[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 18]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 24165]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                FREEDOM FOR JORGE LUIS GONZALEZ TANQUERO

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, October 27, 2005

  Mr. LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to 
speak about Jorge Luis Gonzalez Tanquero, a political prisoner in 
totalitarian Cuba.
  Mr. Gonzalez Tanquero is a courageous pro-democracy activist and 
president of the Carlos Manuel de Cespedes Independence Movement. His 
pro-democracy activities have helped the world to learn the facts about 
the nightmare that is the Castro regime. Unfortunately, those who 
believe in truth are targeted by the tyrant's machinery of repression.
  On March 19, 2003, as part of Castro's condemnable crackdown on 
peaceful pro-democracy activists, Mr. Gonzalez Tanquero was arrested. 
In a sham trial, he was sentenced to 12 years in the totalitarian 
gulag.
  Mr. Gonzalez Tanquero is currently languishing in the abhorrent gulag 
because of his belief in liberty for the Cuban people. According to 
CubaNet, Mr. Gonzalez Tanquero's family has been harassed and 
threatened by the dictatorship's thugs. His wife, Marlene Gonzalez, 
said that she had been threatened by the dictatorship's organized mobs 
and that her neighbors have been warned not to let their children play 
with her daughter Melisa.
  Mr. Gonzalez Tanquero is an excellent example of the heroism of the 
Cuban people. No matter how intense the repression, no matter how 
horrifically brutal the consequences of a dignified struggle for 
liberty, no matter how often their families are harassed and 
threatened, the totalitarian gulags are full of men and women of all 
backgrounds and ages who represent the best of the Cuban nation.
  Mr. Speaker, it is as inconceivable as it is unacceptable that, in 
the 21st Century and only 90 miles from our shore, brave men and women 
are locked in dungeons because they believe that all people have basic 
human rights. It is a profound embarrassment for mankind that the world 
stands by in silence and acquiescence while political prisoners 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 Jorge Luis Gonzalez Tanquero and 
every political prisoner in totalitarian Cuba.

                          ____________________