[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 78 (Friday, June 16, 2006)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1177-E1178]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    FREEDOM FOR RICARDO PUPO SIERRA

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, June 15, 2006

  Mr. LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to 
speak about Ricardo Pupo Sierra, political prisoner in totalitarian 
Cuba.
  Mr. Pupo Sierra is a member of the Cuban Human Rights Party and a 
pro-democracy activist. Mr. Pupo Sierra has been a constant advocate 
for human rights for those currently toiling under the nightmare of 
repression called the Castro regime. He has bravely denounced the cruel 
policies of the tyrant and demanded that the people of Cuba be allowed 
their inalienable rights.
  Mr. Pupo Sierra was arrested by the dictatorship and, after a sham 
trial, thrown into the totalitarian gulag. According to Prima News, in 
August 2005, Mr. Pupo conducted a hunger strike to protest the 
abhorrent treatment of prisoners in the grotesque gulag. According to 
Directorio, he began a hunger strike on June 9, 2006, to demand access 
to religious services.
  Mr. Pupo Sierra also sent this message to the Cuban people saying: 
``Do not be afraid of the regime. Do not allow yourself to continue 
being deceived: dissent. Speak the truth without fear. Do not be 
discouraged. We are reaching the final point of the ruling system in 
Cuba. We will soon have a free, democratic Cuba with the rule of law.''
  Mr. Pupo Sierra is a brilliant example of the heroism of the Cuban 
people. His message exemplifies the Cuban desire to live in liberty, 
free of the tyrannical repression imposed on them by the murderous 
despot. Mr. Pupo Sierra knows the violence, abuse, and repression that 
will be used to try to break him. Yet he stands strong in the strength 
of his conviction: ``We will soon have a free, democratic Cuba with the 
rule of law.'' Mr. Pupo Sierra is an apostle of freedom for Cuba.
  Despite incessant repression, harassment, incarceration and abuse, he 
remains committed to the conviction that liberty and human

[[Page E1178]]

rights are the birthright of the Cuban people. It is a crime against 
humanity that Castro's totalitarian gulags are full of men and women, 
like Mr. Pupo Sierra, who represent the best of the Cuban nation.
  Mr. Speaker, let me be very clear, Mr. Pupo Sierra is languishing in 
the grotesque squalor of the gulag because he desires freedom for all 
Cubans. My Colleagues, read his message often. We must demand the 
immediate and unconditional release of Ricardo Pupo Sierra and every 
political prisoner in totalitarian Cuba.

                          ____________________