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“FREEDOM FOR MANUEL UBALS GONZALEZ” mentioning the U.S. Dept of State was published in the Extensions of Remarks section on pages E237 on Feb. 1, 2007.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
FREEDOM FOR MANUEL UBALS GONZALEZ
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HON. LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART
of florida
in the house of representatives
Wednesday, January 31, 2007
Mr. LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART of Florida. Madam Speaker, I rise today to speak about Manuel Ubals Gonzalez, a political prisoner in totalitarian Cuba.
Mr. Ubals Gonzalez, President of the Political Prisoners and Ex-
Prisoners Club in Guantanamo, Cuba, is a peaceful pro-democracy activist who has worked for basic human rights for the people of Cuba. The persistent repression of human rights on that oppressed island forced Mr. Ubals Gonzales to choose between a life without rights or fighting for the cause of liberty for the Cuban people. Mr. Ubals Gonzalez admirably chose to dedicate his life to the battle for freedom for the Cuban people.
He joined his fellow Cuban pro-democracy activists, journalists, and human rights defenders and committed himself to helping shed light on the atrocities committed by the brutal tyrant and to help put an end to the abhorrent nightmare that is the Castro regime. On March 20, 2003, as part of the totalitarian regime's ruthless crackdown on pro-
democracy activists, Mr. Ubals Gonzalez was arrested and, after a farce trial, ``sentenced'' to 20 years in the totalitarian gulag.
After this sham trial, Mr. Ubals Gonzalez was sentenced to 20 years in Castro's maniacal dungeon for nothing other than a peaceful exercise of his fundamental right to voice his opinion. Let me be very clear, Mr. Ubals Gonzalez in suffering in depraved conditions that the U.S. State Department describes as, ``Harsh and life threatening'' in which
``police and prison officials beat, neglect, isolate and deny medical treatment to detainees and prisoners.''
As always with prisoners of conscience in Cuba, Mr. Ubals Gonzalez does not suffer this torture alone. According to the International Committee for Democracy in Cuba, his wife, Mayelin Bolivar Gonzalez, must travel by train with her three children to visit her husband in prison. However, since the train does not stop at the prison, Mrs. Ubals is forced to watch her two oldest children jump from a moving train before following suit, holding the youngest in her arms every single time she attempts to visit her husband.
Mr. Ubals Gonzalez is a brilliant example of the fighting spirit of the Cuban people: of their rejection of the brutality, discrimination and depravity of the totalitarian despot. He is languishing in repulsive squalor because he does not subscribe to the lies and propaganda forced upon Cuba by the communist regime.
Madam Speaker, it is unconscionable that human beings just 90 miles from our shore are locked in a barbarously cruel gulag because they believe they have a right to freedom and a democratic government. My Colleagues, we must demand freedom and human rights for all people, especially those who live under the darkness of totalitarian regimes. We must demand the unconditional freedom for Manuel Ubals Gonzalez and every prisoner of conscience in totalitarian Cuba.
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