III 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. RES. 717 

Honoring the life and legacy of Oswaldo Paya ́ Sardin ̃as and his contributions 

to promote democracy and human rights in Cuba on the 10th anniversary 

of his death. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 21, 2022 

Mr. RUBIO (for himself, Mr. DURBIN, Mr. CRUZ, and Mr. MENENDEZ) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on 

Foreign Relations 

RESOLUTION 

Honoring the life and legacy of Oswaldo Paya ́ Sardin ̃as and 

his contributions to promote democracy and human 

rights in Cuba on the 10th anniversary of his death. 

Whereas the revolution led by Fidel Castro in Cuba in 1959 

started 63 years of an ongoing dictatorship that systematically violates the human rights of the Cuban people, 

including denying them the basic freedoms of press, religion, assembly, and association; 

Whereas Oswaldo Paya ́ Sardin ̃as was born in Havana, Cuba, 

in 1952 and became a nonviolent critic of the communist 

regime as a teenager, resulting in 3 years of imprisonment in 1969 at a work camp, formerly known as ‘‘Isla 

de Pinos’’, in Cuba; 


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•SRES 717 IS 

Whereas Oswaldo Paya ́ Sardin ̃as forewent a chance to escape 

Cuba in the 1980 Mariel boatlift, deciding instead to continue the fight for democracy in Cuba, saying, ‘‘This is 

what I am supposed to be, this is what I have to do.’’; 

Whereas, in 1988, Oswaldo Paya ́ Sardin ̃as founded the Christian Liberation Movement that called for peaceful civil 

disobedience against the rule of the communist party of 

Cuba and advocated for civil liberties and human rights 

in Cuba; 

Whereas, in 1992, Oswaldo Paya ́ Sardin ̃as announced his intention to run for the National Assembly of Popular 

Power of Cuba and collected hundreds of signatures to 

support his candidacy, and 2 days before the election, 

was detained by police at his home and informed by communist party officials to be ineligible to run for office and 

threatened that ‘‘blood will run’’ if he ran; 

Whereas, in 1998, Oswaldo Paya ́ Sardin ̃as and other leaders 

of the Christian Liberation Movement initiated the 

Varela Project, the largest civil society-led petition in the 

history of Cuba, in order to circulate a legal proposal to 

advocate for democratic political change within Cuba, including ‘‘convert[ing] into law, the right of freedom of 

speech, the freedom of press and freedom of enterprise’’; 

Whereas, in May 2002, the Varela Project delivered 11,020 

signatures from eligible citizens of Cuba to the National 

Assembly of Popular Power, calling for an end to 4 decades of one-party rule, to which the communist regime 

responded by beginning its own forced collection of signatures in violation of its own rules to make Cuba’s socialist system ‘‘irrevocable’’, and an additional 14,000 signatures were added to the Varela Project petition in 2003, 

and 10,000 more signatures were added in 2016; 


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•SRES 717 IS 

Whereas, in March 2003, the crackdown on Cuban dissidents 

by the communist regime in Cuba, referred to as the 

‘‘Black Spring’’, led to the imprisonment of 75 individuals, including 40 leaders of the Varela Project and 25 

members of the Christian Liberation Movement, and the 

formation of the Ladies in White movement by the wives 

of the imprisoned activists; 

Whereas, in 2003, Oswaldo Paya ́ Sardin ̃as developed a Call 

for the National Dialogue, which collected the contributions of thousands of Cubans inside and outside of Cuba; 

Whereas, in 2006, Oswaldo Paya ́ Sardin ̃as published the 

‘‘Todos Cubanos’’ program, produced as a result of the 

National Dialogue among Cubans, to achieve peaceful 

changes, to propose a referendum to institutionalize 

human rights, to ensure that the economic and social 

rights of the people of Cuba are respected, to ensure that 

the people of Cuba are not excluded in Cuba, and to establish a rule of law; 

Whereas, in 2007, Oswaldo Paya ́ Sardin ̃as called on the National Assembly of People’s Power to grant amnesty to 

nonviolent political prisoners and to allow the people of 

Cuba to travel freely without a government permit; 

Whereas, in 2011, Oswaldo Paya ́ Sardin ̃as denounced the 

communist regime of Cuba’s false liberalization for not 

recognizing human rights and proposed to directly carry 

out a Binding Plebiscite to change the system towards 

democracy and establish a rule of law; 

Whereas, on July 22, 2012, Oswaldo Paya ́ Sardin ̃as and 

Harold Cepero, a fellow pro-democracy activist, died in a 

troubling car crash in Granma Province, Cuba, after 

being followed by regime agents of Cuba; 


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•SRES 717 IS 

Whereas the communist regime of Cuba has failed to conduct 

a credible investigation into the car crash that led to the 

death of Oswaldo Paya ́ Sardin ̃as; 

Whereas, according to a report published in 2015 by the 

Human Rights Foundation, the best available evidence 

strongly suggests that the communist regime of Cuba is 

directly responsible for the deaths of Oswaldo Paya ́

Sardin ̃as and Harold Cepero, evidence that was deliberately ignored by the judiciary system of Cuba; 

Whereas the trial and conviction of Angel Carromero, a youth 

leader of the People’s Party who was visiting Cuba and 

driving the car at the time of the crash, did not include 

testimony from key witnesses, and did not resolve questions about whether another car was involved or whether 

Mr. Carromero was coerced by the communist regime of 

Cuba into signing a false statement of guilt; 

Whereas, in 2013, a number of United States Senators and 

the Department of State called for an impartial, thirdparty investigation by the Inter-American Commission on 

Human Rights of the Organization of American States 

into the circumstances surrounding the death of Oswaldo 

Paya ́ Sardin ̃as; 

Whereas Oswaldo Paya ́ Sardin ̃as has been formally recognized in the past for his dedication to the promotion of 

human rights and democracy, including by receiving the 

Homo Homini Award in 1999, the Sakharov Prize for 

Freedom of Thought in 2002, the W. Averell Harriman 

Democracy Award from the United States National 

Democratic Institute for International Affairs in 2003, 

and being nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize by 

Va ́lclav Havel, the former President of the Czech Republic, in 2005; 


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•SRES 717 IS 

Whereas, in 2012, the United States Senate unanimously 

passed Senate Resolution 525, 112th Congress, agreed to 

July 31, 2012, honoring the life and legacy of Oswaldo 

Paya ́ Sardin ̃as; 

Whereas, in 2018, the United States Senate unanimously 

passed Senate Resolution 224, 115th Congress, agreed to 

April 11, 2018, recognizing the 6th anniversary of the 

death of Oswaldo Paya ́ Sardin ̃as, and commemorating his 

legacy and commitment to democratic values and principles; 

Whereas, in 2021, the United States Senate unanimously 

passed Senate bill 2045, 117th Congress, agreed to July 

30, 2021, to designate the area between the intersections 

of 16th Street, Northwest and Fuller Street, Northwest 

and 16th Street, Northwest and Euclid Street, Northwest 

in Washington, District of Columbia, as ‘‘Oswaldo Paya ́

Way’’; 

Whereas, on July 14, 2022, the City of Miami, Florida 

agreed to designate the area of LeJeune Avenue, between 

11th and 14th streets, as ‘‘Oswaldo Paya ́ Sardin ̃as Way’’ 

on the eve of the 10th anniversary of his death, July 22, 

2022; 

Whereas, throughout his life and since his death, Oswaldo 

Paya ́ Sardin ̃as, his family, and friends endured years of 

harassment and intimidation from the communist regime 

of Cuba for his peaceful, political activism; and 

Whereas, on July 11, 2021, thousands of people in Cuba 

raised their voices against the 63-year rule of the communist regime and called for the same freedoms Oswaldo 

Paya ́ Sardin ̃as dedicated his life to: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 


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•SRES 717 IS 

1 (1) recognizes and honors the life and legacy of 

2 Oswaldo Paya ́ Sardin ̃as on the 10th anniversary of 

3 his death on July 22, 2022; 

4 (2) offers heartfelt condolences to the family, 

5 friends, and loved ones of Oswaldo Paya ́ Sardin ̃as on 

6 this painful anniversary; 

7 (3) in memory of Oswaldo Paya ́ Sardin ̃as, calls 

8 on the United States to continue policies that pro9 mote respect for the fundamental principles of reli10 gious freedom, democracy, and human rights in 

11 Cuba, in a manner consistent with the aspirations of 

12 the people of Cuba; 

13 (4) urges the Inter-American Commission on 

14 Human Rights of the Organization of American 

15 States to continue reporting on human rights issues 

16 in Cuba, and to issue a favorable decision in the 

17 case of Oswaldo Paya ́ Sardin ̃as and Harold Cepero 

18 that recognizes evidence which establishes the culpa19 bility of the communist regime of Cuba in their 

20 deaths; 

21 (5) calls on the communist regime in Cuba to 

22 allow an impartial, third-party investigation into the 

23 circumstances surrounding the death of Oswaldo 

24 Paya ́ Sardin ̃as; and 


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•SRES 717 IS 

1 (6) calls on the communist regime in Cuba to 

2 cease violating human rights and to begin providing 

3 democratic political freedoms to Cuban citizens, in4 cluding freedom of association, freedom of speech, 

5 freedom of the press, free elections, freedom to start 

6 private businesses, and amnesty for political pris7 oners. 

Æ 


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