[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 20 (Thursday, February 1, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E237]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   FREEDOM FOR MANUEL UBALS GONZALEZ

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, January 31, 2007

  Mr. LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART of Florida. Madam Speaker, I rise today to 
speak about Manuel Ubals Gonzalez, a political prisoner in totalitarian 
Cuba.
  Mr. Ubals Gonzalez, President of the Political Prisoners and Ex-
Prisoners Club in Guantanamo, Cuba, is a peaceful pro-democracy 
activist who has worked for basic human rights for the people of Cuba. 
The persistent repression of human rights on that oppressed island 
forced Mr. Ubals Gonzales to choose between a life without rights or 
fighting for the cause of liberty for the Cuban people. Mr. Ubals 
Gonzalez admirably chose to dedicate his life to the battle for freedom 
for the Cuban people.
  He joined his fellow Cuban pro-democracy activists, journalists, and 
human rights defenders and committed himself to helping shed light on 
the atrocities committed by the brutal tyrant and to help put an end to 
the abhorrent nightmare that is the Castro regime. On March 20, 2003, 
as part of the totalitarian regime's ruthless crackdown on pro-
democracy activists, Mr. Ubals Gonzalez was arrested and, after a farce 
trial, ``sentenced'' to 20 years in the totalitarian gulag.
  After this sham trial, Mr. Ubals Gonzalez was sentenced to 20 years 
in Castro's maniacal dungeon for nothing other than a peaceful exercise 
of his fundamental right to voice his opinion. Let me be very clear, 
Mr. Ubals Gonzalez in suffering in depraved conditions that the U.S. 
State Department describes as, ``Harsh and life threatening'' in which 
``police and prison officials beat, neglect, isolate and deny medical 
treatment to detainees and prisoners.''
  As always with prisoners of conscience in Cuba, Mr. Ubals Gonzalez 
does not suffer this torture alone. According to the International 
Committee for Democracy in Cuba, his wife, Mayelin Bolivar Gonzalez, 
must travel by train with her three children to visit her husband in 
prison. However, since the train does not stop at the prison, Mrs. 
Ubals is forced to watch her two oldest children jump from a moving 
train before following suit, holding the youngest in her arms every 
single time she attempts to visit her husband.
  Mr. Ubals Gonzalez is a brilliant example of the fighting spirit of 
the Cuban people: of their rejection of the brutality, discrimination 
and depravity of the totalitarian despot. He is languishing in 
repulsive squalor because he does not subscribe to the lies and 
propaganda forced upon Cuba by the communist regime.
  Madam Speaker, it is unconscionable that human beings just 90 miles 
from our shore are locked in a barbarously cruel gulag because they 
believe they have a right to freedom and a democratic government. My 
Colleagues, we must demand freedom and human rights for all people, 
especially those who live under the darkness of totalitarian regimes. 
We must demand the unconditional freedom for Manuel Ubals Gonzalez and 
every prisoner of conscience in totalitarian Cuba.

                          ____________________