the human rights situation throughout the world, 
for condemning abuses and gross violations of these liberties, and for 
establishing an international mechanism to express support for the 
protection and defense of these inherent natural rights.
  The actions taken by the United Nations Commission on Human Rights 
establishes a precedence for a further course of action, and it sends a 
message to the international community that the protection and 
promotion of human rights is indeed still a priority for all of us. The 
universal declaration of human rights guides global human rights policy 
and it asserts that all human beings are born free and should live in 
dignity with rights.
  Religious freedom in Cuba is severely restrained, and we have clergy 
and lay people who are suffering sustained repression by the Cuban 
state security apparatus.
  The government of Cuba continues to violate the rights of the child 
as well by engaging in child labor and in child prostitution. It 
routinely restricts workers' rights, including the right to form 
independent unions.
  Mr. Speaker, we will continue to be vigilant in fighting against 
these violations, and we call on the international community to help us 
in this hour of need.

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