LETTER FROM HONORABLE JIM BUNNING/US Senator (R-KY)
ON CUBA TO THE PRESIDENT OF UNITED STATES

Monday, February 2, 2004  
 
Mr. President, when we talk about national security and human rights and our support of democracy, much of our attention focuses on Iraq, other countries in the Middle East, or North Korea. But we cannot forget that just 90 miles off our shore, a dictator named Fidel Castro continues to stomp his boot down on democratic freedoms and human rights in Cuba. 
 
After all, the cause of freedom for the Cuban people is no less important than the cause of freedom for millions in the Middle East and other parts of the world. And let me be clear to some of my fellow Americans, Fidel Castro is a ruthless dictator that jails, tortures, and even murders those that seek liberty and democracy in his own country. 
 
Just ask Dr. Oscar Biscet’s wife. In spring of 2003, while the world’s attention was on Iraq, Castro arrested Dr. Biscet and over 70 other Cuban advocates of democracy. Dr. Biscet and his peers did not promote violence in their quest for a free Cuba. They merely asked for the God- given right to speak freely, a plea for basic human rights, and the granting of free and fair election. Instead, Castro gave them harsh prison sentences. Amnesty International has adopted all of these men and women as “prisoners of conscience.” 
 
Dr. Biscet is now dearly a year into his 25 year sentence for peacefully opposing the Castro regime. In letter smuggled out of jail to his wife in November of 2003, be described his imprisonment: “The characteristics of the cell violate the law. There are no windows. There only walls. Always in darkness… The sky can’t be seen.” The International Committee of the Red immediately. Others suffer similarly in jail. In many cases Castro and his thugs have killed his own citizens and dissidents who advocated freedom or tried to be free. 
 
While regular Cuban citizens suffer economic hardships, the regime in Havana has used tourism, foreign investment and commerce to strengthen its people. Yet many member of Congress support trading with Cuba and lifting the travel ban. This approach will not bring democracy to Cuba. 
 
Europe and Canada have never imposed the type of travel restrictions that the United States has imposed. The large increase in travel from people from these free countries has not led to democratic reform in Cuba. Actually, the opposite has been happening. As Castro has collected cash from these foreign tourists, he has increased his repression. 
 
The tourist trade in Cuba is controlled by Castro’s totalitarian regime. A system of tourist apartheid has been implement whereby ordinary Cubans are denied equal access to hotels, beaches, restaurants, clinics, and hospitals set aside for tourists. Meanwhile, tourists are put in hotels and enclaves that are literally walled- off from the rest of Cuba and every employee of those hotels goes directly to feed Castro’s government. The money tourist spends on hotels and a meal is the same money used to pay Castro’s thugs that imprison Dr. Biscet and other beacons of democracy in Cuba. 
 
President Bush has been steadfast in his support for the freedom loving people of Cuba.
 
He has threatened to veto any bills that loosen travel and trade restrictions with Cuba. He has taken a bold stand for the good of the Cuban people. The Senate has also acted. We passed S. Res. 97 calling for the release of Castro’s political prisoners shortly after Castro jailed Dr. Biscet and his peers. Also, last summer we passed S. Res.62 calling on various human rights organizations to take action in regard to the situation in Cuba.
 
The international community needs to address the situation in Cuba as well. Tragically, the United Nation’s Commission on Human Rights that should be out front and center condemning these atrocities has Cuba sitting as a voting member. 
 
We must continue to support advocates of democracy currently languishing in dirty Cuban jails with hardened criminals and murderers. More than at any time in our ongoing struggle to bring freedom to the Cuban people we need to provide a consistent, unified front. We need to support the Bush Administration’s policies towards Cuba. We endanger lives and prolong the suffering of the Cuban people by supporting travel and trade with Cuba. 
 
Not many people know that I once lived in Cuba. Before Castro took power, I played alongside many Cubans for a baseball team in Havana. I saw the beautiful Cuban beaches and got to know the country and its people well. I have fond memories of Cuba and my wife Mary and I would like to go back and visit someday. 
 
But as long as good Cubans like Dr. Biscet and other are jailed by a ruthless dictator like Fidel Castro, I will not travel to Cuba. I will wait until the day I can visit a free Cuba. A Cuba that respect human rights and free speech. A Cuba where children are not brainwashed under Castro’s propaganda classes and where their spirits are free. Where they can grow up without fear, and where they can grow up in freedom. 
 
Una Cortesia del señor Hector Lans

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