[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 131 (Tuesday, September 23, 2003)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1862]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     FREE NESTOR RODRIGUEZ LOBAINA

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                      Tuesday, September 23, 2003

  Mr. LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I rise today, as I 
rise every week, to speak about the courageous prisoners of conscience 
in Castro's gulags. Previously, I have informed the Congress about the 
political prisoners Rafael Ibarra, Raul Rivero, Juan Carlos Gonzalez 
Leyva, Jorge Luis Garcia Perez, Oscar Espinosa Chepe, Jose Luis Garcia 
Paneque, and Marta Beatriz Roque. Today I rise to speak of Nestor 
Rodriguez Lobaina.
  Nestor Rodriguez Lobaina has been arrested and/or detained over 90 
times since 1991, and is currently serving a six-year prison sentence 
for ``disrespect to the figure of the Commander in Chief Fidel Castro'' 
and ``public disorder.''
  Why has Nestor Rodriguez Lobaina been savagely beaten while serving 
his sentence at the maximum security ``Combinado of Guantanamo?'' Why 
was Mr. Rodriguez Lobaina taken to Niva Mountain by Castro's police 
thugs and mock executed? Why is Mr. Rodriguez Lobaina considered a 
prisoner of conscience by Amnesty International? The answer to all of 
these questions is simple: Nestor Rodriguez Lobaina is one of the 
founders and current President of the Cuban Youth for Democracy 
Movement.
  The Cuban Youth for Democracy Movement is a nongovernmental 
organization that promotes democracy and human rights for the people of 
Cuba. These concepts are so antithetical to Castro's tyrannical regime 
that when Mr. Rodriguez Lobaina worked to promote the ideals of freedom 
and democracy he was locked away for six years in a maximum security 
gulag.
  Mr. Speaker, think about that, for encouraging people to think about 
freedom, to think about democracy, Nestor Rodriguez Lobaina has been 
arrested or detained over 90 times and is currently serving a six-year 
sentence. Six Years! Mr. Speaker, Six Years! Nestor Rodriguez Lobaina 
is serving six years because he thinks the people of Cuba should be 
free.
  My colleagues, we must all call for the release of Nestor Rodriguez 
Lobaina and all political prisoners in totalitarian Cuba.

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