• Submitted by: manso
• Politics and Government
• 10 / 25 / 2010

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Among other things, this neglects to mention that Gross went to Cuba under false pretenses and did not seek Cuban authorization to set up satellite hookups. I doubt that there are many countries in the world that would allow one to come in on a tourist visa and then do this kind of thing without specific authorization. It is simply false to claim that the Cubans' arrest of Gross is responsible for souring US Cuban relations, which have been sour since 1959. Emile Schepers

Factbox: Jailed U.S. contractor, sour U.S.-Cuba relations. Sun Oct 24, 2010 8:21am EDT. (Reuters) - American Alan Gross has been held in Cuba since December on suspicions of espionage, although he has not been officially charged with a crime. The U.S. government has said he was not a spy but was in Cuba setting up Internet systems for Jewish groups under a federally funded contract promoting political change on the island.

The following are facts about the case, which has stalled progress in U.S.-Cuba relations:

-Gross, 61, was detained by Cuban authorities at the Havana airport as he was preparing to fly home on December 3.

- He is said to have been in Cuba installing satellite equipment to provide Internet access for Cuban Jewish groups.

-He was working as a contractor for Maryland-based company DAI under a U.S. Agency for International Development program aimed at promoting democracy in Cuba.

-U.S.-Cuba relations had warmed slightly under President Barack Obama, but U.S. officials say there will be no major initiatives with its longtime ideological enemy as long as Gross is held.

-Cuba views the USAID program as part of the United States' long-standing campaign to subvert the island's communist-led government.

-Cuban officials have said Gross was suspected of espionage and providing illegal satellite communications equipment to dissidents, but the case is under investigation.

-Cuba's Law 88 says that anyone who "participates in the distribution of financial, material or other resources that come from the United States government ... faces a sanction of three to eight years in prison."

-Gross is being held in a Havana military hospital, but his wife, Judy Gross,visited him in Cuba in late July.

-She has written a letter to President Raul Castro, expressing remorse for her husband's work and asking for his release due to their daughter's illness.

-New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson came to Cuba in late August to meet with Cuban officials about Gross, but left empty-handed.

-A U.S. State Department spokesman said on September 2 there was no truth to reports the United States may swap five jailed Cuban agents for Gross.

-Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez and U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Arturo Valenzuela discussed the Gross case on September 24 on the sidelines of U.N. General Assembly in New York.

-Judy Gross said the U.S. government had done little to help her husband.

(Reporting by Jeff Franks; Editing by Peter Cooney)


Source: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CubaNews/message/118630