[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 8]
[House]
[Page 11358]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




 ADOPTION OF CUBAN POLITICAL PRISONER HECTOR FERNANDO MASEDA GUTIERREZ

  (Mr. MANZULLO asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mr. MANZULLO. Mr. Speaker, today I stand in this great Chamber of 
democracy to adopt a Cuban political prisoner, Mr. Hector Fernando 
Maseda Gutierrez.
  Mr. Gutierrez was arrested on March 18, 2003 during a regime 
crackdown on dissidents, sentenced to 20 years in prison for 
associating himself with the Florida International University, 
participating in Radio Marti programs, writing articles for foreign 
magazines and possessing a typewriter, fax machine, and books in his 
home.
  I urge Fidel Castro to release him immediately.
  The Cuban authorities are refusing to give Mr. Gutierrez the medicine 
he needs for a skin ailment and several allergies. He is 62 years old, 
and therefore his health problems are of great concern to his family.
  Faced with crude living conditions and the possibility of merciless 
consequences to his family, Mr. Gutierrez is determined not to back 
down from his conviction for a free Cuba.
  Let me finish by saying that I am grateful that my distinguished 
colleague, the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Ros-Lehtinen), promoted 
this idea of adopting Cuban political prisoners.

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