[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 59 (Friday, April 11, 2003)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E745]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  SENSE OF HOUSE REGARDING SYSTEMATIC HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS IN CUBA 
                       COMMITTED BY CASTRO REGIME

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                           HON. PETER DEUTSCH

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, April 8, 2003

  Mr. DEUTSCH. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of the Resolution 
condemning the arrest of Cuban political dissidents.
  As the United States and the world's attention is focused on Iraq, 
Fidel Castro and his regime in Cuba have abruptly ended a perceived 
period of leniency and burgeoning democracy, by undertaking one of the 
harshest crackdowns against internal dissent. If the Castro regime 
believes that the arrest and conviction of 80 political dissidents in 
``kangaroo courts'' for daring to advocate free speech and other rights 
for the people of Cuba will be ignored by the United States, Castro is 
greatly mistaken. My colleagues and I in the U.S. Congress have spoken 
in a unified voice condemning the unwarranted arrests of Cuban 
dissidents, and we will continue to aid Cuban people in gaining the 
basic human rights.
  One individual to be tried in the ``summary trials'' which bear 
little semblance of justice is Dr. Oscar Elias Biscet, a physician who 
has first-hand knowledge of Cuban prisons for his activism on behalf of 
human rights. In February 2000, he was imprisoned and tortured for 
hanging the Cuban flag upside down, an undeniable act of non-violent 
civil disobedience. Dr. Biscet's freedom in October 2002 was short-
lived and within months, this supporter of Dr. King's and Thoreau's 
peaceful methods of political change, has again been arrested for 
political dissidence and now faces life imprisonment under the 
draconian ``Law 91.''
  Sharing in Dr. Biscet's good intentions, and sadly his fate of 
imprisonment, is Raul Ramon Rivero, an independent journalist and 
leader of the Cuban newspaper service. He is another nonviolent 
activist who was arrested on preposterous charges and sentenced to 20 
years in prison for the simple possession of a Sony tape recorder and a 
Samsung computer, universal tools for most reporters. As numerous 
members of the Cuba Society of Independent Journalists like Rivero have 
been arrested and imprisoned, information emanated to the Cuban people 
has been severely limited.
  Marta Beatriz Roque, a Cuban economist, also faces 20 years in prison 
for political dissent. The Castro regime arrested Ms. Roque, and other 
economists like her, for speaking the truth about the failings of the 
Cuban communist economy. As was true with the historically similar 
failing Soviet economy, Castro's silencing of all economic criticism 
will not prevent the Cuban people from knowing the reality of their 
impoverished economic situation.
  Castro's arrest of these and other political dissidents, many of whom 
signed the ``Joint Statement'' highlighting the regime's failures, is a 
Stalinist tactic aimed at stifling popular unrest. This joint 
statement, published on March 9, 2003, reiterated the well-known facts 
that the regime refuses to ``respect the internationally recognized 
human rights or accept the existence of legitimate political 
opposition.'' Castro's harsh tactics will only stall the inevitable, 
the establishment of a free and democratic Cuba. The people of Cuba are 
impoverished and oppressed, and they are no longer swayed by Castro's 
empty rhetoric of helping ``the people.''
  Dr. Biscet's, Rivero's, and Roque's passion for democracy and human 
rights for the people of Cuba is both inspiring and contagious, and 
this is what Castro fears most. The tides are turning against the 
Castro regime. His recent assaults on his own people epitomize Castro's 
true nature, his inability to ever be anything other than a fear-
driven, totalitarian despot. These arrests and amplified oppression 
stress his anxiety and his desperate attempts to maintain power. Only 
the strong and the courageous can affect change, and we in the United 
States will continue to stand with those who strive to bring freedom to 
Cuba.

                          ____________________