[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 115 (Tuesday, July 31, 2012)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5802-S5803]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
HONORING THE LIFE AND LEGACY OF OSWALDO PAYA SARDINAS
Mr. LIEBERMAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the
Committee on Foreign Relations be discharged from further consideration
of S. Res. 525 and that the Senate proceed to its immediate
consideration.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
The clerk will report the resolution by title.
The assistant legislative clerk read as follows:
A resolution (S. Res. 525) honoring the life and legacy of
Oswaldo Paya Sardinas.
There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the
resolution.
Mr. NELSON of Florida. Mr. President, I wish to speak about Oswaldo
Paya, a Cuban dissident, and his untimely death in Cuba in a supposed
automobile accident. The Cuban people, indeed all freedom-loving people
of the world, have recently lost a great advocate for freedom. He was
someone who was in peaceful opposition to the tyranny that is on the
island of Cuba.
Oswaldo Paya died in a car crash on Sunday, July 22. He was just 60
years old. Another Cuban dissident, Harold Cepero, was also killed in
the accident, and two European politicians, one from Spain and one from
Sweden, were injured. Paya was one of Cuba's best known dissidents. He
pushed for civil and human rights. He pushed for an end to one-party
rule. He pushed for freedom for political prisoners. And he pushed for
support for private businesses. In 2002, his Varela Project delivered
more than 24,000 verifiable signatures in support of these ideals to
the Cuban Government. It was the largest petition drive in Cuban
history. Paya bravely led this initiative at great risk to himself, to
his loved ones, and to his colleagues. For his work, he received the
European Parliaments' Sakarov Prize for Freedom of Thought in 2002, and
he was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.
The reason I am bringing this up, other than pointing out that planet
Earth has lost a friend for freedom, is to note that the circumstances
of the car accident are the topic of some debate. Cuban officials
insist the driver was speeding and that he lost control and he hit a
tree. But others are saying that witnesses saw another vehicle hit Mr.
Paya's vehicle and drive it off the road. Paya's daughter Rosa Maria
says she holds the Cuban Government responsible. She has told CNN en
Espanol that ``we think it's not an accident. They wanted to do harm
and then ended up killing my father.'' That is a direct quote.
Paya's loved ones and the Cuban people and the international
community deserve to have all the facts surrounding this tragic event
examined and put out in the public. That is why I have submitted, along
with a number of our colleagues, S. Res. 525, which honors the life,
legacy, and exemplary leadership of Oswaldo Paya. This resolution also
calls on the Cuban Government to allow an impartial third-party
investigation into the accident. I urge the Senate to unanimously pass
this resolution.
This request comes on the heels of other disturbing news out of Cuba.
We have learned that more than 40 prodemocracy activists were detained
after Paya's funeral last Tuesday. The reason? They dared to shout
``libertad'' at that time--``freedom''--during the ceremony. Reports
also indicate that several of the dissidents were severely beaten.
These peaceful activists were only honoring one of their own and they
ended up as victims of an authoritarian regime. Now more than ever
before the United States must continue policies that promote the
fundamental principles of political freedom, democracy, and human
rights, to all of which Oswaldo Paya devoted his life.
Senator Durbin, we are quite concerned the Castro regime continues to
hold an American hostage, Alan Gross. Once again, another Senator rises
to urge the Cuban regime in the strongest possible terms to immediately
and unconditionally release him.
We will never forget Paya's passion and dedication to freedom and
faith. The least the regime can do is to release Alan Gross.
Mr. LIEBERMAN. Mr. President, I further ask that the amendment
offered by the Senator from Florida, Mr. Nelson, which is at the desk,
be agreed to; the resolution, as amended, be agreed to; the preamble be
agreed to; the motions to reconsider be made and laid upon the table,
with no interviewing action or debate, and that any statements relating
to the measure be printed in the Record at the appropriate place as if
read.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
The amendment (No. 2740) was agreed to, as follows:
(Purpose: To condemn the Government of Cuba for the detention of nearly
50 pro-democracy activists following the memorial service for Oswaldo
Paya Sardinas)
On page 4, line 13, strike ``; and'' and insert a
semicolon.
On page 4, line 17, strike the period and insert ``; and''.
On page 4, after line 17, insert the following:
(7) condemns the Government of Cuba for the detention of
nearly 50 pro-democracy activists following the memorial
service for Oswaldo Paya Sardinas.
The resolution (S. Res. 525), as amended, was agreed to.
The preamble was agreed to.
The resolution, as amended, with its preamble, reads as follows:
S. Res. 525
Whereas, on Sunday, July 22, 2012, 60-year-old Cuban
dissident and activist Oswaldo Paya Sardinas died in a car
crash in Bayamo, Cuba;
Whereas at a young age, Oswaldo Paya Sardinas criticized
the communist government in Cuba, which led to his
imprisonment at a work camp on Cuba's Isle of Youth in 1969;
Whereas, in 1988, Oswaldo Paya Sardinas founded the
Christian Liberation Movement as a nondenominational
political organization to further civil and human rights in
Cuba;
Whereas, in 1992, Oswaldo Paya Sardinas announced his
intention to run as a candidate to be a representative on the
National Assembly of Popular Power of Cuba and, 2 days before
the election, was detained by police at his home and
determined by Communist Party officials to be ineligible to
run for office because he was not a member of the Communist
Party;
Whereas, in 1997, Oswaldo Paya Sardinas collected hundreds
of signatures to support his candidacy to the National
Assembly of Popular Power, which was rejected by the
electoral commission of Cuba;
Whereas the Constitution of Cuba supposedly guarantees the
right to a national referendum on any proposal that achieves
10,000 or more signatures from citizens of Cuba who are
eligible to vote;
Whereas, in 1998, Oswaldo Paya Sardinas and other leaders
of the Christian Liberation Movement created the Varela
Project, a signature drive to secure a national referendum on
``convert[ing] into law, the right of freedom of speech, the
freedom of press and freedom of enterprise'';
Whereas, in May 2002, the Varela Project delivered 11,020
signatures from eligible citizens of Cuba to the National
Assembly of Popular Power, calling for an end to 4 decades of
one-party rule, to which the Government of Cuba responded by
beginning its own referendum that made Cuba's socialist
system ``irrevocable'', even after an additional 14,000
signatures were added to the Varela Project petition;
Whereas the Varela Project is the largest civil society-led
petition in the history of Cuba;
Whereas Oswaldo Paya Sardinas bravely led the Varela
Project at great risk to himself, his loved ones, and his
associates;
Whereas, in March 2003, the Government of Cuba arrested 75
human rights activists, including 25 members of the Varela
Project, in the crackdown known as Cuba's ``Black Spring'';
Whereas Oswaldo Paya Sardinas's dedication to freedom and
faith earned him the Sakarov Prize for Freedom of Thought
from the European Parliament in 2002;
Whereas Oswaldo Paya Sardinas received the W. Averell
Harriman Democracy Award from the United States National
Democratic Institute for International Affairs in 2003;
Whereas Oswaldo Paya Sardinas was nominated for the Nobel
Peace Prize by Vaclav Havel, the former president of the
Czech Republic, in 2005; and
Whereas President Barack Obama stated, ``We continue to be
inspired by Paya's vision and dedication to a better future
for Cuba, and believe that his example and moral leadership
will endure.'': Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the Senate--
(1) recognizes and honors the life and exemplary leadership
of Oswaldo Paya Sardinas;
(2) offers heartfelt condolences to the family, friends,
and loved ones of Oswaldo Paya Sardinas;
(3) praises the bravery of Oswaldo Paya Sardinas and his
colleagues for collecting more than 11,000 verified
signatures in support of the Varela Project;
(4) in memory of Oswaldo Paya Sardinas, calls on the United
States to continue policies that promote respect for the
fundamental principles of religious freedom, democracy, and
human rights in Cuba, in a
[[Page S5803]]
manner consistent with the aspirations of the people of Cuba;
(5) in memory of Oswaldo Paya Sardinas, calls on the
Government of Cuba to provide its citizens with
internationally accepted standards for civil and human rights
and the opportunity to vote in free and fair elections;
(6) calls on the Government of Cuba to allow an impartial,
third-party investigation into the circumstances surrounding
the death of Oswaldo Paya Sardinas; and
(7) condemns the Government of Cuba for the detention of
nearly 50 pro-democracy activists following the memorial
service for Oswaldo Paya Sardinas.
____________________