[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 111 (Thursday, July 24, 2003)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1583]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              RAUL RIVERO MUST NOT DIE IN CASTRO'S PRISONS

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, July 23, 2003

  Mr. LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART of Florida. Mr. Speaker, Raul Rivero is the 
dean of independent journalism in Cuba, having founded in 1995 Cuba 
Press, a news agency for independent journalists in Cuba. Mr. Rivero is 
also a world acclaimed poet and writer. His articles have appeared in 
publications such as The Chicago Tribune and The Washington Post. He 
has been recognized by such prestigious organizations as Reporters 
Without Borders. However, in totalitarian Cuba, Mr. Rivero is banned 
from publishing. In fact, the Castro regime is so threatened by Mr. 
Rivero's writing that in March Castro sent his thugs to his home to 
arrest him and 75 other dissidents and subsequently sentenced Mr. 
Rivero to 20 years in prison.
  In 1991 Mr. Rivero, along with 10 other intellectuals, signed a 
petition to the Castro regime calling for the liberation of all 
prisoners of conscience. Of the 10 signatories Mr. Rivero is the only 
one still living in Cuba and now finds himself in Castro's gulag for 
simply daring to write in his own country. Mr. Rivero must not die in 
Castro's prisons. Mr. Rivero and all political prisoners must be 
liberated now!

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