[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 1]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 1534-1535]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                   FREEDOM FOR JUAN PEDROSO ESQUIVEL

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, February 6, 2008

  Mr. LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART of Florida. Madam Speaker, I rise to bring to 
the attention of our colleagues the unjustified arrest of yet another 
dissident, Juan Pedroso Esquivel, by the totalitarian dictatorship in 
Cuba.
  Recently dictatorship thugs working to stifle free speech raided Mr. 
Pedroso's home after someone in the city of Colon posted stickers 
declaring ``CAMBIO,'' meaning change in Spanish. The regime charged Mr. 
Pedroso on January 7 with the crime of possessing ``subversive 
propaganda.'' It is not known yet how long a sentence Mr. Pedroso will 
face for this so-called crime. This may be because the tyrannical 
regime is attempting to scare other peaceful political dissenters by 
making an example with the unjust arrest of Mr. Pedroso.
  Mr. Pedroso is a member of the Pedro Luis Boitel Democratic Party. He 
has a long history of nonviolent political dissent and has previously 
faced time inside the repressive gulags of the Cuban tyranny.
  Even outside prison the regime's thugs have repeatedly harassed Mr. 
Pedroso. According to reports, in September 1998, Mr. Pedroso was 
threatened by the despotic chief of police in San Jose de los Ramos, 
Matanzas province. The policeman publicly said that he had orders to 
shoot Mr. Pedroso in the head and then a few days later said he had his 
gun ready.
  A few months later Mr. Pedroso was summoned to the headquarters of 
the Sistema Unico de Vigilancia y Proteccion, SUVP, Unified Vigilance 
and Protection System, where he was told that he needed to stop his 
human rights work and ``get a job'' or he would be charged with the 
crime of ``dangerousness.'' However, Mr. Pedroso was unable to find 
employment because of his past peaceful political activities. One week 
later, he was arrested and ``convicted'' of ``dangerousness'' and 
received a two-year sentence in the gulag.
  My colleagues, it is unconscionable that someone can be sent to a 
gulag just because a dictatorship suspected he was posting stickers 
with the word ``CAMBIO.'' Why are they so afraid of the word 
``change''? What has them so scared of such a simple and peaceful word? 
What they are really scared of is anyone in any way challenging their 
tenuous grip on the Cuban people and putting a spotlight on their 
condemnable, abhorrent treatment of the Cuban people.

[[Page 1535]]

  Madam Speaker, the arrest of Mr. Pedroso is yet another example of 
the totalitarian dictatorship's total disregard for human rights in 
that enslaved island. My colleagues, we must demand the immediate and 
unconditional release of Juan Pedroso Esquivel and every political 
prisoner in totalitarian Cuba.

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