[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 162 (2016), Part 3]
[House]
[Page 3478]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                      CUBAN PRO-DEMOCRACY LEADERS

  (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, Raul Castro's thugs arrested or 
detained many Cuban pro-democracy leaders in anticipation of the 
President's time in Cuba.
  Berta Soler, the leader of the Ladies in White, was detained; Antonio 
Rodiles, detained; and some of these activists were invited to 
participate in the meeting with President Obama.
  Antunez and his wife, Yris, arrested; musician Gorki Aguila, 
arrested; former political prisoner Angel Moya, arrested. Pastor Mario 
Felix Lleonart Barroso was arrested yesterday.
  The Castro brothers have shifted their strategy to a catch-and-
release program to intimidate activists who have been placed under 
house arrest by the repressive apparatus of the regime.
  President Obama says that human rights are important to him, but 
empty words with no actions to back them up sends the message to the 
Castro regime to continue with his repression, and Castro continues to 
do so. No surprise there.
  Shame on us, Mr. Speaker.

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