[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 7]
[Senate]
[Pages 8706-8707]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                            CUBAN OPPRESSION

  Mr. NELSON of Florida. Mr. President, I wish to call the attention of 
the Senate to the important events happening right now in the island 
nation of Cuba. Over the past several weeks, Fidel Castro has been 
rounding up democracy activists, independent journalists, librarians, 
and signers of the Varela Project and throwing them in jail.
  Fidel Castro has used the world's focus on the war in Iraq to divert 
attention in order for him to brutally crack down and further oppress 
Cubans who yearn for freedom. It has been difficult to get the exact 
number, but we think it is approximately 80 Cubans who have been 
arrested. Yesterday, a number of those activists who had been arrested 
were sentenced to terms of 15 to 25 years--if you can believe that--on 
charges of ``undermining the socialist state.'' It is reported that at 
least 11 of those could get life sentences, and at least one could get 
the death penalty.
  I take the floor of the Senate to call to its attention that last 
night the Senate passed S. Res. 97, a resolution introduced by this 
Senator from Florida and cosponsored by the junior Senator from 
Virginia, Mr. Allen. The resolution passed the Senate unanimously. It 
condemns these actions, and it calls for the release of the prisoners 
of conscience in Cuba.
  Why did the Senate want to take a stand, and why do we want to bring 
further attention to this other than has already been in the Nation's 
newspapers, pointing out that under the cloak of the world's attention 
being diverted to Iraq, Fidel Castro has started this crackdown and 
these arrests and these sentences, even possibly a death sentence? 
Well, it goes back to the fact that the Cuban Government does not like 
the world's attention that has been brought to the courageous 11,000 
people who signed the petition under the Cuban law--the Cuban 
Constitution--which said that if at least 10,000 people sign a 
petition, the issues in that petition are then brought to the national 
assembly for action. Not only did 10,000 brave, courageous Cuban souls 
sign that petition, but over 11,000 did. It called for actions that you 
and I take for granted.
  It called for freedom of speech, freedom of the press, release of 
political prisoners, and a free enterprise economy. It called for them 
to be brought before the Cuban National Assembly.
  The Varela Project embodies the principles upon which all the world 
agrees: the right of the Cuban people to petition their government for 
civil and human rights, including free and fair elections.
  The leader of this project, Oswaldo Paya, has continued to advance 
this important project at great risk to himself, his family, and his 
associates.
  In May of 2002, Oswaldo Paya led a group of Cuban citizens who 
delivered exactly 11,020 verified signatures to the Cuban National 
Assembly supporting that referendum on civil liberties and all of the 
issues I have mentioned.
  These are basic rights to which anyone is entitled. Recent reports 
indicate that the Varela network has been especially targeted in this 
crackdown by Fidel Castro. I take us back to last year, realizing the 
courageous effort by Senor Paya and the signers of that petition.
  I sponsored and this Senate adopted the resolution 87 to 0, with the 
help of other supporters of the resolution, Senator Dodd and Senator 
Helms. That resolution commended the Varela Project and Oswaldo Paya. 
It was an early step to providing international attention and support 
to Mr. Paya and those who signed on to the Varela Project.
  The resolution that was adopted last year 87 to 0 was obviously 
bipartisan, and the resolution that was just adopted last night is 
similarly bipartisan and builds on that previous consensus and 
highlights that upon which we can all agree. What is that?
  The resolution that was adopted last night condemns the recent arrest 
and other intimidation tactics against democracy activists by the 
Castro regime, and it calls on the Cuban Government to immediately 
release those imprisoned during the most recent crackdown for the acts 
that the Government of Cuba wrongly deems ``subversive, counter 
revolutionary, and provocative.''
  The resolution adopted last night also reaffirms S. Res. 272, the 
Varela Project resolution, that the Senate unanimously agreed upon last 
year, which calls for, among other things, amnesty for all political 
prisoners. The resolution we adopted last night praises the bravery of 
those Cubans who, because they had simply practiced free speech and 
signed the Varela Project petition, have now been targeted in this most 
recent government crackdown.
  The resolution we adopted last night urges the President to demand 
the immediate release of all the prisoners and to take all appropriate 
steps to secure their immediate release.
  I wish to say this to those with whom we have contact from time to 
time representing the Cuban Government: We in the Senate are watching. 
We are not going to let Fidel Castro get away with these kinds of 
actions. And we are going to keep the glare of the public spotlight and 
the glare of world view in the international community on this kind of 
thuggery. We are going to call him to account in the name of human 
dignity and freedom because even in Cuba people are endowed by their 
Creator with certain unalienable rights,

[[Page 8707]]

among these life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
  I specifically thank our Foreign Relations Committee which absolutely 
whizzed this resolution through the committee, our committee chairman, 
Senator Lugar, and our ranking member, Senator Biden. I thank the 
subcommittee chairman, Senator Coleman. I thank my cosponsor, Senator 
Allen. I thank our ranking member of the Western Hemisphere 
Subcommittee, Senator Dodd. All of them gave the green light and 
speeded this process.
  I am going to continue to seek common ground with my colleagues as we 
seek to support the Cuban people in their struggle for freedom. I hope 
with this resolution having just been adopted that the administration 
will pursue a similar resolution of condemnation in the United Nations, 
and that the administration will seek immediate international support 
to secure the release of these and all freedom-loving Cubans who have 
been wrongly jailed because it is only through the constant and 
sustained recognition of this issue that our chances will be improved 
of creating forces of change on that long-suffering island.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Vermont.
  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, while the distinguished Senator from 
Florida is still in the Chamber, I wish to thank him for his 
impassioned comments. I am going to be speaking later this week on this 
same subject. I am one who, for a number of reasons--geopolitically, 
strategically, and economically--have not supported the current embargo 
on Cuba. I am, however--and I feel proud--as Vermonters say, I bow to 
nobody on the question of human rights on this floor.
  I met with Mr. Castro in Havana a couple years ago at a time when 
there was another crackdown of dissidents. I told him specifically what 
I felt about that in very strong words. He obviously disagreed with me, 
but I felt as an American in Cuba, it would be wrong for me not to 
express such a view.
  I will follow with a speech later this week on Cuba, but I hope my 
good friend from Florida, who has been such an extraordinary leader in 
this area over the years, when he was in State government in Florida, 
when he was in the House of Representatives, and as a Senator--he has 
been such an extraordinary leader. I hope he knows, no matter how one 
might feel about our overall relations with Cuba, no American should 
find justifiable the silence of those who simply wish to speak to basic 
human freedoms, basic human rights--the right of speech, the right of 
religion. These are issues that, from the time of Thomas Jefferson, 
Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and George Washington, we have 
enunciated in this country, but I do not know any country that can 
claim any form of democracy and freedom that would feel that way. I 
commend my friend. I hope others will listen to him. I hope 90 miles 
from his home State that it will be heard as strongly as it was heard 
on the floor of the Senate. I commend him.
  Mr. NELSON of Florida. Will the Senator yield?
  Mr. LEAHY. Of course.
  Mr. NELSON of Florida. Mr. President, I wish to say how much I 
appreciate the comments of the Senator. Here is a great example of two 
Senators representing two different parts of the country, at the end of 
the day, we have the same conclusion--what we want is freedom for that 
island. That island is the jewel of the Caribbean. Once freedom comes 
to that island, it will economically blossom and prosper. That island 
has so much rich history and such a beautiful culture.
  The Senator has pointed out that although we might have a difference 
of opinion about topics such as an economic embargo, at the end of the 
day what we earnestly want is change. We want the winds of change to 
blow, and blow very hard and rapidly so that freedom can come to Cuba.
  I thank the Senator for yielding.

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