[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 7]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 9539]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




               FREEDOM FOR EGBERTO ANGEL ESCOBEDO MORALES

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, May 24, 2006

  Mr. LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to 
speak about Egberto Angel Escobedo Morales, a political prisoner in 
totalitarian Cuba.
  Mr. Escobedo Morales is a member of the National Council for 
Democratic Transition. He has dedicated his life to opposing the tyrant 
who enslaves the people of Cuba. He was arrested in 1995 and in sham 
``trial'' was sentenced to 20 years in the totalitarian gulag. 
According the U.S. Department of State, in July 2000, Mr. Escobedo 
Morales was tried again for ``obstruction of police'' and ``disrespect 
of government officials.''
  He has been incarcerated for over 10 years in the most inhuman 
conditions imaginable. Despite incessant repression, harassment, and 
abuse, Mr. Escobedo Morales remains committed to the conviction that 
democracy and individual liberty are the birthright of the Cuban 
people.
  In February 2006, Mr. Escobedo Morales, along with four other 
political prisoners, courageously signed a letter containing the truth 
about Cuba under Castro. The letter was printed on Cubanet, ``Cuba has 
become an island prison. All Cubans in the street just have conditional 
freedom and those of us in prison are in solitary confinement cells.''
  The solitary confinement cells that Mr. Escobedo Morales mentions in 
his letter are described in the U.S. Department of State Country 
Reports on Human Rights Practices--2005 as, ``Prison conditions which 
continued to be harsh and life threatening. Prisoners sometimes were 
held in ``punishment cells,'' which usually were located in the 
basement of a prison, with continuous semi-dark conditions, no 
available water, and only a hole for a toilet.''
  Mr. Escobedo Morales is representative of the fighting spirit of the 
Cuban people: of their rejection of the brutality, discrimination, 
depravity, and oppression of the totalitarian tyranny. Thousands 
languish in the gulag because, like Mr. Escobedo Morales, they refuse 
to accept the tyrannical dictatorship in Cuba today. Mr. Escobedo 
Morales is also representative of the best of the Cuban people, of the 
dignity of the Cuban people.
  Mr. Speaker, it is unconscionable that, in the 21st century, brave 
men and women are chained to filth because of their belief in 
democracy, freedom, and the sanctity of human rights for every person. 
My Colleagues, we must never forget those who are locked in gulags 
because of their desire for freedom. My Colleagues, we must demand the 
immediate and unconditional release of Egberto Angel Escobedo Morales 
and every political prisoner in totalitarian Cuba.

                          ____________________