[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 5]
[House]
[Page 6643]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                 CUBAN JOURNALIST JULIET MICHELENA DIAZ

  (Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to bring attention to the 
case of Juliet Michelena Diaz, an independent Afro-Cuban journalist who 
last month was unjustly detained by Castro's thugs simply for 
photographing the brutality of the state security forces of Fidel 
Castro in Havana.
  The detention of this young journalist is not just an example of the 
regime's efforts to silence those who are critical of its actions, but 
it also shows how ruthless the Castro brothers continue to be in their 
policy of repressing independent voices and violating human rights.
  There is no independent press in Cuba and many journalists are afraid 
to speak out against the dictatorship for fear of incarceration. That 
is why it is so important to support the free flow of information on 
the island so that the Cuban people can exchange ideas to promote 
democratic principles and the rule of law.

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