Date: 2010-03-23
Speaker: LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Florida

If I may. CHRIS SMITHs point of the fact if there were justice. if there were justice in the world. the Cuban tyrant. Fidel Castro. and his brother. who now has the titles and carries out. continues to carry out the orders of Fidel Castro but has the titles now. some of the titles of power because Fidel Castro. the tyrant. is immobile and finds it difficult to receive people but still gives the orders and is the instigator and the source of terror in that island prison. if there were justice. the Cuban tyrant and his brother would be facing it in the International Criminal Court in The Hague. What is most appalling is that instead of that. what we see is. number one. deafening silence. We hear deafening silence. Where is the outrage? Imagine if these were hunger strikers protesting the lack of freedom in another dictatorship. Imagine. But the Cuban people now have had to. for 50 years. live as nonpersons. Where is the media? Where? These are men who are dying. Zapata Tamayo already died. Guillermo Farinas is in the process of dying. Felix Bonne Carcasses has said he will be next. Those are people who we know are on hunger strikes to protest specifically. to request the release of these 25 heroes. I would like to. if I may. read their names. and then I will submit their names for the RECORD. Our friend. DAN BURTON and now CHRIS SMITH talked about MARIO and LINCOLN. the brothers. It has been and it is a great honor for me to serve with my brother first in Tallahassee in the legislature in Florida and now in the Congress of the United States. It has been an honor and a privilege. for the rest of my days I will cherish. to represent the wonderful people of south Florida for 18 years in this Congress and 6 years before that in the State legislature. But there are two brothers who are genuine heroes. Among these 25 gravely ill political prisoners. two are brothers. At one point. four were political prisoners. four brothers. There are still two. and they are gravely ill. both of them. Ariel Sigler Amaya and Guido Sigler Amaya. The other names of 25 gravely ill political prisoners who we are aware of. and Guillermo Farinas is on a hunger strike demanding their release. their immediate release. the other names are: Antonio Villareal Acosta. Omar Moises Ruiz Hernandez. Arnaldo Ramos Lauzurique. Alfredo Manuel Pulido Lopez. Arturo Perez de Alejo Rodriguez. Jesus Mustafa Felipe. Angel Moya Acosta. Luis Milan Fernandez. Librado Ricardo Linares Garcia. Juan Carlos Herrera Acosta. Normando Hernandez Gonzalez. Jorge Luis Gonzalez Tanquero. Lester Gonzalez Penton. Ricardo Gonzalez Alfonso. Jose Luis Garcia Paneque. Julio Cesar Galvez Rodriguez. Miguel Galvan Gutierrez. Luis Enrique Ferrer Garcia. also from another family and brothers who are heroes. two of them are political prisoners. Unfortunately. Luis Enrique Ferrer Garcia. one of the two brothers. is gravely ill. Juan Adolfo Fernandez Sainz. Alfredo Felipe Fuentes. Eduardo Diaz Fleitas. Victor Rolando Arroyo Carmona. and Pedro Arguelles Moran. Those 25 heroes we know of. and the hero Farinas. that psychologist and independent journalist who I had the privilege of speaking with the other day. the day I was leaving for Lithuania. I managed after many attempts to get through to him. Obviously. its not easy. the dictatorship call. Now he is no condition to speak on the phone. He was very weak. even when I spoke to him. This was about a week ago. And I said. I am very worried about you. You are going to be very needed. And he said. No. dont worry about me. He said. There are many. many more qualified people who will be ready to help give a reconstruct. This has to be done. He told me all peoples need martyrs. all nations need martyrs. and the time now has arrived for a differenta different attitude by the opposition in Cuba. I was extremely moved during my conversation with the hero. Farinas. and my thoughts and prayers are with him as they are with all of those who at this moment are suffering in the gulag of the tyranny.