[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 11]
[House]
[Page 16103]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              LAURA POLLAN

  (Mr. RIVERA asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. RIVERA. Mr. Speaker, I rise to inform my colleagues of yet 
another ruthless murder by the Castro dictatorship in Cuba and the loss 
of a tremendous hero.
  Last Friday Laura Pollan, leader of the opposition group Ladies in 
White, died following another beating by Castro's thugs. For 8 years, 
Pollan led the Ladies in White, a group of wives, sisters and daughters 
of the 75 political prisoners arrested during the black spring of 2003. 
Following the arrest of her husband, Pollan, along with other women 
dressed simply in white, began organizing weekend marches demanding the 
release of political prisoners. Following a recent peaceful 
demonstration, Pollan was hospitalized and suspiciously passed away 
days later following what the Cuban dictatorship called ``a brief 
illness.''
  Throughout the more than 50-year reign of the Castro dictatorship, 
suspicious and untimely deaths of healthy opposition leaders are not 
unheard of. We will never forget Laura Pollan's courage and a struggle 
for a free and democratic Cuba. She is yet another victim whose blood 
is on the hands of the Castro brothers.

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