• Submitted by: manso
• Politics and Government
• 04 / 02 / 2011

---

Cuba-Carter. Top News: Jimmy Carter's former aide Robert Pastor provided a bit of insight into the ex-president's trip to Cuba this week, according to reporting that appeared in a pair of articles for the Miami and Nuevo Heralds. Pastor served as Carter's point man on Cuba when he worked as National Security Adviser, and he accompanied Carter on this week's visit to the island.

First piece: Pastor says that jailed U.S. contractor Alan Gross did not know the equipment he carried to Cuba was financed by the U.S. government. "We did meet with Gross. He claims not to know he was bringing equipment from the U.S. government," Pastor said a conference on Cuba at the City University of New York. "The facts are simply not all that clear, and this is coming from someone who has spoken to all sides of this, often." Pastor added that Carter met with Jewish groups, who said they did not know anything about Gross or his mission to establish wifi hotspots using satellite communications equipment.

Second: Pastor, who emphasized that he was speaking on behalf of himself and not ex-President Carter, told El Nuevo Herald that Cuban head of state Raúl Castro feels comfortable in his position, but also feels pressure to undertake his ambitious economic reforms quickly because of his old age.

Source: /miamiherald.typepad.com/cuban_colada/2011/04/