[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 86 (Wednesday, June 9, 2010)]
[House]
[Pages H4304-H4305]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      POLITICAL PRISONERS IN CUBA

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Florida (Mr. Lincoln Diaz-Balart) is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mr. LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART of Florida. Mr. Speaker, this morning I had 
the privilege of speaking by telephone with one of the most important 
and respected leaders of the pro-democracy movement inside Cuba, Jorge 
Luis Garcia Perez, ``Antunez,'' from his house in the town of Placetas 
in the province of Villa Clara.
  I always learn when I speak to Antunez. He conveyed to me some facts 
that I think should be known by my colleagues.
  Fact: There are not 200 political prisoners in Cuba; there are 
thousands of political prisoners in Cuba. As Amnesty International has 
recently admitted in one of its published reports, the dictatorship 
uses criminal penal charges and sentences for so-called crimes, such as 
contempt against authority and dangerousness--criminal charges to deny, 
to hide the status, the political status, of prisoners of conscience.
  Fact: Various pro-democracy leaders and political prisoners are on 
hunger strikes, as we speak, in Cuba. Most well-known is the hunger 
strike being carried out by the peaceful pro-democracy leader Guillermo 
Farinas, a psychologist and journalist who demands the release of the 
25 most gravely ill prisoners of conscience to their homes.
  But there are others also engaged in hunger strikes at the moment, 
and their heroic efforts need to be known as well. Guillermo del Sol 
Perez, a former political prisoner, is on a hunger strike in Santa 
Clara. And the following current political prisoners are engaged in 
hunger strikes at this moment: Egberto Angel Escobedo Morales, Mario 
Alberto Perez Aguilera, and Ernesto Mederos Arrozarena.
  Fact: There are many political prisoners who are gravely ill and, 
yet, have not been included on any of the lists that have been made 
public--for example, Armando Sosa Fortuny and Cecilio Reinoso Sanchez.
  Jorge Luis Garcia Perez, ``Antunez,'' is a great leader and one of my 
heroes.

[[Page H4305]]

Before being released from prison in 2007, he spent 17 years as a 
political prisoner due to his peaceful advocacy for democracy in Cuba.
  He and his wife, also photographed here, Iris Perez Aguilera, have 
been detained, harassed, spat upon, and beaten innumerable times since 
his release in 2007 from prison. But Antunez never gives up. He told me 
this morning he has a new blog, ``Ni me callo, ni me voy''--``I won't 
shut up, I won't leave.''
  I not only learn, Mr. Speaker, when I am able to speak with Antunez, 
I receive strength from his courage, patriotism, and devotion to the 
struggle for Cuba's freedom.

                          ____________________