[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 12]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 17153]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                     FREEDOM FOR GUIDO SIGLER AMAYA

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, July 22, 2005

  Mr. LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to 
speak about Guido Sigler Amaya, a political prisoner in totalitarian 
Cuba.
  Mr. Sigler Amaya is a member of the Alternative Option Movement, and 
an activist of the pro-democracy opposition in Cuba. According to 
Amnesty International, he has been detained and harassed several times 
in the past. He was incarcerated in the totalitarian gulag in December 
1999, after participating in a peaceful demonstration to celebrate the 
51st anniversary on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. In 2002, 
he was again detained when he attempted to meet at a home in Havana to 
discuss human rights.
  Despite the constant threats, despite being previously incarcerated 
in the gulag, Mr. Sigler Amaya never gave up his dignified struggle for 
democracy and basic human rights. Unfortunately, as part of the 
dictator's condemnable, March 2003, crackdown, Mr. Sigler Amaya was 
arrested. After a sham trial, he was sentenced to 20 years in the 
totalitarian gulag.
  Let me be very clear, Mr. Sigler Amaya is languishing in the depraved 
conditions of the totalitarian gulag because of his peaceful actions to 
promote basic human rights: The U.S. State Department describes the 
conditions in the gulag as, ``harsh and life threatening.'' It is a 
crime of the highest order that brave men and women are imprisoned in 
these nightmarish conditions simply for their belief in freedom.
  Tragically, Mr. Guido Sigler Amaya is not the only member of his 
family sentenced to the totalitarian gulag. His brothers, Ariel and 
Miguel Sigler Amaya, whom I will speak about in the coming weeks, have 
been sentenced to 20 years and over 2 years in the gulag, respectively. 
These three brothers are brilliant and admirable examples of the 
heroism of the Cuban people. No matter how intense the repression, no 
matter how severe the consequences of a dignified struggle for liberty, 
the totalitarian gulags are full of men and women who represent the 
very best of the Cuban nation.
  Mr. Speaker, it is completely unacceptable that, while the world 
stands by in silence and acquiescence, these three brothers are 
systematically tortured because of their belief in freedom, democracy, 
human rights and the rule of law. My Colleagues, we must demand the 
immediate and unconditional release of Guido Sigler Amaya, Ariel Sigler 
Amaya, Miguel Sigler Amaya and every political prisoner in totalitarian 
Cuba.

                          ____________________