[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 18]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 24993]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                  FREEDOM FOR BERNARDO AREVALO PADRON

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, October 16, 2003

  Mr. LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to 
speak of a Cuban prisoner of conscience. I rise today in honor of 
Bernardo Arevalo Padron.
  Mr. Arevalo Padron founded the Cuban independent news agency Linea 
Sur Press in October 1996 to condemn the atrocious human rights 
violations committed by Castro's tyrannical regime. Mr. Arevalo 
Padron's insistence on reporting about the deteriorating plight of the 
Cuban people under Castro's machinery of repression led directly to his 
arrest.
  Bernardo Arevalo Padron was jailed for six years in November 1997 for 
``insulting'' Fidel Castro and calling him a ``liar'' for not keeping 
his promises about democracy and so many other matters. Mr. Arevalo 
Padron was sentenced to six years behind bars because he dared to print 
the truth about a government that ruthlessly represses any kind of 
dissent.
  After five years of sadistic cruelty in Castro's gulag, Mr. Arevalo 
Padron has been diagnosed with leptospirosis, which is spread by rats. 
According to a report issued by Reporters Without Borders, Mr. Arevalo 
Padron should have been freed on parole in October 2000, but the 
government refuses to release him because he has not cooperated in the 
so called re-education program.
  Mr. Speaker, Mr. Arevalo Padron has been slowly festering in Castro's 
inhumane dungeons since 1997 because he called Fidel Castro ``a liar''. 
Has ever a man been through so much for a single word of truth?
  One of the key reasons why I bring the plight of Mr. Arevalo Padron 
to the attention of Congress is because there is no independent press 
in Cuba. None, Mr. Speaker.
  Here in the United States we often say, ``the truth will set you 
free''; in Castro's deplorable dictatorship the truth will set you in 
the gulag for six years. I implore my colleagues to stand for truth, 
democracy and decency and call with one voice for the instant release 
of Bernardo Arevalo Padron.

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