[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 65 (Thursday, April 30, 2009)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4912-S4913]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        WORLD PRESS FREEDOM DAY

  Mr. MARTINEZ. Madam President, this Sunday, individuals around the 
world will mark World Press Freedom Day by recognizing the plight of 
journalists in nations where their rights are not accorded under the 
law.
  Sadly, this includes many living in our own hemisphere.
  In Cuba, the repressive regime has gone to great lengths to 
extinguish freedom of the press, freedom of expression, and independent 
thought.
  Many have had their homes invaded, their families blacklisted, and 
their lives ruined for merely reporting the facts about the reality of 
Cuba under the Castro brothers' dictatorship.

[[Page S4913]]

  Six years ago, in a massive crackdown on independent civil society 
activists, more than 100 people were detained, with 75 suffering 
prosecution and then later imprisonment. Of the 75 targeted by the 
regime for imprisonment, 35 were writers, journalists or independent 
librarians.
  Because in Cuba the repression has been such that people are not 
allowed to even go to a library and read books that might be banned by 
the regime, individuals began to have home libraries where people could 
come and check out a book or read a book that might otherwise not be 
permitted by the Government. These people were imprisoned along with 
others who, in a fledgling kind of way, attempted to report conditions 
in Cuba.
  Today, 22 of these courageous individuals remain imprisoned. In the 
intervening 6 years, they have been joined by others who dared to 
express independent thought.
  Among those arrested during the 2003 ``Black Spring'' crackdown was 
Jose Luis Garcia Paneque, a doctor who became a journalist with the 
independent news agency Libertad--or ``freedom''--in Las Tunas 
Province. In 2003, Cuban state security searched his home and seized 
his personal possessions. He was prosecuted and convicted under Cuba's 
Orwellian penal code for acting ``against the independence or the 
territorial integrity of the state.''

  He was sentenced to 24 years in prison--imagine, 24 years in prison--
for a crime of being ``against the independence or the territorial 
integrity of the state.'' In fact, he was just a free journalist. He 
was sentenced to 24 years. He is limited to one family visit every 45 
days. His health, understandably, has deteriorated and there is genuine 
concern for his well-being. For advocating on his behalf, the regime 
accused his wife of espionage and conspired to organize mobs outside 
their home. These government-inspired mobs threatened to burn the house 
while the family feared for their lives and were still inside the home. 
His wife and children were forced to flee the country, all because he 
dared to speak the truth.
  Another independent journalist jailed by the regime is Normando 
Hernandez Gonzalez from Camaguey Province. Hernandez Gonzalez was 
arrested by the regime for reporting on the conditions of state-run 
services in Cuba and for criticizing the government's management of 
issues such as tourism, agriculture, fishing, and cultural affairs. He 
too was convicted for acting against ``the independence or the 
territorial integrity of the state.''
  Following his arrest and 25-year sentence, Hernandez Gonzalez was 
placed in solitary confinement, allowed only 4 hours of sunlight per 
week, and limited communication with his family. Prison authorities 
encouraged inmates to harass Hernandez Gonzalez, according, to his wife 
Yarai Reyes Marin. It is no surprise his health has declined during his 
imprisonment.
  As technology makes incremental advances in Cuba, the regime 
continues to clamp down on those using it to speak freely. Around the 
world, bloggers share information as fast as they receive it, but Cuban 
bloggers are lucky to have their messages penetrate the regime's 
repressive Internet restrictions.
  One blogger who has found a way to report on the struggles of Cuban 
society is a woman named Yoani Sanchez. Sanchez is able to blog, but 
she does so at great risk of regime retribution at any moment. By e-
mailing her observations on daily life in Cuba to friends outside the 
country, who then post them on line, she faces potential prosecution 
and imprisonment. Despite the risks, Sanchez eloquently expresses her 
support for freedom of expression. In one post she said:

       State control over the media remains intact, even though 
     technological developments have helped people find parallel 
     paths to keep themselves informed. Illegal satellite dishes, 
     the controlled Internet, and books and manuals brought in by 
     tourists have shaken the government's monopoly on providing 
     news.

  Like many other supposed ``freedoms'' in Cuba, the Cuban constitution 
actually provides for speech as long as it ``conforms to the aims of 
socialist society.''
  According to the State Department's 2008 report on Cuba's human 
rights, anyone engaged in:

     disseminating ``enemy propaganda''

  --is how they label it--

     which includes expressing opinions at odds with those of the 
     government, is punishable by up to 14 years in prison.

  Imagine 14 years in prison for disseminating ``enemy propaganda,'' as 
they determine it.
  We here in the United States, with our traditions of freedom of 
expression and freedom of the press, often take our freedoms for 
granted. As we near the 3rd of May--a day in honor of free press around 
the world--I urge my colleagues to consider all those who are suffering 
for exercising their inalienable right to free speech.
  I have a list here I ask unanimous consent to have printed in the 
Record. It lists all of those who are presently in prison in Cuba as a 
result of their desire to express themselves freely in violation of the 
dictates of the regime.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

       Ricardo Severino Gonzalez Alfonso, Normando Hernandez 
     Gonzalez, Hector Fernando Maseda Gutierrez, Pedro Arguelles 
     Moran, Victor Rolando Arroyo Carmona, Mijail Bargaza Lugo, 
     Juan Adolfo Fernandez Sainz, Miguel Galvan Gutierrez, Julia 
     Cesar Galvez Rodriguez, Jose Luis Garcia Paneque, Lester Luis 
     Gonzalez Penton, Ivan Hernandez Carrillo.
       Juan Carlos Herrera Acosta, Regis Iglesias Ramirez, Jose 
     Ubaldo Izquierdo Hernandez, Jose Miguel Martinez Hernandez, 
     Pablo Pacheco Avila, Fabio Prieto Llorente, Alfredo Manuel 
     Pulido Lopez, Blas Giraldo Reyes Rodriguez, Omar Rodriguez 
     Saludes, Omar Moises Ruiz Hernandez, Raymundo Perdigon Brito, 
     Oscar Sanchez Madan, and Ramon Velazquez Toranso.

  Mr. MARTINEZ. Madam President, today I will be introducing a 
resolution on World Freedom Day, if I may have another second to 
finish, and as I do, I hope many of my colleagues will join in this 
resolution. There may be some of us in this body who might differ on 
the best approach to bring freedom to Cuba. There ought to be no 
dissent on the issue that we all stand on the side of those who seek to 
freely express themselves in the midst of a very oppressive regime. So 
I hope we will have a lot of support for this resolution which I will 
be presenting later today.
  Madam President, I yield the floor.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Texas.
  Mrs. HUTCHISON. Madam President, how much time is left, or would we 
be able to secure 20 minutes for Senator Graham and myself?
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The minority controls 7 minutes, 
and the majority controls 8 minutes.
  Mrs. HUTCHISON. I ask unanimous consent to have 20 minutes for 
Senator Graham and myself. If there is something else that is 
scheduled, I am happy to scale that back.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.

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