[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 44, Number 20 (Monday, May 26, 2008)]
[Pages 733-736]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
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, Lisette 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 it's 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 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

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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 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 pro-regime 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:

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``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 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 post-patriot 
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.

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