[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 10]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 13838]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                FREEDOM FOR DR. JOSE LUIS GARCIA PANEQUE

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, July 10, 2006

  Mr. LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to 
remind my Colleagues about Dr. Jose Luis Garcia Paneque, a political 
prisoner in totalitarian Cuba.
  Dr. Garcia Paneque is a leader of the opposition movement in Cuba. He 
is a surgeon by training, and a member of the Cuban Independent Medical 
Association. He is also a leading independent journalist. As a director 
of the independent news agency Libertad and a member of the Manuel 
Marquez Sterling Journalists Society, Dr. Garcia Paneque has also 
devoted his efforts to letting the world know the truth about the 
nightmare that is the Castro regime.
  On March 18, 2003, as part of the tyrant's heinous island wide 
crackdown on peaceful, pro-democracy activists, Dr. Garcia Paneque was 
arrested. After a sham trial, he was sentenced to 24 years in the 
totalitarian gulag. Let me be very clear, Dr. Garcia Paneque is a young 
doctor in a dungeon because he is a supporter of freedom, democracy, 
and because he worked to shine the light of truth on the depravity and 
horror that is the Cuban tyranny.
  The U.S. Department of State's Country Reports on Human Rights 
Practices--2005, describes the deplorable conditions in the 
totalitarian gulag, ``Prison conditions continued to be harsh and life 
threatening.'' Unfortunately, this is far too true for Dr. Garcia 
Paneque. According to various reports, he has lost over 40 kilograms 
while in prison. He has had to be hospitalized multiple times while 
incarcerated. The latest reports are especially disturbing. Once again 
hospitalized because of the depraved conditions in the totalitarian 
gulag, he is now suffering from various life threatening maladies.
  The Castro tyranny is not only murdering Dr. Garcia Paneque because 
he believes in liberty, they are also attacking his family. According 
to a report filed by Yamilet de los Angeles Llanes Labrada, ``Dr. 
Garcia Paneque's four children are psychologically affected by their 
father's imprisonment and by the constant harassment they are forced to 
sustain. At least three times a week, groups cry out dictatorship 
slogans from outside Garcia Paneque's home.'' This is the grotesque 
reality of living under Castro's tyranny: if you demonstrate your 
belief in freedom, the tyrant will lock you in a dungeon and regime 
thugs will mercilessly attack your family.
  Mr. Speaker, Dr. Garcia Paneque is the face of the real Cuba. Despite 
these gangster tactics, heinous threats, and life threatening illness, 
Dr. Garcia Paneque continues to demand human rights for the people of 
Cuba. He is languishing in an infernal gulag because he believes in 
freedom, truth, democracy, and human rights. His family is being 
constantly threatened because of these ``dangerous'' beliefs.
  Mr. Speaker, it is unconscionable that journalists and physicians 
like Dr. Garcia Paneque are locked in dungeons for writing the truth. 
At the dawn of the 21st Century, it must no longer be acceptable for 
anyone in the world, anywhere in the world, to be locked in a gulag for 
reporting the facts. My Colleagues, we must demand the immediate and 
unconditional release of Jose Luis Garcia Paneque and every political 
prisoner in totalitarian Cuba.

                          ____________________