[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 38 (Tuesday, March 6, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Page S2651]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     HONORING MARIO CHANES DE ARMAS

  Mr. MARTINEZ. Mr. President, I rise today to pay tribute to a Cuban 
patriot--Mario Chanes de Armas.
  When we speak of individuals who have spent their lives fighting for 
the fundamental right of people to live in freedom, we often think of 
individuals like Nelson Mandela and Natan Sharansky.
  However, today I want to share with you the story of Mario Chanez de 
Armas. He spent 30 years as a prisoner of conscience in Castro's gulag. 
He was the longest serving political prisoner the world has known--30 
years imprisoned for his political views.
  Sadly, Mr. Chanes died last week at the age of 80 before his one true 
dream could be fulfilled--freedom for the people of Cuba.
  I want to extend my condolences to the members of his family and his 
many friends.
  He was a man of great conviction and held a true love for humanity. 
Mario Chanes was a freedom fighter in the truest sense of the words. 
Originally a labor leader, Chanes de Armas demonstrated leadership and 
charisma and was an early ally of the then perceived ``reformer'' Fidel 
Castro. They had worked together for democracy and against the Batista 
dictatorship. He and Castro shared a cell in Batista's prison until 
they were both released.
  Shortly after the Castro take over Mario began to see the true nature 
of the individual that was his former cell mate. He realized that 
Castro did not care about civil liberties and human rights or democracy 
as he once claimed but rather Castro became what he remains today--
irrational, a devoted communist, and an enemy of freedom, a brutal 
dictator. For pointing out the danger Castro posed to Cubans, Chanes de 
Armas was jailed as a counter-revolutionary.
  He served for 30 years in deplorable conditions.
  Human Rights Watch reports that Cuban political prisoners spend 
months in isolation cells, sometimes without light or ventilation. They 
are often provided no beds--no mattresses. Their rations of food and 
water are barely enough to sustain life. Sanitation and medical 
conditions are so bad that inmates often leave prison with serious 
ailments--if they are allowed to leave at all.
  Chanes de Armas suffered these conditions. For his continued 
resistance against the dictatorship, he was put in tapiadas, steel 
isolation cells, and gavetas, ``drawers'' so narrow that he only had 
room to stand. And for what? For refusing to change his political 
beliefs and for rejecting communism. They never broke his spirit in 
spite of all the punishment.
  Mr. President, Today I want us to take a moment to remember Mario 
Chanes de Armas--to honor him, his legacy, our continued battle for 
freedom and the ideals in which he believed and tried so hard to bring 
to Cuba--liberty, democracy, human rights, rules of law. His dream 
lives on and his legacy lights the way.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Ohio is 
recognized.

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