Mr. Speaker. the United States has always had particular pride in its tradition of political asylum. Right now we are sheltering over 100.000 refugees from Castros Communist rule. and rightly so. Even though the guests whom we have sheltered have not always been of our choice. we have consistently maintained this right of sanctuary. It has been an inviolable part of the American tradition. In the whole history of the United States. there is no instance of a refugee President or ruler of a foreign country whom we have sent back to his political enemies to be butchered. Unhappily there are indications that we are about to break this tradition. Responding to some imperative of the. New Frontier foreign policy. there are unmistakable signs that the administration is contemplating the turning over of former President Perez Jimenez of Venezuela to vengeance and probable death at the hands of Romulo Betancourt. The fact that Betancourt and Perez Jimenez are bitter political enemies and that it was Perez Jimenez who upset Betancourts leftists timetable by 10 years. by turning him out of the Venezuelan Government in 1948. does not give pause to those in high places who are clamoring for the former Presidents deportation. The fact that Perez Jimenez. while President. was decorated by President Eisenhower for his stanch support of the United States and for his leadership in the hemispheric fight against communism is disregarded. The demand of the hour is to please Betancourt.
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refugee deportation refugees