I
106TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 4537
To assist the internal opposition in Cuba, and to further help the Cuban
people to regain their freedom.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MAY 24, 2000
Mr. DIAZ-BALART (for himself, Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN, Mr. MENENDEZ, Mr.
DELAY, Mr. GILMAN, Mr. WATTS of Oklahoma, Mr. HYDE, Mr. DREIER,
Mr. GOSS, Mr. BURTON of Indiana, Mr. ARCHER, Mr. SMITH of New
Jersey, Mrs. FOWLER, Mr. LANTOS, Ms. DUNN, Mr. DEUTSCH, Mr.
SHAW, Mr. MCCOLLUM, Mrs. MEEK of Florida, Mr. FOLEY, Mr. AN-
DREWS, Mr. BACHUS, Mr. BALLENGER, Mr. BONILLA, Mr. BURR of
North Carolina, Mr. CANADY of Florida, Mr. CANNON, Mr. CHABOT, Mr.
CROWLEY, Mr. CUNNINGHAM, Mr. ENGEL, Mr. FRANKS of New Jersey,
Mr. FOSSELLA, Mr. GOODLING, Mr. GUTIERREZ, Mr. GUTKNECHT, Mr.
JONES of North Carolina, Mr. HASTINGS of Washington, Mr. HUNTER,
Mr. HUTCHINSON, Mr. KENNEDY of Rhode Island, Mr. KING, Mr. KING-
STON, Mr. LAZIO, Mr. LINDER, Mr. MANZULLO, Mr. MCINNIS, Mr.
MCKEON, Mr. MILLER
of Florida, Mrs. MYRICK, Mr. NEY, Mr.
PALLONE, Mr. PASCRELL, Mr. PETERSON of Minnesota, Ms. PRYCE of
Ohio, Mr. REYNOLDS, Mr. ROGAN, Mr. ROHRABACHER, Mr. ROTHMAN,
Mr. SCARBOROUGH, Mr. SESSIONS, Mr. SHERMAN, Mr. SOUDER, Mr.
STEARNS, Mr. TRAFICANT, Mr. WELDON of Florida, Mr. WEXLER, Mr.
WOLF, Mr. BLUNT, Mr. HANSEN, Mr. THOMAS, Mr. COX, Mr. LUCAS of
Oklahoma, Mr. DOOLITTLE, Mr. POMBO, Mr. SHADEGG, and Mr.
FRELINGHUYSEN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on International Relations
A BILL
To assist the internal opposition in Cuba, and to further
help the Cuban people to regain their freedom.
HR 4537 IH
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Cuban Internal Oppo-
sition Assistance Act of 2000’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) United States law permits and facilitates
donations of food, medicine, medical supplies and
equipment, clothing, building materials, and other
humanitarian assistance to Cuba (31 CFR 515).
(2) Since 1992, approximately $3,000,000,000
in humanitarian assistance from the United States,
including food, medicine, and clothing has been au-
thorized for donation to Cuba (Department of Com-
merce, Bureau of Export Administration statistics,
10–23–92 through 7–31–97).
(3) The United States is the world’s largest
source of private humanitarian donations to Cuba
(Department of State report ‘‘The U.S. Embargo
and Health Care in Cuba’’, August 5, 1997).
(4) United States law permits the sale of medi-
cine and medical equipment to Cuba (31 CFR 515).
(5) There are a large number of Cubans who
are the victims of the most extreme political repres-
HR 4537 IH
sion, specifically those surviving immediate relatives
of Cubans who were assassinated by the Castro re-
gime, political prisoners and their immediate rel-
atives, former political prisoners and their immediate
relatives, and activists of the internal opposition and
their immediate relatives.
(6) Thousands of people have been assassinated
by the Castro dictatorship during the last 41 years.
(7) There are hundreds of thousands of former
political prisoners in Cuba.
(8) These victims of the most extreme political
repression are the victims of the most brutal actions
and are systematically denied access to humani-
tarian and all other forms of assistance by the
Cuban dictatorship.
(9) Castro has destroyed what was in 1959
Latin America’s most developed society and economy
(Department of State report ‘‘Zenith and Eclipse: A
Comparative Look at Socioeconomic Conditions in
Pre-Castro and Present-Day Cuba’’, February 9,
1998).
(10) For example, data from that State Depart-
ment report shows that, during the years of Castro’s
dictatorship—
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(A) Cuba, once ranked third in the hemi-
sphere in rice production, is now the only coun-
try in the hemisphere whose production of rice
and yield per acre has fallen since 1958;
(B) Cuba’s electricity production has fallen
and the rate of growth of electrical production
ranks 19th of 20 nations in the region (just
ahead of Haiti);
(C) Cuba ranks last in the hemisphere in
export growth, while Mexican exports, equiva-
lent to Cuba’s in 1958, has increased 130 times
since that time;
(D) Cuba, ranked third in the hemisphere
in 1958 in gold and foreign exchange reserves,
is now dead last;
(E) Cuba, which in 1957 had more tele-
vision stations (23) than any other nation in
Latin America, ranked 8th in the world in the
number of radio stations (160), and first in the
world in the number of daily newspapers (58)
for a country of its size, now ranks last in the
hemisphere in all these categories;
(F) Cuba is the only nation in the hemi-
sphere whose number of automobiles per capita
has fallen since 1958; and
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(G) Cuba’s infant mortality rate in 1957
was the lowest in Latin America and one of the
lowest in the world, lower than 4 of today’s ‘‘G–
7’’ nations.
(11) 
The 
internal 
opposition 
movement
throughout Cuba, despite its very limited resources,
is working intensely to draw international attention
to Cuba’s deplorable human rights situation and
continues to strengthen and grow in its opposition to
the Castro dictatorship.
(12) The Cuban Liberty and Democratic Soli-
darity Act of 1996 authorized the President to sup-
port pro-democracy forces within Cuba and to fur-
nish assistance to victims of political repression.
(13) The intent of the Cuban Liberty and
Democratic Solidarity Act of 1996 to assist the in-
ternal opposition inside Cuba has been insufficiently
complied with.
(14) Requests for licenses to provide assistance
to the internal opposition in Cuba have not been
granted.
(15) January 1, 2000 marked the 41st anniver-
sary of the absolute power of the totalitarian regime
that oppresses the Cuban people.
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(16) The Cuban dictatorship’s prisons are kept
full of political prisoners and prisoners of conscience,
of men and women of all ages and all races, evidenc-
ing the rejection by the Cuban people of the brutal
regime that oppresses them.
(17) The internal opposition is in great need of
assistance to continue increasing its efforts to offer
the Cuban people a democratic alternative to the
current dictatorship.
(18) The internal opposition in Cuba is made
up of valiant pro-democracy activists who have taken
and continue to take grave risks to their personal
safety and to their families in order to advance the
cause of freedom in Cuba.
(19) It is necessary for the United States to
take serious steps to assist the Cuban internal oppo-
sition.
SEC. 3. PURPOSES.
The purposes of this Act are—
(1) to take advantage of the historic oppor-
tunity created by the increasing efforts and accom-
plishments of courageous independent nongovern-
mental opposition organizations in Cuba to achieve
freedom for the Cuban people and to assist the
Cuban people to secure the blessings of liberty;