Lincoln Diaz-Balart: “today is the 40th birthday of a brave human rights activist and pro-democracy leader, Dr. Oscar Elias Biscet, who at…”

“today is the 40th birthday of a brave human rights activist and pro-democracy leader, Dr. Oscar Elias Biscet, who at this moment finds himself serving a prison sentence in a Cuban gulag for peacefully protesting for democracy in Cuba, after being taken before a farce of a trial in Havana on February 25 of last year. Dr. Biscet was born in Havana on July 20, 1961. In 1985, he obtained a degree in medicine, and late in that decade he began to openly oppose the totalitarian regime that oppresses the Cuban people. In 1997, Dr. Biscet was one of the founders of the Lawton Foundation for Human Rights, a humanitarian organization created to demand fundamental human rights from the Cuban totalitarian regime. In February of 1998, Dr. Biscet was officially expelled from the Cuban health system and he was prohibited from practicing medicine. That same year, he and his family were thrown out of their home, and his wife was fired from her employment due to her pro-human rights activities. Both of them, in fact, were forced to depend on the charity of their friends and of those who wished to see Cuba free. On October 28, 1999, Dr. Biscet held a press conference before the Ibero-American Summit began in Havana. During the press conference, along with other pro-democracy activists, Dr. Biscet announced that they would carry out a march calling for the release of all political prisoners and for the respect of the human rights of the Cuban people.”