[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 9]
[House]
[Page 12862]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                 RELEASE OF POLITICAL PRISONERS IN CUBA

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Ros-Lehtinen) is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Madam Speaker, today marks the anniversary of the 
horrific 13th of March tugboat massacre, in which 41 Cubans lost their 
lives at the hands of the Cuban regime's Coast Guard.
  Risking their lives to escape from the brutal oppression of the 
Castro tyranny, the victims and the survivors of that attack 16 years 
ago symbolize the ongoing struggle of the Cuban people to be free.
  This anniversary serves to remind the world that the same callous 
dictatorship that rammed the small tugboat and turned water cannons on 
innocent Cuban men, women and children so that they could fall and 
drown to death is the same dictatorship in power today.
  This is a regime that trades political prisoners like baseball cards 
to manipulate public opinion and advance its brutal agenda. Do not be 
fooled. These are not releases. They are forced exile; means by which 
the tyrannical rulers in Havana seek to eliminate their opponents. And 
in forcibly removing them, the regime, yet again, is violating the 
fundamental rights of these prisoners of conscience.
  Having spent years in Castro's dungeons for having the courage to 
stand up for the basic liberties of the Cuban people, now these brave 
individuals will be banished from their homeland, courtesy of the 
dictatorship and its accomplice, the Spanish government.
  Faced with this prospect, nearly a dozen of the prisoners of 
conscience reported to have made the list have already expressed their 
refusal to leave the island upon release, including Dr. Oscar Elias 
Biscet, a 2007 recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
  Years ago Dr. Biscet wrote to his fellow comrades, his countrymen, of 
``a movement of complacency,'' to use his words, a movement that, and I 
quote him, ``tries to make Cubans devoted to freedom believe that they 
should applaud and be content with receiving limited doses of freedom, 
a movement which suggests that we Cubans do not deserve total freedom, 
but only small tokens of it. This movement of low expectations 
speculates that other fragments of freedom and democracy will 
automatically follow it.''
  While some will use this latest farce to reward the Cuban regime, 
those who truly support freedom and democracy will heed the wise words 
of Dr. Biscet.
  It is no coincidence that this latest scheme promptly follows recent 
legislative efforts to provide an economic lifeline to the Cuban 
dictatorship. It is no coincidence that Fidel Castro chose this weekend 
to make his first public appearance in years, or to do a television 
interview on the Middle East to praise the enemies of freedom while 
attacking our democratic ally, Israel.
  But this is not the first time that the regime has used political 
prisoners as pawns in its pursuit of infinite power. In 1978, the 
regime released 3,600 political prisoners in exchange for the Carter 
administration's easing of sanctions on the regime. Then 26 were 
released for Jesse Jackson in 1984, three for Bill Richardson in 1996, 
another one for former President Jimmy Carter in 2002, and 80 for Pope 
John Paul II in 1998.
  No sooner were these political prisoners freed than the cells once 
again were then filled with those seeking freedom from Castro's 
tyranny.
  With a recent visit from Syria's dictator and longlasting ties with 
fellow state sponsor of terrorism, Iran, the tyrants of those rogue 
states are likely sharing trade secrets on how to best manipulate 
foreign nations to serve their own nefarious purposes.
  Syria, like Iran, is seeking nuclear capabilities, other 
nonconventional weapons, ballistic missiles, and it actively supports 
Islamic extremists.
  Similarly, Cuba provides safe haven to known extremists from around 
the world and continues to publicly defend violent organizations such 
as the FARC in Colombia.
  The anti-American, anti-democratic, anti-freedom agenda that these 
dictators have in common presents a threat to our U.S. national 
security interests.
  Let us not be fooled, Madam Speaker.
  For the sake of all those who have been victims of the Cuban 
tyranny--including Americans like Alan Gross and the members of 
Brothers to the Rescue murdered by Castro's thugs in February 1996--the 
United States must not, and cannot, fall for this latest facade by the 
Castro regime: Until all political prisoners are liberated; all 
political parties, labor unions, independent media are allowed to 
operate freely; and, all Cuban people are able to fully exercise their 
universal rights, maximum pressure must be exerted on the Cuban 
tyranny.

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