[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 34 (Thursday, March 16, 2006)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E393]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[[Page E393]]
            FREEDOM FOR ALBERT SANTIAGO DU BOUCHET HERNANDEZ

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, March 16, 2006

  Mr. LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to 
speak about Albert Santiago Du Bouchet Hernandez, a political prisoner 
in totalitarian Cuba.
  Mr. Du Bouchet Hernandez is the director of the independent Havana 
Press Agency. His peaceful, pro-democracy activities and truthful 
articles have helped the world to learn the facts about the nightmare 
that is the Castro regime. Unfortunately, those who believe in truth 
are targeted by the tyrant's machinery of repression.
  The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) reports that Mr. Du 
Bouchet Hernandez was harassed and threatened because he insisted on 
reporting and covering the historic congress of the Assembly to Promote 
Civil Society (APSC). The CPJ also reports that Castro's thugs ordered 
him to appear at a police station on the opening day of the APSC 
meeting. Mr. Du Bouchet Hernandez bravely disobeyed their command, and 
reported on the momentous events that occurred at the historic 
congress.
  In retaliation for telling the world the truth about the nightmare 
that is the Castro regime, Mr. Du Bouchet Hernandez was arrested on 
August 6th and, in a sham trial 3 days later, sentenced to 1 year in 
the totalitarian gulag. As the 2005 edition of the U.S. Department of 
State's Country Reports on Human Rights Practices states, ``Prison 
conditions continue to be harsh and life threatening.'' According to 
CPJ, Mr. Du Bouchet Hernandez has suffered severe headaches and 
progressive loss of his vision since his arrest in August 2004.
  Mr. Du Bouchet Hernandez is a brilliant example of the heroism of the 
Cuban people. Despite incessant repression, harassment, incarceration 
and abuse, he remains committed to the belief that freedom of the press 
and democracy are inalienable rights of the Cuban people. It is a crime 
against humanity that Castro's totalitarian gulags are full of men and 
women, like Mr. Du Bouchet Hernandez, who represent the best of the 
Cuban nation.
  Mr. Speaker, it is morally repugnant that, in the 21st Century, men 
and women are still locked in the dungeons of dictators because of 
their beliefs in freedom and human rights. It is as inconceivable as it 
is unacceptable that, while the world stands by in silence and 
acquiescence, independent journalists who write the truth about 
totalitarian regimes are systematically tortured. My Colleagues, we 
must demand the immediate and unconditional release of Albert Santiago 
DuBouchet Hernandez and every political prisoner in totalitarian Cuba.

                          ____________________