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Contact: Andres Gonzalez, 202 225 4211
June 9th, 2010 - Washington, DC - Congressman Lincoln Diaz-Balart (R-FL) took to the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives this evening to speak about his phone conversation early today with Cuban pro-democracy leader, Jorge Luis Garcia Perez “Antunez”. Following please see Congressman Diaz-Balart’s remarks:
This morning I had the privilege of speaking by telephone with one of the most important and respected leaders of the pro-democracy movement inside Cuba, Jorge Luis Garcia Perez “Antunez,” from his house in the town of Placetas in the province of Villa Clara.
I always learn when I speak to Antunez. He conveyed to me some facts that I think need to be known by my colleagues.
Fact: There are not two hundred political prisoners in Cuba; there are thousands of political prisoners in Cuba. As Amnesty International has recently admitted in one of its published reports, the dictatorship uses criminal, penal charges and sentences for so-called “crimes” such as “desacato a la autoridad” (contempt against authority) and “peligrosidad” (dangerousness) – criminal charges – to deny, hide, the status, the political status of prisoners of conscience.
Fact: Various pro-democracy leaders and political prisoners are on hunger strikes as we speak in Cuba. Most well-known is the hunger strike being carried out by the peaceful pro-democracy leader, Guillermo Fariñas, a psychologist and journalist, who demands the release of the twenty five most gravely ill prisoners of conscience to their homes.
And the following current political prisoners are engaged in hunger strikes as well: Egberto Angel Escobedo Morales, Mario Alberto Perez Aguilera and Ernesto Mederos Arrozarena.
Fact: There are many political prisoners who are gravely ill and yet have not been included on any of the lists that have been made public, for example, Armando Sosa Fortuny and Cecilio Reinoso Sanchez.
Jorge Luis Garcia Perez “Antunez” is a great leader and is one of my heroes. Before being released from prison in 2007, he spent 17 years as a political prisoner due to his peaceful advocacy for democracy in Cuba. He and his wife, Iris Perez Aguilera, whose photographs are here beside me, have been detained, harassed, spat upon and beaten innumerable times since his release in 2007 from prison. But Antunez never gives up. He told me today he has a new blog, “Ni me callo, ni me voy,” (“I won’t shut up, I won’t leave”). I not only learn when I am able to speak with him, I receive strength from his courage, patriotism and devotion to the struggle for Cuba’s freedom.
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