[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 61 (Wednesday, May 5, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E741]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 CELEBRATING CINCO DE MAYO AND MEXICO'S CONTINUED STRUGGLE FOR FREEDOM 
                     AND JUSTICE IN THE HEMISPHERE

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                            HON. TOM LANTOS

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Wednesday, May 5, 2004

  Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in celebration of Cinco de Mayo 
and in recognition of the many contributions that Mexicans and Mexican-
Americans have made and continue to make in my congressional district 
in California and across our nation.
  The Cinco de Mayo holiday commemorates the May 5, 1862 victory of an 
ill-equipped and vastly outnumbered Mexican army, under the command of 
General Ignacio Zaragoza, over Napoleon's army at the Battle of Puebla. 
Although Napoleon eventually installed his brother as regent over 
Mexico, the triumph of the Mexican people over the French in this 
battle has come to symbolize the fight for freedom and justice in the 
Hemisphere--a fight that many dissidents in Cuba continue to wage 
intensely against Castro's brutal regime.
  Mr. Speaker, the recent diplomatic furor involving our friend and 
ally Mexico and the regime of Fidel Castro in Cuba is an appropriate 
issue in the context of Cinco de Mayo. I want to pay tribute to 
President Fox and the Mexican government for their principled stand on 
human rights.
  I find it absolutely appalling that one year after 75 Cubans were 
tried in kangaroo courts in Havana, sentenced to prison terms ranging 
from 6 to 28 years, and imprisoned in rat-infested, dank cells, 
Castro's totalitarian machine is still trying to crack the backs of 
Cuba's internal opposition by continuing to lock up some of its most 
renown leaders.
  These 75 individuals are suffering indescribable horrors at the hands 
of Cuban authorities simply because they sought to express their 
disagreement with Castro's government, provide an independent media 
voice, stock their shelves with banned literature, represent the 
interests of independent labor, and otherwise improve the lot of their 
fellow citizens. In other words, these soldiers of freedom were thrown 
behind bars because they practiced their professions or attempted to 
exert their political rights and civil liberties.
  Recently, Chairman Hyde and I led our Committee's consideration of H. 
Res. 563, which was sponsored by my good friends and colleagues, Ileana 
Ros-Lehtinen of Florida and Bob Menendez of New Jersey, among others. 
H. Res. 563 recognized the reprehensible state of human rights in Cuba. 
It also called upon the international community to pass a resolution 
denouncing Cuba's human rights record at this year's session of the 
United Nations Commission on Human Rights. Two weeks ago, the 
Commission passed a resolution, sponsored by Honduras, which condemned 
the imprisonment of the 75 dissidents and urged Cuba to allow a special 
representative of the Commission to visit Cuba and report on the state 
of human rights in the island country. Havana so far has resoundingly 
rejected the request of the international community and reportedly 
refused to accept the Commission's special representative.
  Mr. Speaker, Mexico joined the United States and twenty other 
countries in voting for this resolution deploring human rights 
violation in Cuba. In the weeks that have followed, Castro has vilified 
President Fox and his Administration for the courageous stand that 
Mexico took in Geneva as a defender of freedom in the Hemisphere--a 
stand similar to General Zaragoza at Puebla.
  Mr. Speaker, although we in this House and across the globe disagree 
on how best to bring about change in Cuba, we stand together in 
solidarity with those who endure torture, incarceration, and 
deprivation because they refuse to submit to the boot of an 
authoritarian regime.
  I am proud to call my friends in neighboring Mexico our allies in 
this unfortunately never-ending struggle against tyranny. Amigos, desde 
cinco de mayo de 1862 hasta cinco de mayo de 2004, la lucha continua!




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