gonzalez who is there with you. [ speaking spanish ] >> translator: it makes me very proud to see normando gonzalez there, because we suffered political prison. we both suffered beatings, oppression and hunger. [ speaking spanish ] >> translator: he is like the best example of our homeland because he is a self-taught journalist that used to disseminate information in the prison. [ speaking spanish ] >> translator: and i'm very proud to see him there today because he sfrd a lot of oppression with a lot of dignity and decorum. [ speaking spanish ] >> translator: something very important that might colleague just said is that we found out about this event with very short notice and i think that shows the degree of poppression that e are under. [ speaking spanish ] >> translator: and that speaks volume of the repression that we feel. i had to, like she said, walk kilometers, hide behind trees and bushes as if i was some sort of criminal to attend an event that in any other free and democratic country in the world would be an every day thing. [ speaking spanish ] >> translator: but thank god and thank t

but arrested 75 activists including normando gonzalez and jose garcia who recalling on the phone. he was exiled to spain after serving as a political prisoner. jose served eight years before being provided conditional release. those arrests emboldened the opposition movement, leading to the creation of the national symbol for a unified command for freedom from repression and tyranny. if past is prologue, this current wave " of repression will embolden the movement and eventually leads to the freedom of the cuban people. the purpose of the hearing is to call attention to the way of repression taking place inside of cuba and at the same time, it is a celebration of the courage of thousands living inside of the island. causes of cubans who stand against the regime and put their personal freedom at risk for the freedom of their countrymen in nation. let me close with a few facts we have distributed to the audience. according to the 2011 state department report, "the principle of abuses in cuba or the right to change our government, threats, intimidation, harassment and the attention t