[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 148 (Tuesday, October 21, 2003)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2114]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               FREEDOM FOR NELSON ALBERTO AGUIAR RAMIREZ!

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, October 21, 2003

  Mr. LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I speak today about 
Nelson Alberto Aguiar Ramirez, a prisoner of conscience in totalitarian 
Cuba.
  Employed as an electrician, literally turning the lights on, he was 
forced by Castro's tyrannical policies to pursue a different path. 
After years of incessant repression, Mr. Aguiar Ramirez decided to turn 
the lights on Castro's ruthless machinery of repression.
  Mr. Aguiar Ramirez joined organizations that opposed Castro's 
dictatorship and supported basic human rights for the people of Cuba. 
Mr. Aguiar Ramirez is currently the President of the Cuban Orthodox 
Party, and a member of a more recent initiative, the Assembly to 
Promote Civil Society.
  Mr. Speaker, Mr. Aguiar Ramirez chose to fight Castro's government 
even though he was acutely aware of the consequences of doing so. In 
December 1999, Mr. Aguiar Ramirez was detained by Castro's ruthless 
repressive apparatus in order to prevent him from commemorating the 
December 10th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. 
This document, enshrining the essential rights of all humans, is such a 
danger to Castro's repressive dictatorship that Castro prevented Mr. 
Aguiar Ramirez from commemorating the anniversary.
  Mr. Speaker, it sadly came as no surprise to anyone who has watched 
the horrors that Castro inflicts on those who cry for freedom when Mr. 
Aguiar Ramirez was detained on March 20, 2003. He was subsequently 
sentenced to 13 years in Castro's inhumane dungeons.
  Mr. Aguiar Ramirez is classified as a prisoner of conscience by 
Amnesty International. His wife, Dalia, is deeply concerned about his 
declining health and his constant malnourishment.
  Mr. Speaker, Mr. Aguiar Ramirez must be released from Castro's gulag 
at once. My colleagues, we can not allow human beings such as Mr. 
Aguiar Ramirez, who rise up to claim their human rights from the 
clutches of tyrannical despots, to languish in the gulag for their 
beliefs. My colleagues, we must stand united and demand the immediate 
release of Nelson Alberto Aguiar Ramirez.

                          ____________________