Hillary Clinton sticks to the same old game plan on Cuban affairs

In a morning appearance before the House Foreign Affairs Committee, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told committee members that there will be no trade of Cuban prisoners who have been imprisoned in the United States for over 13 years in exchange for American Alan Gross, who is jailed in Havana. Gross is about 22 months into a 15 year sentence for state security crimes. He was convicted in a Cuban court in March, and neither former president Jimmy Carter nor ex-New Mexico governor Bill Richardson were able to negotiate his release. Gross, 62, is said to be in poor health, and both his daughter and mother in the United States have cancer.

The Cubans have demanded a trade of the Miami Five for Alan Gross. The Obama administration says no. But why not? In a high profile espionage case in 2009, the FBI arrested several Russian spies in New York, including a femme fatale Ruski agent who had managed to seduce secrets out of more than one sap (photo below). The U.S. agreed to swap the KGB (or its current successor agency) operatives in exchange for several Western spies who were rotting away in Moscow cells. The deal was put together in less than 30 days.

We should do the same with Cuba immediately. But we won't. There's a presidential election next year, and there are more than enough rabidly anti-Castro exiles living in Florida (and other states) to make any Democratic candidate a bit nervous.

Alan Gross wants to go home: http://mexicogulfreporter-supplement.blogspot.com/2011/11/release-from-havana-jail-sought-on.html;
U.S. double standard on Cuba: http://mexicogulfreporter-supplement.blogspot.com/2011/11/us-shows-revolting-double-standard-in.html.

The truth about Alan Gross: http://mexicogulfreporter.blogspot.com/2012/02/alan-gross-us-agent-who-knew-what-he.html.

The Alan Gross story:
Judy Gross asks Obama, "please bring my husband home": http://mexicogulfreporter.blogspot.com/2011/11/judy-gross-asks-president-obama-to.html.
No Christmas pardon for Alan Gross: http://mexicogulfreporter.blogspot.com/2011/12/cuban-will-pardon-almost-3000-prisoners.html.
Alan Gross y Los Cinco de Miami: http://mexicogulfreporter-supplement.blogspot.com/2011/11/alan-gross-y-los-cinco-de-miami.html.
Alan Gross supporters take their release crusade on the road: http://mexicogulfreporter.blogspot.com/2011/11/alan-gross-supporters-take-their.html.
U.S. double standard on prisoners hurts Alan Gross: http://mexicogulfreporter-supplement.blogspot.com/2011/11/us-shows-revolting-double-standard-in.html.

U.S. embargo of Cuba turns 50: http://mexicogulfreporter.blogspot.com/2012/02/us-embargo-of-cuba-is-50-years-old.html.
Newt Gingrich spews the same old Cold War rhetoric on Cuba: http://mexicogulfreporter.blogspot.com/2012/01/gingrich-spews-same-old-cold-war.html.
Hemingway Bar opens at Cuban consulate in Washington: http://mexicogulfreporter.blogspot.com/2011/11/hemingway-bar-opens-in-cuban-diplomatic.html.
What does Che Guevara have to do with Mercedes-Benz?: http://mexicogulfreporter.blogspot.com/2012/01/what-does-che-guevara-have-to-do-with.html.

Anna Chapman, from spying in the Big Apple to modeling in Moscow. It's easy, provided your president gets along with their president. Look -- she even got to keep her special issue Walther PP.