[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 120 (Thursday, September 22, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1940]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    FREEDOM FOR RAFAEL MILLET LEYVA

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, September 22, 2005

  Mr. LINCOLN DIAZ BALART of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to 
speak about Rafael Millet Leyva, a political prisoner in totalitarian 
Cuba.
  Mr. Millet Leyva is President of the Martin Luther King Civic 
Resistance Movement. He believes in freedom, democracy, human rights 
and the rule of law. As a peaceful opponent of the tyrannical regime in 
Havana he has been the subject of constant abuse and harassment.
  According to Amnesty International, in December 2001, Mr. Millet 
Leyva was pushed into a police vehicle and beaten and subsequently 
dumped in a remote area, after attempting to participate in an event 
celebrating the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Amnesty 
International also reports that he was again detained by the 
dictatorship in June, 2002.
  Despite being the constant target of abuse by the regime, Mr. Millet 
Leyva continued to demand liberty for the men and women of Cuba. 
Unfortunately, in March 2003, as part of the tyrant's heinous island 
wide crackdown on peaceful, pro-democracy activists, Mr. Millet Leyva 
was arrested by the regime. For over 2 years, he has languished in a 
grotesque gulag awaiting a sham trial.
  His wife reports, ``The inhumane conditions my husband has been 
subjected to have not changed his convictions or his ideals.'' The 
courageous life of Mr. Millet Leyva is a wonderful example of the 
heroism of the Cuban people. No matter how vile the repression, no 
matter how brutal the consequences of a dignified struggle for liberty, 
the totalitarian gulags are full of men and women of all backgrounds 
and ages who represent the best of the Cuban nation.
  Mr. Speaker, it remains categorically unacceptable that men and women 
who demand freedom from tyranny are locked in the dungeons of monsters. 
We must continue to stand up and demand the liberation of all who 
suffer in the darkness of totalitarian rule. As we exercise our 
democratic rights, let us never forget those who are struggling to 
liberate the oppressed. My Colleagues, we must demand the immediate and 
unconditional release of Rafael Millet Leyva and every prisoner of 
conscience in totalitarian Cuba.

                          ____________________