Sen. Cruz Leads Push to Rename Street Outside Cuban Embassy After Oswaldo Payá
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, reintroduced his bipartisan bill to rename the street outside of the Cuban embassy in Washington, D.C. as “Oswaldo Payá Way” after the Cuban dissident leader who was assassinated by the Castro regime. Sens. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Rick Scott (R-Fla.), and Ben Cardin (D-Md.) joined Sen. Cruz in cosponsoring the bill. Sen. Cruz previously introduced this bill in June of 2021, which passed the U.S. Senate during the 117th Congress.
About the bill, Sen. Cruz said:
“Oswaldo Payá is a hero for oppressed Cubans, Cuban Americans, and defenders of freedom and democracy everywhere. His courage in the face of the oppressive communist Castro regime in Cuba ultimately cost him his life, and this bill and this effort to rename the street in front of the Cuban embassy after him is a tribute to his heroism, and reminder of the the cruelty and oppression of the Cuban regime. I am proud to lead this bipartisan effort. The continued fight for freedom there will one day bring about Cuba Libre.”
BACKGROUND:
An outspoken activist for free speech, democracy, and human rights, Payá died in a suspicious car crash on July 22, 2012. While the Castro regime maintains Payá's death was an accident, Payá’s family and the driver involved in the crash claim another car forced them off the road. The Cuban government has steadfastly refused to allow an independent investigation of the troubling death of one of its noted citizens. In light of these suspicious circumstances, Sen. Cruz has served as an advocate calling for the Cuban government to release the truth of the circumstances surrounding Payá’s death.
Sen. Cruz has long fought to honor the legacy of Oswaldo Payá and has led this bipartisan effort to rename the street in front of the Cuban Embassy since 2015. Sen. Cruz has worked closely with Payá’s daughter, Rosa María, to continue her father’s legacy and the fight for democracy for all freedom-loving Cubans oppressed by the Castro regime, and in November of 2019, met with her on National Victims of Communism Day to call for freedom and democracy to be restored to Cuba. Sen. Cruz also joined a bipartisan resolution, which passed the Senate in April of 2018, honoring the legacy of Oswaldo Payá and calling for an impartial investigation into the circumstances surrounding his death. In July of 2021, Sen. Cruz and a bipartisan group of his Senate colleagues sent a letter to Tania Reneaum Panszi, then-newly appointed Executive Secretary of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. Together they urged the commission to advance its efforts on his case without further delay.
Read the bill here.
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