[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 65 (Tuesday, May 17, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1000-E1001]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                ADOPTION OF MR. FELIX NAVARRO RODRIGUEZ

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. ELIOT L. ENGEL

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, May 17, 2005

  Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, I rise to inform our colleagues about a very 
important bipartisan initiative to highlight the problem of Cuban 
political prisoners held by the totalitarian regime of Fidel Castro. To 
bring worldwide attention to this critical matter, many of my 
colleagues and I are adopting an individual Cuban political prisoner 
jailed by Castro.
  Sadly, on this small island nation there are thousands of pro-
democracy activists currently imprisoned in Cuba for exercising their 
most basic human rights. They have been jailed for speaking freely, 
worshiping freely, and assembling peacefully.
  The Cuban prisoner I am adopting is Mr. Felix Navarro Rodriguez. Mr. 
Rodriguez is a 49-year-old member of the Partido por la Democracia 
Pedro Luis Boitel, the Pedro Luis Boitel Party for Democracy. On the 
evening of Tuesday, March 18, 2003 Felix was detained on his way home 
in the city of Perico in Matanzas. He was taken by more than a dozen 
State Security agents (Castro's political police) to his home where 
they subjected Mr. Rodriguez and his family to an exhaustive search 
that lasted late into the night. The agents seized a large amount of 
equipment, objects, and supplies. Everything from a computer to 12 
plastic chairs including books, rope, videos, typewriters, blank paper, 
pencils and pens, and all the documents pertaining to the Party were 
taken. Felix was brought to the State Security compound in Matanzas 
where he was detained under charges of having ``received, among other 
things, leaflets and literature; the latter was proved by the 
confiscation of aggressive and corrosive writings and printed material 
from his house.''
  The Cuban prosecution requested a 30-year prison sentence. On 
Thursday, April 4, 2003, Mr. Rodriguez--together with independent 
journalist and PDLB's secretary for International Relations Ivan 
Hernandez Carrillo--were subjected to an arbitrary and illegal summary 
trial, in the city of Matanzas and condemned to a 25-year prison 
sentence.
  Felix Navarro Rodriguez was a Cuban educator for over twenty years. 
He taught both elementary and middle school. At the same time he was 
teaching he was also studying Physics and Astronomy. Because he refused 
to indoctrinate his students with communist rhetoric he was fired from 
his job. According to the official document released by the Municipal 
Board of Education, he was accused of ``treason against the 
revolution.'' As a result, he was detained and later sentenced to three 
years in prison for ``enemy propaganda'' of which he served 20 grueling 
months. As further punishment he was prohibited from completing his 
studies in Physics and Astronomy. Mr. Speaker, I too am a former 
teacher and believe that one of the most important jobs in my life, 
besides being a father, was teaching my students to think independently 
and express their views without fear of prosecution. I sympathize with 
Mr. Rodriguez's efforts to teach his students to think instead of 
teaching them the oppressive lessons of communism, and I commend him 
for his efforts.
  Mr. Rodriguez's story is not uncommon in Cuba; in fact, political 
imprisonment has been a fact of life in Castro's Cuba for over four 
decades. Mr. Speaker, this has become a personal issue for me, as Fabio 
Freyre, the grandfather of a member of my staff, was imprisoned in 
solitary confinement for over one year for fighting against the 
revolution and the Castro Regime in the early 1960's. While this 
imprisonment took place over forty years ago, the conditions are the 
same as today. There are many Cubans fighting for their fundamental 
human rights who are being punished harshly on a daily basis. Like the 
others, it is clear that Felix Navarro Rodriguez does not belong in 
jail. He is a political prisoner being

[[Page E1001]]

held merely for trying to spread freedom and democracy to the Cuban 
people. I hope that he is one day freed from the shackles of oppression 
and that the Cuban people can have the opportunity to freely choose 
their leaders in a democratic system of political pluralism.
  Mr. Speaker, what has made this Nation great is that since the 
signing of the Declaration of Independence, we have been a beacon of 
freedom and justice. American troops have shed blood confronting 
tyrants and dictators.
  Our belief that there truly are inalienable rights does not end at 
our borders. We Americans believe that freedom and liberty are rights 
due all the people of Earth.
  I hope to one day soon speak to Felix Navarro Rodriguez and 
congratulate him on his freedom and thank him for his commitment to 
justice and democracy.

                          ____________________