[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 13]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 18072]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                  FREEDOM FOR FELIX NAVARRO RODRIGUEZ

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, September 9, 2004

  Mr. LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to 
speak about Felix Navarro Rodriguez, a political prisoner in 
totalitarian Cuba.
  Mr. Navarro Rodriguez is a member of the Democratic Solidarity Party 
and an independent journalist. He was also a school headmaster before 
he was fired by the totalitarian regime that mandates propaganda in 
place of truth. As a teacher who was trained to mold young minds, Mr. 
Navarro Rodriguez could no longer abide the practice of teaching lies 
and spreading deceit. After being fired for his beliefs, Mr. Navarro 
Rodriguez became a peaceful pro-democracy activist, focusing his 
energies on writing and reporting on the true nature of the 
totalitarian dictatorship.
  According to Amnesty International, Mr. Navarro Rodriguez has been 
subjected to harassment and detention for his pro-democracy activities 
since at least 1992. In November 1996 he was questioned by regime thugs 
for allegedly not paying union dues and having a copy of the newspaper 
``El Nuevo Herald'' at his work. It has also been reported that he was 
detained in November 1999 and September 2001 for participating in a 
commemoration for two political prisoners who perished in Castro's 
gulag.
  In March 2003, as part of the tyrant's crackdown on peaceful pro-
democracy activists, Mr. Navarro Rodriguez was arrested. In a sham 
trial, he was convicted on activities that included, ``among other 
things, leaflets and literature; the latter was proved by the 
confiscation of aggressive and corrosive writings and printed material 
from his house.'' This sham trial resulted in Mr. Navarro Rodriguez 
being sentenced to 25 years in the abhorrent totalitarian gulag.
  Just a few weeks ago, Mr. Navarro Rodriguez was able to send a 
message of strong support for President Bush's Cuba policy initiatives 
from his cell in the totalitarian gulag. In that cell, Felix Navarro 
Rodriguez personifies the heroism and perseverance of the Cuban people 
and their admirable commitment to see freedom reign in Cuba.
  Let me be clear, Mr. Navarro Rodriguez is locked in sub-human 
conditions for writing and owning printed materials that contain facts 
and truth. Simply because he does not subscribe to the lies and 
propaganda forced upon the nation of Cuba by the communist tyrant, he 
is locked in a dank dungeon.
  Mr. Speaker, Mr. Navarro Rodriguez is languishing in the repulsive 
squalor of the tyrant's gulag because he believes in truth and freedom. 
It is detestable that at the dawn of the 21st century, and a mere 90 
miles from our shore, honorable men and women are imprisoned in 
repugnant gulags for believing that all men have an inherent right to 
live in freedom. My Colleagues, we must demand the immediate release of 
Felix Navarro Rodriguez and every prisoner of conscience in 
totalitarian Cuba.

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