    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2008, Book I)]
    [May 21, 2008]
    [Pages 709-712]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks on the Situation in Cuba
    May 21, 2008

        Thank you all. Bienvenidos. Thanks for coming to mark this Day of
    Solidarity with the Cuban People. This is a day of pride, as we honor
    the culture and history of a noble nation. It's a day of sorrow, as we
    reflect on the continued oppression of the Cuban people. Most of all,
    this is a day of hope. We have hope because we see a day coming when
    Cubans will have the freedom of which they have dreamed for centuries,
    the freedom that is the eternal birthright of all mankind. And many of
    you here are working to hasten that day, and I thank you for your
    efforts.
        I particularly thank the members of my Cabinet who've joined us.
    Madam Secretary, thank you for coming and
    being a staunch friend of the Cuban people. Mi amigo Carlos
    Gutierrez y su familia--for those of you
    in Cuba who are listening to this broadcast, I think it is important for
    you to know that Carlos is a Cuban American. He's now in the Cabinet of
    the President of the United States. All things are possible in a free
    society. Secretary Kempthorne, Secretary
    Chao, and Secretary Leavitt: Thank you all for coming as well. I appreciate Acting
    Secretary Bernardi of the Department of
    Housing and Urban Development.
        I'm particularly thankful for Members of the United States Congress:
    Mel Martinez--all things are
    possible in a free society; Ileana Ros-Lehtinen; los hermanos
    Balart, Lincoln Diaz-Balart y tambien
    Mario Diaz-Balart. Thank you for coming. Congressman Chris Smith, Congressman Darrell Issa, Congressman John Campbell,
    Congressman Gus Bilirakis: Thank you all for
    coming. Appreciate you all coming.
        I appreciate the members of the diplomatic corps who've joined us.
    Thank you for being such good friends of the Cuban people. I want to
    thank the family members of the Cuban dissidents who are here. Welcome
    to the White House. Thank you for coming. Y por fin, Willy
    Chirino and his wife Lissette
    Alvarez, thank you all for coming.
        This time of year holds great significance for the Cuban people. One
    hundred and thirteen years ago this week, Cuba lost its great poet and
    patriot Jose Marti. And 106 years ago this week, Cuba achieved the
    independence for which Marti gave his life. Jose Marti knew that true
    liberty would come to Cuba only with a just government of its people's
    choosing. He warned, ``A regime of personal despotism would even be more
    shameful and more calamitous than the political despotism [Cuba] now
    endures.''
        Marti's warning proved truer than anyone could have imagined. Today,
    after nearly a half-century of repression, Cuba still suffers under the
    personal despotism of Fidel and Raul Castro. On the dictators' watch,
    Cuba's political freedoms have been denied. Families have been torn
    apart. The island's economy has been reduced to shambles. Cuba's culture
    has been drained of artists and scholars and musicians and athletes. And
    like the once grand buildings

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    of Havana, Cuba's society is crumbling after decades of neglect under
    the Castros.
        A few months ago, when Fidel handed
    over many of his titles to his brother Raul,
    the Cuban regime announced a series of so-called reforms. For example,
    Cubans are now allowed to purchase mobile phones and DVD players and
    computers. And they've been told that they will be able to purchase
    toasters and other basic appliances in 2010.
        If the Cuban regime is serious about improving life for the Cuban
    people, it will take steps necessary to make these changes meaningful.
    Now that the Cuban people can be trusted with mobile phones, they should
    be trusted to speak freely in public. Now that the Cuban people are
    allowed to purchase DVD players, they should also be allowed to watch
    movies and documentaries produced by Cuban artists who are free to
    express themselves. Now that the Cuban people have open access to
    computers, they should also have open access to the Internet. And now
    that the Cuban people will be allowed to have toasters in 2 years, they
    should stop needing to worry about whether they will have bread today.
        There is another problem with the regime's recent announcements. It
    is the height of hypocrisy to came--claim credit for permitting Cubans
    to own products that virtually none of them can afford. For the regime's
    actions to have any impact, they must be accompanied by major economic
    reforms that open up Cubans' inefficient state-run markets to give
    families real choices about what they buy and institute a free
    enterprise system that allows ordinary people to benefit from their
    talents and their hard work. Only when Cubans have an economy that makes
    prosperity possible will these announcements lead to any real
    improvements in their daily lives.
        Real change in Cuba also requires political freedom. In this area
    too, the regime has made grand commitments. One of Raul's first acts after receiving his new titles was to sign a
    major United Nations treaty on human rights. Yet when it comes to
    respecting human rights on the island, the regime has not attempted even
    cosmetic changes. For example, political dissidents continue to be
    harassed, detained, and beaten, and more than 200 prisoners of
    conscience still languish in Castro's tropical gulag.
        Recently, I received a letter from a man who spent 17 years in these dungeons. He described them
    as ``dens of torture and pain and death.'' This is an undeniable
    violation of the U.N. treaty that Cuba just signed. If the regime views
    this document as anything more than a worthless piece of paper, it must
    immediately stop its abuse of political dissidents and release all
    political prisoners.
        The world is watching the Cuban regime. If it follows its recent
    public gestures by opening up access to information and implementing
    meaningful economic reforms, respecting political freedom and human
    rights, then it can credibly say it has delivered the beginnings of
    change. But experience tells us this regime has no intention of taking
    these steps. Instead, its recent gestures appear to be nothing more than
    a cruel joke perpetuated on a long-suffering people.
        America refuses to be deceived, and so do the Cuban people. While
    the regime embarrasses and isolates itself, the Cuban people will
    continue to act with dignity and honor and courage. In Cuba, advocates
    of liberty use this week to honor political prisoners who have
    sacrificed for the cause of freedom, like the brave writer named Pedro
    Luis Boitel. On May 17th, 1972, while on a hunger strike in prison,
    Boitel said: ``They can kill and destroy my body, but never my spirit.
    This can never bend.'' Eight days later, Boitel died. He was 41 years
    old.
        We see the same unbending courage in Cuba's political prisoners
    today. We see it in a man named Luis Enrique Ferrer Garcia. Luis Enrique is a peaceful prodemocracy
    advocate who was rounded up during

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    the 2003 Black Spring. Luis Enrique received the longest sentence of all
    those arrested during the crackdown, condemned to 28 years in
    Castro's prisons. At times, this brave man
    has been trapped in a dark cell too small for him to stand. He suffers
    from high blood pressure and severe gastrointestinal illnesses. As his
    health obviously deteriorates, he has little access to his family.
        We see this courage in a doctor named Oscar Elias Biscet. Dr. Biscet is a healer, a man of peace,
    and a determined activist for human rights. For all this, Dr. Biscet
    serves a 25-year sentence under the worst conditions. He was once put
    into solitary confinement for nearly 8 months, trapped in a small, dark,
    underground cell. He lost nearly 50 pounds and has lost almost all his
    teeth. He is in poor health. He is allowed very few visitors.
        We see this courage in Cuba's Damas de Blanco. Every Sunday, these
    ladies in white march in silent and peaceful protest demanding the
    release of their loved ones. A few weeks ago, when about a dozen of
    these women held a peaceful sit-in at a public park, they were dragged
    from the area by a large proregime mob. One of the women was Berta
    Soler, whose husband Juan Angel Moya
    Acosta, is serving a 20-year sentence.
    Earlier this month, Berta told me personally: ``Despite the torture,
    Cuba's political prisoners will not give in.''
        Recently, a former political prisoner asked me to remember his brothers languishing in
    Castro's jails. Through this Day of
    Solidarity with the Cuban People, we honor that request by speaking the
    names of Cuba's prisoners of conscience. They include men I have just
    mentioned. They include others, such as Ricardo Gonzalez
    Alfonso, Jose Luis Garcia
    Paneque, Normando
    Hernandez, Jorge Luis Gonzalez
    Tanquero, and Ariel y Guido Sigler Amaya. They include other names that many of you keep in your
    hearts and in your prayers.
        These names are being whispered in Cuban cities from Pinar del Rio
    to Santiago de Cuba. These names are being echoed at Solidarity events
    across the world, as people from South America to Eastern Europe demand
    the release of all Cuban prisoners--political prisoners. Today these
    names are being recognized by the nation that will always be a friend of
    Cuban freedom, los Estados Unidos.
        This is the first Day of Solidarity with the Cuban People, and the
    United States must keep observing such days until Cuba's freedom. We
    will continue to support the Cubans who work to make their nation
    democratic and prosperous and just. Since 2001, the United States has
    dramatically stepped up our efforts to promote freedom and democracy in
    Cuba. This includes our increased efforts to get uncensored information
    to the Cuban people, primarily through Radio y TV Marti.
        Today I also repeat my offer to license U.S. NGOs and faith-based
    groups to provide computers and Internet to the Cuban people, if Cuban
    rulers will end their restrictions on Internet access. And since Raul is
    allowing Cubans to own mobile phones for the first time, we're going to
    change our regulations to allow Americans to send mobile phones to
    family members in Cuba. If Raul is serious about his so-called reforms,
    he will allow these phones to reach the Cuban people.
        Through these measures, the United States is reaching out to the
    Cuban people. Yet we know that life will not fundamentally change for
    Cubans until their form of government changes. For those who've suffered
    for decades, such change may seem impossible. But the truth is, it is
    inevitable.
        The day will come when Cubans freely receive information from many
    sources. The day will come when popular blogs are no longer blocked and
    broadcasts from the United States are no longer jammed. The day will
    come when Cuban leaders live up to the international human right
    documents

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    they have signed, instead of making a mockery of them. The day will come
    when Cubans can speak their dissent and change their jobs and leave
    their country and return to it. And the day will come when they can
    worship the God Almighty without fear. The day will come when all
    political prisoners are offered unconditional release. And these
    developments will bring another great day, the day when Cubans choose
    their own leaders by voting in free and fair elections.
        Today, 113 years after Jose Marti left us, a new postpatriot
    expresses the hopes of the Cuban people. With us this morning is
    songwriter Willy Chirino. Willy will perform a
    song that is on the Cuban people's lips and in their hearts. And here
    are some of the lyrics: Nuestro dia ya viene llegando.
        As I mentioned, today my words are being broadcast directly to the
    Cuban people. I say to all those listening on the island today: Your day
    is coming. As surely as the waves beat against the Malecon, the tide of
    freedom will reach Cuba's shores. Until it does, know that you are in
    our prayers. And know that the Author of Liberty hears those prayers, y
    que, con su ayuda, veremos a Cuba libre. Gracias, y que Dios los
    bendiga.

    Note: The President spoke at 10:28 a.m. in the East Room at the White
    House. In his remarks, he referred to former President Fidel Castro Ruz
    and President Raul Castro Ruz of Cuba; and former Cuban political
    prisoners Jorge Luis Garcia Perez and Miguel Sigler Amaya. The Office of
    the Press Secretary also released a Spanish language transcript of these
    remarks. The related proclamation of May 20, A Day of Solidarity With
    the Cuban People, is listed in Appendix D at the end of this volume.