[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 10 (Monday, February 2, 2004)]
[Senate]
[Pages S365-S366]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              FIDEL CASTRO

  Mr. BUNNING. Mr. President, when we talk about national security and 
human rights and our support of democracy, much of our attention 
focuses on Iraq, other countries in the Middle East, or North Korea. 
But we cannot forget that just 90 miles off our shore, a dictator named 
Fidel Castro continues to stomp his boot down on democratic freedoms 
and human rights in Cuba.
  After all, the cause of freedom for the Cuban people is no less 
important than the cause of freedom for millions in the Middle East and 
other parts of the world. And let me be clear to some of my fellow 
Americans, Fidel Castro is a ruthless dictator that jails, tortures, 
and even murders those that seek liberty and democracy in his own 
country.
  Just ask Dr. Oscar Biscet's wife. In Spring of 2003, while the 
world's attention was on Iraq, Castro arrested Dr. Biscet and over 70 
other Cuban advocates of democracy. Dr. Biscet and his peers did not 
promote violence in their quest for a free Cuba. They merely asked for 
the God-given right to speak freely, a plea for basic human rights, and 
the granting of free and fair election. Instead, Castro gave them harsh 
prison sentences. Amnesty International has adopted all of these men 
and women as ``prisoners of conscience.''
  Dr. Biscet is now nearly a year into his 25 year sentence for 
peacefully opposing the Castro regime. In a letter smuggled out of jail 
to his wife in November of 2003, he described his imprisonment: ``The 
characteristics of the cell violate the law. There are no windows. 
There are only walls. Always in darkness . . . The sky can't be seen.'' 
The International Committee of the Red Cross, which last inspected 
Cuban prisons in 1986, should be allowed back into Cuba immediately. 
Others suffer similarly in jail. In many cases Castro and his thugs 
have killed his own citizens and dissidents who advocated freedom or 
tried to be free.
  While regular Cuban citizens suffer economic hardships, the regime in 
Havana has used tourism, foreign investment and commerce to strengthen 
its stranglehold over its people. Yet many member of Congress support 
trading with Cuba and lifting the travel ban. This approach will not 
bring democracy to Cuba.
  Europe and Canada have never imposed the type of travel restrictions 
that the United States has imposed. The large increase in travel from 
people from these free countries has not led to democratic reforms in 
Cuba. Actually, the opposite has been happening. As Castro has 
collected cash from these foreign tourists, he has increased his 
repression.
  The tourist trade in Cuba is controlled by Castro's totalitarian 
regime. A system of tourist apartheid has been implemented whereby 
ordinary Cubans are denied equal access to hotels, beaches, 
restaurants, clinics, and hospitals set aside for tourists. Meanwhile, 
tourists are put in hotels and enclaves that are literally walled-off 
from the rest of Cuba and every employee of those hotels must be hired 
through the Cuban government. Thus, the money spent at these hotels 
goes directly to feed Castro's government. The money tourists spend on 
hotels and meals is the same money used to pay Castro's thugs that 
imprison Dr. Biscet and other beacons of democracy in Cuba.
  President Bush has been steadfast in his support for the freedom 
loving people of Cuba. He has threatened to veto any bills that loosen 
travel and trade restrictions with Cuba. He has taken a bold stand for 
the good of the Cuban people. The Senate has also acted. We passed S. 
Res. 97 calling for the release of Castro's political prisoners shortly 
after Castro jailed Dr. Biscet and his peers. Also, last summer we 
passed S. Res. 62 calling on various human rights organizations to take 
action in regard to the situation in Cuba.
  The international community needs to address the situation in Cuba as 
well. Tragically, the United Nation's Commission on Human Rights that 
should be out front and center condemning these atrocities has Cuba 
sitting as a voting member.
  We must continue to support advocates of democracy currently 
languishing in dirty Cuban jails with hardened criminals and murderers. 
More than at any time in our ongoing struggle to bring freedom to the 
Cuban

[[Page S366]]

people we need to provide a consistent, unified front. We need to 
support the Bush Administration's policies towards Cuba. We endanger 
lives and prolong the suffering of the Cuban people by supporting 
travel and trade with Cuba.
  Not many people know that I once lived in Cuba. Before Castro took 
power, I played alongside many Cubans for a baseball team in Havana. I 
saw the beautiful Cuban beaches and got to know the country and its 
people well. I have fond memories of Cuba and my wife Mary and I would 
like to go back and visit someday.
  But as long as good Cubans like Dr. Biscet and others are jailed by a 
ruthless dictator like Fidel Castro, I will not travel to Cuba I will 
wait until the day I can visit a free Cuba--A Cuba that respects human 
rights and free speech; a Cuba where children are not brainwashed under 
Castro's propaganda classes and where their spirits are free, where 
they can grow up without fear, and where they can grow up in freedom.

                          ____________________