• Submitted by: manso
• Politics and Government
• 03 / 28 / 2011

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March. 27, 2011 at 4:04 PM. ATLANTA, March 27 (UPI) -- Jimmy Carter, the only president to visit Cuban soil since the revolution, says he will revisit the island to meet with President Raul Castro.

When the former president first came to Cuba in 2002, Fidel Castro met him on the tarmac. Monday, when Carter returns to the island nation at the invitation of the Cuban government led by Fidel's brother, Raul, it will be ostensibly on a three-day private mission to discuss improving bilateral ties between Cuba and the United States.

Carter and former first lady Rosalyn's are scheduled to meet with Cuban officials "to learn about new economic policies and the upcoming Party Congress, and to discuss ways to improve U.S.-Cuba relations," a Carter Center release said.

The visit has raised conjecture Carter might attempt to gain the early release of American Alan Gross sentenced to 15 years in a Cuban prison for "subversive" work providing illegal Internet access to Cuban groups, the government alleged.

Gross's mother and daughter are suffering from cancer and foreign diplomats in Havana have postulated the USAID contractor, arrested in 2009, might be given an early release as a humanitarian gesture, CNN reported.

Earlier this week, Cuba released 75 political prisoners jailed in 2003.

"The release of political prisoners is a step in the right direction," said U.S. State Department Deputy spokesman Mark Toner.

Source: www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2011/03/27/Carter-to-visit-Cuba-Castro/UPI-40371...