Evidence of meeting #19 for Subcommittee on International Human Rights in the 39th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was cuban.
A recording is available from Parliament.
12:55 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Jason Kenney
So you were friends who had met at university and you were just talking about democratic ideas.
12:55 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Jason Kenney
All of your friends who were put in jail with you, they're now out of jail?
12:55 p.m.
As an Individual
They were released gradually. After their term in prison, after six years or so, they were released.
12:55 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Jason Kenney
To you and to Mr. Ferrandiz, we've had a number of witnesses come before us and say that there are no political prisoners or prisoners of conscience in Cuba, that any of those who claim to be are effectively agents of the Americans and the CIA.
Would you care to comment on that?
12:55 p.m.
As an Individual
Many hundreds of thousands of Cubans are in prison for that reason, just for expressing their opinions.
12:55 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Jason Kenney
Did you ever receive American money or have contact with American agents or the CIA before you were imprisoned, or since then?
12:55 p.m.
Voices
Oh, oh!
12:55 p.m.
As an Individual
I'm serious. I'm serious. Americans can't go to Cuba. I've never met an American in my life.
12:55 p.m.
As an Individual
If you go to Cuba, you will see how evident it is that people cannot speak. All Cubans know that if we speak up, we will be put in prison. All Cubans go to see Fidel speak in a big square, because we know that if we don't go there, we will lose our jobs.
The Communist Party of Cuba hires you. If you don't go and hear what Castro has to say, you will lose your job. People in other countries watch TV and see that many people go to hear Castro. They think people in Cuba love Castro very much.
12:55 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Jason Kenney
I want to ask you another question. I have only a bit of time left.
As I indicated, we had a number of witnesses who testified either that there were not political prisoners or prisoners of conscience in Cuba or that there were only very modest violations of human, civil, or political rights. Essentially, they characterized these dissidents and opposition as being fronts for the United States.
I'm wondering if any of these people have ever contacted you, as men who have spent time in Cuban prisons. Have you ever heard from the Table de concertation de solidarité Québec-Cuba or the Caravane d'amitié Québec-Cuba? Have you ever heard from a researcher at the University of Montreal named Dulce-Maria Cruz-Herrera? Have any of these people or the Communist Party of Canada ever contacted you to discuss your experience in the Cuban prison system?
1 p.m.
As an Individual
Excuse me, but it's easy for people to go to Cuba and be convinced. They can go to the prisons and go to the population, but many families will show no political expression. There are many people who are maybe too hungry to express themselves now. And this is all the time.
1 p.m.
As an Individual
Yes, so people come out, and they could put more people in jail. They send them to different countries, and then they put more people in. They're more dangerous.
1 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Jason Kenney
Obviously.
I want to thank all of our witnesses, and in particular Mr. Aguilera. You indicated that this may have repercussions for your friends and family in Cuba. If anything were ever to happen in that respect, I hope that you would let our committee and the Government of Canada know, so that we could respond accordingly. We would not want anyone to fall into harm's way because of their testimony before this Parliament of a free and democratic country. I'm sure that we would all be very concerned if that were to happen. I'd like that to be clearly on the record.
Thank you to all of our witnesses.
Thank you to one of our most highly esteemed former parliamentarians, Mr. Broadbent.
Thank you, Ambassador, for taking the time. With your busy schedule, it's very generous of you to appear before us.
To our witnesses, we are suspended in terms of the hearing.
We don't have committee business, but I think we'll have to flag the issue of the report in the Globe and Mail on May 10 for our next meeting.
Thank you.
Mr. Marston, what do you want to talk about?
1 p.m.
NDP
Wayne Marston NDP Hamilton East—Stoney Creek, ON
I've had two people approach me who would like to be witnesses here. They were unexpected, or I'd have had it in by last Thursday.
One of them is Peter Boyle, president of the Kingston and District Labour Council. His community is twinned with a Cuban community, and he's spent time down there. He's knowledgeable about the labour issues and some of the concerns, and he has some knowledge of the social programs down there.
The other one is Harry Hynd. If you know the name at all, Mr. Hynd was the former director of District 6 of the United Steelworkers. Again, he's travelled extensively in Cuba and has a good knowledge of the health and education sectors.
One of the things I found very informative today was hearing from the people on the ground.
If it's possible to take a look at them, I would appreciate it. I have contact information, if the committee does decide that they'd like to do that.
1 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Jason Kenney
I'm in a bit of a spot because we didn't have consideration of future business on the agenda. But we'll take those names under consideration. Please submit them to the clerk.