The reality today is that Cuba is under the greatest economic pressure it has been for the last quarter of a century. A combination of factors. including the declining price of basic commodities. the lessened willingness of the Soviet Union to support its surrogate through the subsidized sale of petroleum products. and the almost total loss of hard currency to make purchases from foreign nations. has resulted in severe economic hardship for Cuba. We are beginning to see this in terms of the rising number of refugees who are beginning to leave that countryindeed the largest numbers we have had since the spring of 1980 and the Mariel boatlift. This afternoon. a reception is being heldironically. on the day we consider this amendmentfor a person who has been recognized as a world figure in human rights. Armando Valladares. who has written about his 22 years of imprisonment in a Castro jail.
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