[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 9]
[House]
[Pages 12911-12912]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       CUBA'S POLITICAL PRISONERS

  (Mr. LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART of Florida asked and was given permission to 
address the House for 1 minute.)
  Mr. LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART of Florida. Mr. Speaker, Fidel Castro showed 
himself on television this week to remind the world that he is alive 
and in power, despite having turned over some titles to his puppet 
brother. What he does is he throws Cuban patriots in the dungeons; and 
then when he feels pressure, he releases Cuban patriots, deports them 
from the country, expels them, gives them the choice, ``Do you want to 
stay in the dungeon or be expelled from your country?'' to gain 
diplomatic and economic oxygen. He wants U.S. sanctions eliminated and 
he wants the European common position, which ties a close relationship 
between Cuba and Europe to an improvement in human rights, he wants 
that common position eliminated.
  He comes together with the Spanish Foreign Minister, Mr. Moratinos, 
and they agree upon a supposed number of political prisoners; under 
200, they say there are. The U.S. State Department, in March, makes 
clear that only those charged under so-called dangerousness--whatever 
that means--number 5,000 in the Cuban dungeons.
  Let's not be fooled. Let's not be fooled. The solution to the Cuban 
problem is free elections, the release of all political prisoners 
through free elections in Cuba.

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