With no other options available, Alan Gross supporters have issued two press releases within the past 24 hours, indicating that they will step up efforts to secure his release. Gross is the Maryland resident who was arrested in December 2009, while attempting to board a flight out of Havana. He was convicted of state security crimes by a Cuban court in March, and he has served just under two years of the 15 year sentence imposed on him. Every diplomatic effort to secure Gross' freedom, formal and informal, has been a complete bust. The current relationship between Cuba and the United States is as bad as it's been in many years, and things weren't helped any when the United Nations condemned last week, for the 20th consecutive year, the U.S. economic embargo of Cuba -- by a 186-2 vote.
On November 7, Gross' supporters in the D.C. area will begin holding weekly vigils outside the Cuban Interests Section in Washington (it's a mini consulate, since the U.S. and Cuba have no formal relations). On November 8, Alan's wife Judy Gross will be the keynote speaker at the General Assembly of the Jewish Federation of North America in Denver. The convention promotional literature says over 4,000 participants are expected to attend.
Alan Gross is described as a "humanitarian aid worker" in one media document, while another says that he traveled to Cuba "to work with the small Jewish community there to improve their internet access and create an intranet for them." Internet access and use is rigidly controlled by Cuban authorities, and is not available to most people. What is not disputed by anyone is that Gross made multiple trips to the island in 2008 and 2009, traveling under a tourist visa. The U.S. government has said that Gross' visa declaration was a minor "technical violation" of Cuban law.
In an article published in May, Philip Giraldi, a former agent for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), said that Gross was paid $500,000 by a U.S. State Dept. agency to travel to Cuba "to hand out laptop computers and cell and satellite phones to the local 1,000 strong Jewish community" on the island. If the story is accurate those activities made Gross far more than a humanitarian aid worker, and would have been strictly regulated by Cuban law, requiring official permission.
Gross and his attorneys have said, cryptically, that he was "used, duped and a trusting fool." Those comments, absent more details, suggest that ex-CIA agent Giraldi got it right in his article.
I think Gross and his family should prepare themselves for a longer rather than a shorter stay. If Barack Obama is re-elected in November 2012 -- or even if he isn't -- the president will have nothing left to lose, and might consider a prisoner swap for the Cubans serving long sentences in Florida (the Miami Five). But if a Republican replaces Obama in January 2013 and Gross is still in Havana, it's impossible to say if he'll be released before his sentence is up. All the Miami Five are still in custody, more than 13 years after they were arrested in 1998. Why should Cuba behave any differently towards the U.S.?
Alan Gross exposed: http://mexicogulfreporter.blogspot.com/2012/02/alan-gross-us-agent-who-knew-what-he.html.
Why Cuba will never unilaterally release Alan Gross: http://mexicogulfreporter.blogspot.com/2011/10/cuba-gives-resounding-no-to-unilateral.html.
What Alan Gross has said about his situation: http://mexicogulfreporter-supplement.blogspot.com/2011/11/release-from-havana-jail-sought-on.html.
The U.N.'s 20th condemnation of the U.S. embargo of Cuba: http://mexicogulfreporter.blogspot.com/2011/10/united-nations-condemns-us-embargo-of.html.
Why it's time to abandon the Cuban embargo: http://mexicogulfreporter-supplement.blogspot.com/2011/11/us-embargo-of-cuba.html.
Why U.S. policy towards Cuba is stale: http://mexicogulfreporter.blogspot.com/2011/10/hillary-clinton-sticks-to-same-old-game.html.
U.S. double standard on prisoners hurts Alan Gross: http://mexicogulfreporter-supplement.blogspot.com/2011/11/us-shows-revolting-double-standard-in.html.
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