Sens. Cruz, Durbin, Colleagues Introduce Bill to Rename Cuban Embassy Street After Murdered Dissident Oswaldo Payá
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), and colleagues introduced bipartisan legislation 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 Cuba’s communist regime. Yesterday, Sen. Cruz met with Rosa María Payá, Oswaldo Payá’s daughter, to discuss the reintroduction of this bill.
Upon introduction, Sen. Cruz said, “I am honored to be leading legislation to pay tribute to the heroism of Oswaldo Payá, who was a fearless defender of freedom and democracy for the Cuban people. His unwavering courage in standing against Castro’s oppressive communist regime cost him his life but not his legacy. Renaming the street in front of the Cuban embassy in his honor will serve as a reminder of the regime’s brutality and the ongoing struggle for freedom in Cuba. This legislation is bipartisan and should be uncontroversial, and I urge my colleagues to expeditiously advance and pass it.”
Sen. Durbin said, “The legacy of Cuban dissident Oswaldo Payá and the fight for justice and democracy in Cuba will live on. With this bill, we would designate the street outside the Cuban Embassy in Washington D.C., ‘Oswaldo Payá Way’—a symbolic effort to recognize internationally respected Oswaldo Payá, who was the embodiment of Cuban hope to a peaceful path to freedom. We stand with the Payá family and the people of Cuba in urging peaceful democratic reform and the release of all political prisoners.”
The legislation is also co-sponsored by Sens. John Curtis (R-Utah), and Rick Scott (R-Fla.).
Read the bill text here.
BACKGROUND
Oswaldo Paya was a Cuban dissident who was murdered by the Cuban regime on July 22, 2012. The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights formally determined and confirmed that the regime was directly responsible for the murder.
Sen. Cruz has long fought to honor the legacy of Oswaldo Payá and hold the Cuban regime accountable for his murder. Sen. Cruz has led this bipartisan effort to rename the street in front of the Cuban Embassy since 2015. Sen. Cruz has also previously introduced this legislation in 2017, 2020, 2021, and 2023.
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