November 6, 2007
EFE
WASHINGTON -- President George W. Bush on Monday emphasized the career
as a human rights defender of jailed Cuban dissident Oscar Elias Biscet,
one of eight recipients of the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
In a White House ceremony, the president awarded the U.S. government's
highest civilian honor to Biscet's son, Yan Valdes, who was accompanied
to the ceremony by sister Winnie.
In remarks to Efe, Valdes said he was "content and happy" with the honor
accorded his father because "his ideals and his struggle for democracy
and human rights have been recognized."
For his father, receiving the news of his award was bittersweet, since -
on the one hand - he is sad because "he's very sick and, on the other,
he believes that the award is fair acknowledgement" of his work and
"encourages him to continue fighting and to stay firm" in his views,
said Valdes.
Both Biscet and his family believe "firmly" that he will soon be
released by the Cuban regime.
"If we all unite, and with the help of the international community, we
will achieve it," said Valdes in a telephone interview.
At the award ceremony, transmitted live to Cuba via U.S.-funded Radio
and TV Marti, Bush praised Biscet's work as a "healer" and an "advocate
for human rights."
"For two decades, he has told the world what he has seen in Cuba: the
arrogance of a one-party state; the suppression of political dissent;
the coercion of expectant mothers. For speaking the truth Dr. Biscet has
endured repeated harassment, beatings, and detentions. The international
community agrees that Dr. Biscet's imprisonment is unjust, yet the
regime has refused every call for his release," Bush said.
The Cuban doctor, who heads the banned Fundacion Lawton, is recognized
by Amnesty International as a prisoner of conscience.
"To the Cuban dictatorship, Dr. Biscet is a 'dangerous man'. He is
dangerous in the same way that Martin Luther King Jr. and Gandhi were
dangerous. He is a man of peace, a man of truth, and a man of faith,"
the president said.
"In captivity for most of the last eight years, he has continued to
embody courage and dignity. His example is a rebuke to the tyrants and
secret police of a regime whose day is passing," Bush said.
Looking forward to the end of the Castro regime, the president said:
"When that day arrives, the peoples of Cuba and the United States will
stand together as free men and women. And the liberated country will
honor a great man with a mighty heart, Oscar Elias Biscet."
The doctor was among the 75 Castro opponents arrested and sentenced to
stiff jail terms in a Spring 2003 crackdown. Though more than a dozen
have since been released on medical grounds, the rest remain behind
bars. EFE
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