Diaz-Balart Calls for the Immediate Release of Political Prisoner Ivan Fernandez Depestre

WASHINGTON – Congressman Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL) released the following statement in response to the arrest of Ivan Fernandez Depestre.

“The international community must condemn the savage beating of political prisoner Ivan Fernandez Depestre. He is currently serving a three-year prison term and increasingly abusive treatment at the hands of Castro's thugs,simply for expressing hisopposition to the Castro dictatorship’s inhumanity. Fernandez Depestre has begun a hunger strike in further protest of the abuse that he and other prisoners suffer.

"I urge pro-democracy activists, human rights organizations, and those who oppose tyranny to demand that Fernandez Depestre be released immediately and provided proper medical attention. The egregious human rights violations perpetrated by the Castro dictatorship against pro-democracy activists such as Fernandez Depestre must end.”

Ivan Fernandez Depestre, a pro-democracy activist and political prisoner, was beaten and placed in a tiny prison cell in Guamajal Prison in Santa Clara for protesting inhumane prison conditions and the savage beatings of other prisoners. He was originally imprisoned last year for attending an event remembering Cuban hero Frank Pais. Amnesty International has designated him a prisoner of conscience.