[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 1]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 969-970]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




               FREEDOM FOR JOSE MIGUEL MARTINEZ HERNANDEZ

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, January 26, 2005

  Mr. LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to 
speak about Jose Miguel Martinez Hernandez, a political prisoner in 
totalitarian Cuba.
  Mr. Martinez Hernandez has bravely, and peacefully, advocated for 
liberty and freedom in Cuba, a country that suffers. under the 
nightmare of repression that is the Castro regime. He is an area 
representative for the 24 February Movement, named for both the 
commencement of the glorious Cuban War of Independence in 1895, and the 
day in 1996 when two civilian aircraft carrying four members of the 
Brothers to the Rescue organization were shot down over international 
waters by the Cuban dictatorship's fighter jets. The 24 February 
Movement desires, and struggles for, freedom in Cuba. Mr. Martinez 
Hernandez also hosts an independent library in his home, in order to 
provide truth instead of the regime's propaganda.
  According to Amnesty International, Mr. Martinez Hernandez has been 
harassed and detained on a number of occasions in connection with his 
pro-democracy activism. Amnesty International also reports that he was 
taken into custody and interrogated by the tyrant's thugs in June, 
2001. Despite being constantly attacked by the despotic regime, Mr. 
Martinez Hernandez continued his efforts to bring freedom to the Cuban 
people.
  Unfortunately, in March 2003, as part of the heinous crackdown of 
peaceful, pro democracy activists, Mr. Martinez Hernandez was arrested. 
Subsequently, in a sham trial, he was sentenced to 13 years in the 
totalitarian gulag.
  While confined in the deplorable gulag, it has been reported that Mr. 
Martinez Hernandez has been threatened because he has persisted in 
studying the Bible. It is abhorrent to nature that this brave man 
languishes in an infernal gulag because he believes in freedom of 
religion, democracy, and basic human rights for the Cuban people.

[[Page 970]]

  Mr. Speaker, President Bush addressed those brave men and women who 
spread the light of freedom in the darkest corners of the world when he 
said in his inaugural address, just a few days ago, ``Democratic 
reformers facing repression, prison, or exile can know: America sees 
you for who you are: the future leaders of your free country.'' My 
Colleagues, we must demand the immediate release of Jose Miguel 
Martinez Hernandez and every political prisoner languishing in the 
dungeons of tyrants.

                          ____________________