Remembering Brave Patriots of Brigade 2506

Floor Speech

Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Mr. Speaker, I rise to remember the brave patriots of Brigade 2506, and their American co-fighters, on the fiftieth anniversary of the Bay of Pigs Invasion.

On April 17, 1961, 1,400 brave Cuban men landed along the beaches of the Bay of Pigs. Although the Brigade was outnumbered and out-supplied, it managed to inflict massive damages on Castro's military. Those brave fighters were a cross-section of Cuban society. They were doctors, students, and farmers. Some were only teenagers. They were supported by four brave Alabama pilots who ignored their superiors' orders to abandon the brigade and their mission. When the smoke cleared and the fighting ended, the survivors endured nearly two years of torture by some of the most sadistic, expertly trained torturers the world has ever known--on the direct orders of Cuba's cruel dictator.

Today, that dictatorship is failing. When that oppressive regime finally dies, the Cuban people will be rid of the shackles that have burdened them for decades. The heroes of the Bay of Pigs invasion were early warriors in the struggle for the freedom of the Cuban people. History will remember them not only for their heroism on the beaches of Playa Girón, but also for their role in the ultimate liberation of the homeland of José Martí.

The U.S. Congress is an especially fitting venue to commemorate a day of such importance to both Cuban and American history. It is appropriate that on this day, and in this place, we remember the Cuban people's call for a true democratic transition, the recognition of basic human rights, the adherence to the rule of law, those heroic freedom fighters of Brigade 2506 and the four brave Alabama pilots who refused to abandon their Cuban brothers. We free Americans must continue to stand with the long-suffering Cuban people at this critical time in their history.

I humbly and with gratitude salute the brave patriots who attempted to liberate the Cuban people from tyranny fifty years ago. Their sacrifice, and their valor, will never be forgotten.

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