[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 45 (Tuesday, March 22, 2016)]
[House]
[Pages H1499-H1500]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  LACK OF LIBERTY AND FREEDOM IN CUBA

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
Florida (Ms. Ros-Lehtinen) for 5 minutes.
  Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, in 2014, President Obama said he 
wanted to go to Cuba if, and I quote, ``I, with confidence, can say 
that we are seeing some progress in liberty and freedom. If we are 
going backwards,'' President Obama said, ``then there is not much 
reason for me to be there. I am not interested in just validating the 
status quo.''
  Well, look at this poster, Mr. Speaker. These are human rights 
dissidents who were rounded up and beaten. If Obama's Cuba policy is 
not going backwards, I don't know what is, because the oppressive Cuban 
apparatus of repression only seems to be emboldened.
  Mr. Speaker, yesterday in Havana, Raul Castro was asked by a reporter 
if he would release political prisoners in Cuba. Castro looked 
uncomfortable. Why? Because in Cuba, there is no free press. Reporters 
are not allowed to ask real questions to regime leaders.
  Castro said, well, there are no political prisoners in Cuba at all, 
and if there were, he would free them by nightfall.
  That's a good one. Well, there are 11 million people imprisoned by 
Castro's communist regime--the entire island.
  But here is a list, Mr. Speaker, of over 50 political prisoners, and 
this is a list comprised by the Cuban Democratic Directorate. Some of 
these individuals have been in jail for over 20 years. Others are 
constantly detained, released, and rearrested.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to enter this list into the 
Record.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentlewoman from Florida?
  There was no objection.

Preliminary List of Political Prisoners, Cuban Democratic Directorate, 
                            March 21st, 2016

       1. Yasiel Espino Aceval/Condemned 4 years/Ariza Prison
       2. Alexander Palacio Reyes/Ceramica Roja Prison
       3. Alexis Serrano Avila/Condemned 3 years prison
       4. Andres Fidel Alfonso Rodriguez/Melena Sur prison
       5. Ernesto Borges Perez/Combinado del Este prison
       6. Carlos Amaury Calderin Roca/Valle Grande prison
       7. Maria del Carmen Cala Aguilera/Pendiente/Provincial 
     Women's Prison Holguin Province
       8. Enrique Bartolome Cambria Diaz/Kilo 8 prison
       9. Misael Canet Velazquez/Kilo 8 prison
       10. Santiago Cisneros Castellanos/Pendiente/Aguadores 
     prison
       11. Leonardo Cobas Perez/Moscu prison
       12. Felipe Martin Companione/Ceramica Roja prison/Condemned 
     to 8 years in prison
       13. Orlando Contreras Aguiar/Aguacate prison
       14. Yeri Curbelo Aguilera/Condemned 3 years prison/
     Guantanamo Prison
       15. Pedro de la Caridad Alvarez Pedroso
       16. Jordys Manuel Dosil/Condemned 3 years prison
       17. Carlos Manuel Figueroa Alvarez/Combinado del Este 
     Prison/Condemned to 6 years prison
       18. David Fernandez Cardoso/Bungo Ocho Prison
       19. Jose Daniel Gonzalez Fumero/Nieves Morejon Prison
       20. Ricardo Gonzalez Sendina/condemned 6 years/Combinado 
     del Este
       21. Ariel Gonzalez Sendina/condemned 6 years/Combinado del 
     Este
       22. Eglis Heredia Rodriguez/Boniato Prison
       23. Mario Alberto Hernandez Leiva/Melena del Sur prison/
     Condemned to 3 years prison
       24. Geovanys Izaguirre Hernandez/Aguadores Prison
       25. Rolando Erismelio Jaco Garcia/Ceramica Roja Prison
       26. Javier Jouz Varona/Social Dangerousness prison/
     Condemned to 3 years prison
       27. Isain Lopez Luna/Valle Grande Prison
       28. Noel Lopez Gonzalez/Condemned 12 years prison
       29. Michael Mediaceja Ramos/Condemned 6 months/Guanajay 
     prison
       30. Osmani Mendosa Ferrior/Las Mangas prison

[[Page H1500]]

  

       31. Mario Morera Jardines/Condemned to 3 years prison/
     Guamajal prison
       32. Ernesto Ortega Sarduy/Valle Grande prison
       33. Alexander Palacio Reyes/Ceramica Roja prison
       34. Ricardo Pelier Frometa/Condemned to 3 years jail/
     Combinado de Guantanamo prison
       35. Fernando Isael Pena Tamayo/Condemned to 5 years/El 
     Tipico prison
       36. Silverio Portal Contreras/Campamento Ochiman prison
       37. Humberto Eladio Real Suarez
       38. Rene Rouco Machin/Melena del Sur prison
       39. Laudelino Rodriguez Mendoza/Granjita prison, Santiago 
     de Cuba
       40. Leoncio Rodriguez Poncio/Condemned to 42 years and has 
     served 28 years in prison/Guantanamo Prison
       41. Alfredo Luis Limonte Rodriguez/Condemned 4 years/Ariza 
     Prison
       42. Elieski Roque Chongo/Condemned 5 years/Ariza Prison
       43. Alexander Alan Rodriguez/Sentence Pending/Valle Grande 
     Prison
       44. Reinier Rodriguez Mendoza/Condemned to 2 years of 
     prison/San Jose Prison
       45. Mario Ronaide Figueroa Reyes/Condemned to 3 years 
     prison/Prision 1580
       46. Yoelkis Rozabal Flores/Condemned to 4 years/Combinado 
     de Guantanamo prison
       47. Daniel Santovenia Fernandez
       48. Emilio Serrano Rodriguez/Valle Grande Prison
       49. Armando Sosa Fortuny/Camaguey Prison
       50. Liusban John Ultra/Condenado a 7 anos/Jailed in the 
     Province of Las Tunas/La Granjita Prison
       51. Armado Verdecia Diaz/Condemned to 5 years of prison/
     Malverde Prison
       Sources: Directorio Democratico Cubano; Andry Frometa 
     Cuenca, former political prisoner; Yordan Marrero, Partido 
     Democrata Cristiano de Camaguey; Librado Linares Garcia, 
     General Secretary of the Movimiento Cubano Reflexion; Union 
     Patriotica de Cuba (UNPACU).

  Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. During his time in Cuba, President Obama failed to 
announce any substantive changes on policies, such as the fugitive 
policy.
  Is there any news on returning New Jersey cop killer Joanne Chesimard 
or any of the other fugitives of U.S. justice, such as Charles Hill, 
William Guillermo Morales, or Victor Manuel Gerena? No news.
  On confiscated property, there was no positive announcement about the 
Castro regime paying back Americans who had their properties 
confiscated.
  There was no announcement by Castro about improving human rights on 
the island. Castro denied that human rights violations occur in Cuba. 
Again, look at this poster.
  As predicted, Castro also demanded the return of the naval station at 
Guantanamo Bay. This Congress has been very clear that it strongly 
opposes relinquishing GTMO or transferring detainees to the United 
States.
  Now, President Obama incorrectly keeps calling the Communist 
strongman Castro ``President Castro''--wrong. He is not President of 
Cuba. There have never been elections. There are no political parties, 
except the Communist Party, in Cuba. There are no free and fair 
elections. He is not President. Stop calling a dictator President.
  The President, our President Obama, proclaimed that this trip to Cuba 
would be fun. That is his word. It has not been fun for all of the 
Cubans who have been beaten leading up to the President's visit. It 
hasn't been fun for all the Cubans who have been prevented from leaving 
their homes until the President departs Cuba because they are human 
rights activists.
  Now let me show you this other poster, Mr. Speaker. This is a poster 
of President Reagan with Gorbachev in 1987. And what happened there? 
President Reagan said: ``Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate. Mr. Gorbachev, 
tear down this wall.''
  In Havana, 2016, President Obama says: Thank you, President Castro, 
for your spirit of openness.
  Spirit of openness? And again, President what? He is not a President. 
What openness, when press is prohibited in Cuba? What openness, when 
the Cuban people are jailed for dissenting views? What openness, when 
the economy is controlled by one entity, the communist regime?
  America, under the Obama administration, has forsaken those who 
suffer under Castro's oppression. That is a sad fact. And this will be 
President Obama's legacy, Mr. Speaker, the President who abdicated 
America's role as a defender of international human rights, all for a 
narcissistic play at building a legacy as the President who restored 
America's relations with dictators and tyrants who will do anything to 
undermine our country and harm our interests and our citizens.
  And that is all there is about Cuba.

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