[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 63 (Friday, May 19, 2006)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E909]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   FREEDOM FOR ROLANDO JIMENEZ POSADA

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                          Friday, May 19, 2006

  Mr. LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to 
speak about Rolando Jimenez Posada, a political prisoner in 
totalitarian Cuba.
  Mr. Jimenez Posada is a lawyer and Director of the Democratic Human 
Rights Center. As a pro-democracy activist, Mr. Jimenez Posada has 
committed himself to portraying the true horrors of life under the 
tyrant in Cuba. Because of his vigorous opposition activities, the 
regime fired him from his job.
  According to Amnesty International, Mr. Jimenez Posada has been 
detained and threatened numerous times over the past years. On December 
10, 2001, while taking part in a peaceful celebration to commemorate 
the anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, he and 
several others were beaten and pushed into police vehicles and then 
dumped in remote areas. Amnesty International reports that in July 
2002, Mr. Jimenez Posada was threatened at his home after handing out 
copies of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Later, Castro's 
thugs told him that he would be imprisoned if he continued carrying out 
public activities in support of political prisoners.
  Despite the horrific harassment and constant threats, Mr. Jimenez 
Posada never wavered in his convictions. He was arrested and thrown in 
the gulag on April 25, 2003. According to Amnesty International, he is 
still awaiting ``formal charges'' and a ``trial.''
  Let me be clear, Mr. Jimenez Posada has been locked in sub-human 
conditions for over three years without ``charges'' and without even a 
farce of a ``trial.'' Simply because Mr. Jimenez Posada does not 
subscribe to the lies and propaganda demanded by the communist 
dictatorship, he is locked in a miserable dungeon. Mr. Jimenez Posada 
is one of the many heroes of the peaceful Cuban democratic movement who 
are locked in the dungeons of the dictatorship for their beliefs. They 
are symbols of freedom and democracy who will always be remembered with 
respect and admiration when freedom reigns again in Cuba.
  Mr. Speaker, Mr. Jimenez Posada is languishing in the repulsive 
squalor of the tyranny's gulag because he believes in truth and 
freedom. It is detestable that at the dawn of the 21st century, and a 
mere 90 miles from our shore, honorable men and women are imprisoned in 
repugnant gulags for believing that all men have an inherent right to 
live in freedom. My colleagues, we must demand the immediate and 
unconditional release of Rolando Jimenez Posada and every prisoner of 
conscience in totalitarian Cuba.

                          ____________________