[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 19]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 25389]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                   FREEDOM FOR EDEL JOSE GARCIA DIAZ

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                       Friday, November 19, 2004

  Mr. LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to 
speak about Edel Jose Garcia Diaz, a political prisoner in totalitarian 
Cuba.
  Mr. Garcia Diaz is the founder and editor of Centro Norte del Pais, 
an independent news agency amidst the dictatorship's mandated 
propaganda. He has devoted his efforts to printing the truth about the 
horrors in Cuba under the totalitarian dictatorship. By founding an 
independent news agency, Mr. Garcia Diaz knowingly risked the wrath of 
the tyranny; however, he believed that illuminating the nightmare that 
is Castro regime was more important than his personal safety.
  From 1997 to present, Mr. Garcia Diaz has been harassed by the 
dictator's thugs. According to Reporters Without Borders, his life was 
threatened by a functionary of the municipality of Caibarien. He was 
also subjected to detentions, interrogations, and other official 
warnings. Yet, despite these threats, Mr. Garcia Diaz always returned 
to his news agency to publish the truth about the regime's monstrous 
abuse of the basic human rights of the Cuban people.
  On March 18, 2003, as part of the tyrant's deplorable crackdown on 
peaceful pro democracy advocates, Mr. Garcia Diaz was arrested. 
According to Amnesty International, Mr. Garcia Diaz was accused of 
writing about the poor physical condition of a school building in 
Havana and accompanying the article with a photo of the installation. 
After the conclusion of a sham trial, he was sentenced to 15 years in 
the totalitarian gulag.
  Mr. Garcia Diaz is languishing in Castro's infamous, inhuman gulag 
because he believes in freedom and democracy. His bravery in the face 
of oppression is another example of the courage of the pro-democracy 
activists in totalitarian Cuba. Recently, over one hundred Cuban 
opposition activists took part in a symbolic vote on November 2nd in 
Havana. They participated in a mock election for U.S. President at the 
residence of James Cason, head of the U.S. Interests Section in Cuba. 
Once again, the courage of the Cuban activists demonstrated to the 
world that, despite the consequences of dissent, the Cuban people are 
unafraid to demonstrate their desire for democracy.
  Mr. Speaker, it is unconscionable the Mr. Garcia Diaz is confined in 
an infernal gulag because he believes in writing the truth, freedom of 
the press, and basic human rights for the Cuban people. As we celebrate 
the successes of the American democratic process, we must never forget 
those who continue to fight the evil tyranny 90 miles from our shore. 
My Colleagues, we must demand the immediate release of Edel Jose Garcia 
Diaz and every prisoner of conscience in totalitarian Cuba.

                          ____________________