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Geovani Fernandez / AP
In this photo released by Cuba's state-run Granma newspaper, Cuba's President Raul Castro, right, speaks with U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy, left, a Democrat from Vermont, as U.S. Senator Richard Shelby, a Republican from Alabama, behind right, watches in Havana, Cuba, on Feb. 24, 2012.
Updated 1:38 p.m. ET: HAVANA, Cuba -- A senior U.S. senator met with imprisoned American Alan Gross and discussed the man's case in a long sit-down with Cuban President Raul Castro, but said Friday that he doesn't expect Gross to be released any time soon.
Sen. Patrick Leahy, a Democrat from Vermont, said he saw Gross on Thursday afternoon at a Havana military prison. He and Sen. Richard Shelby, a Republican from Alabama, later met for 2 1/2 hours with Castro and offered to take Gross back to the United States on their plane.
"You can imagine how far that went," Leahy said in a phone interview Friday with The Associated Press. He added that "we have a long way to go" to win Gross's release.
Judy Gross, whose husband Alan has been in a jail in Cuba for two years, talks about his conviction and the struggle to bring him home.
The 62-year-old Maryland native is serving a 15-year jail term for spiriting satellite and other communications equipment onto the island while on a USAID-funded democracy-building program. Cuba considers the programs an attempt to destabilize the government, and Gross was convicted of crimes against the state, not espionage.
The Gross affair has chilled relations between the U.S. and Cuba and short-circuited any chance of rapprochement since President Barack Obama took office.
The Gross family wants Castro to pardon him on humanitarian grounds because his mother and adult daughter both have cancer, a call backed by the Obama administration, which insists Gross is innocent.
Leahy said Castro agreed that Gross "was no spy." Gross spoke virtually no Spanish and traveled to Cuba five times under his own name before his arrest in December 2009.
The talks with Castro and the senators was the first high-level meeting between the Cold War enemies since former President Jimmy Carter dined with Castro during a visit to the island in April 2010. Leahy said the late-night meeting was cordial and open.
The meeting took place as the Cuban diplomatic mission in Washington announced plans to host what it called the "1st National Encounter" with Cubans living in the United States. The meeting will bring together Cuban-Americans "who have respectful links to their country," in order to discuss "the normalization of relations" between Cuba and the exile community in the United States, the statement said.
Leahy said Castro brought up the case of five Cuban agents sentenced to long jail terms in the United States, including one who was released last year but has not been allowed to return to Cuba while he serves out three years probation.
Leahy said Castro never explicitly linked Gross' fate with that of the agents, who were jailed in 1998, but "he made it very clear that while we may be concerned for Mr. Gross and have humanitarian reasons to be, they are very concerned about the five (agents) and have humanitarian and family reasons too."
While the agents' case is largely forgotten in the United States, it remains a cause celebre in Cuba, where the government hails the "Cuban Five" as heroes who were only trying to detect and prevent violent attacks against their country by exile groups.
Cuban officials have stopped short of linking the cases, but have said no one should expect the island to free the 62-year-old American in a "unilateral gesture."
Gross's legal appeals have been exhausted, but his family has asked Castro to consider a pardon on humanitarian grounds. Gross, who was portly when arrested in December 2009, has lost about 100 pounds and is now rail thin. His elderly mother and adult daughter are both battling cancer.
Leahy said Gross appeared in reasonably good spirits during the visit, but that he also indicated his two years of detention had taken a toll on his health.
"He obviously wants to leave. He feels that his health has been endangered," Leahy said, adding that he snapped several pictures of Gross to bring back to his wife, Judy.
Cuban state-run media carried images of the meeting between Castro and the senators, though they gave no details of what was discussed. Cuban media said Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez was also present.
The senators are part of an American congressional delegation touring Cuba, Haiti and Colombia. The other members of the delegation, all Democrats, were Sens. Christopher Coons of Delaware and Kent Conrad of North Dakota and Reps. Peter Welch of Vermont and Xavier Becerra of California.
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
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Just normalize relations with Cuba and get it over with.
This cold war crap has gone on far to long.
I heard the Castro brothers and Ron Paul have something in common. They all like cougars. In fact, the 3 of them were sighted outside of Forest Lawn with shovels !
I don't care what your goal is. if you go to another country attempting to subvert their government, whether your cause be noble or not, when you get caught pay the penalty. The US arrests people for doing the very same thing. People are all upset over what's happening in Syria. But put the shoe on the other foot. What would happen in the US if a group was in the street with guns, burning buildings, attacking police, in a general revolt against the government? Do you really think our our government would step down and allow rebels to take over?
Yeah, but in Cuba you are subverting the government if you let someone use you cell phone.
denver bill 2 Not really, you can now buy cell phones in Cuba. Gross was bringing equipment that allows people to connect via satellite by passing Internet Providers and phone companies, usually only spies have access to such equipment. I bet the servers are in Langley, VA.
Why Americans bother traveling to some of these countries is beyond me. They know it's risky but they still do it and then expect the U.S. to send in the cavalry to free them. This guy was doing more than handing out cell phones. He got caught, he's guilty, and now he's doing his time. Does anything more need to be said? We're holding a couple of hundred detainees on the other end of the island for similar activities.
I guess I don't understand why he shouldn't stay in jail for 15 years based on the 'crimes' he committed while in another country. Is it simply b/c he's an American?
Maybe that would make sense, if the "crime" in another country were an actual crime, rather than giving people cell phones. It's not like he killed anyone, robbed anyone, or did anything that any of us think of as a "crime", his "crime" was trying to help people communicate, which isn't a crime if you live under a decent, civilized government rather than a totalitarian one.
It is because we have 5 Cuban agents in prison and they want to exchange Gross for them. We exchanged a bunch of Russian spies for 2 Americans about a year ago; but for some reason we can't do that with Cuba.
Rlquall if the law in a country makes giving electronics to certain people a crime, then it is a crime in that country.
They're scared $#!+less of what happened in Egypt happening there. It's also a crime to speak against the Castro Bros., the Party, or otherwise engage in "counterRevolutionary actitivies", too, but I'll never regard those things as such.
For some reason, they don't want to admit to Gross as being an agent. Perhaps, given his lack of fluency in Spanish, he really isn't, and is really just a nice well-meaning Jewish guy, with access to some rather advanced electronics. Maybe we're sick of our typical many-for-one swaps, which we have done so many times. I can quite honestly say that I do not know.
The only thing the 5 Cuban agents did in the U.S. was looking and checking the Florida mafia terrorist ex-Cubans whom was planning attacks and bombing on Cuban soil. These are terrorist the we keep here in the U.S.
This dude is a CIA contractor who got what he deserves. The US sanctions on Cuba are a sick joke which only hurts regular Cubans and regular Americans. Cuba is such a great place for a vacation.
Free the five Cubans in jail in Florida! Stop the CIA from using our tax money to finance terror attacks against Cuba. Get the US military out of Guantanamo. Does Guantanamo look like US soil? Stop the embargo on Cuba. Let US citizens travel to Cuba if they want to.
Do you want to see Cuba returned to being a playground for the mafia and the rich? Do you like conditions in Haiti? That's what Cuba was like before it won independence.
Why does the CIA have the right to use our tax money to finance fake "democracy" organizations and "subcontractors".
The Cuban people have my respect. They took their country back from the rich. We should do the same thing here.
By the way. The Cuban five are: Gerardo Hernández, René González, Antonio Guerrero, Ramon Labañino, Fernando González.
Send them home!
Amen to that!!!!My same sentiments....Couldn't have said it better myself.Bravo Duckrunner
The Cban people have my respect. They took back their country from the rich. We should do the same thing here.
1) Are you really simplistic enough to believe that the "Cuban people", rather than the Cuban Communist Party and the Castro Bros. run Cuba?
2) Would it be better for almost all of us (except for the Party elite, of course) to live in grinding poverty as long as we deprive "the rich" of their wealth. If Bill Gates and Warren Buffett, George Soros and the Koch Bros. are somehow dispossessed, will you and I somehow suddenly become well off? Didn't exactly work out in Cuba, did it? Why would it here?
DuckRunner,
You know nothing of Cuba. As the son of a Cuban immigrant (Legal by the way) who had to leave Cuba directly after Castro's savage takeover because he did not support the revolution (and before you go saying it was because he was one of the evil "rich" you rail about, he was a simple cabinet maker). I can tell you Cuba is much worse off now then it ever was Under Batista. Yes there were problems but Castro made a bad situation much much worse. If you think Haiti and pre-Castro Cuba have anything in common you are seriously misinformed. I do agree the embargo should end, only because it would help bring the downfall of Castro all the more quickly. I have family and friends who have either found a way to escape the hell hole that is everyday Cuba (not the shiny facade that Castro and his brother have erected to bring in tourists) or are actively trying to get out. Before Castro this was not necessary but now it is. So please do a little more research before you post such a blatantly uninformed opinion.
Free Cuba Sorry, but if you left Cuba or were not born there or have never been there, you know little, what your parents experienced was the early years, Cuba has changed so much (sometimes for better mostly for worse) during that time, also if your research is from Cuban-American organization archives, they are strongly biased and exaggerations abound.
Free Cuba Sorry, but if you left Cuba or were not born there or have never been there, you know little, what your parents experienced was the early years, Cuba has changed so much (sometimes for better mostly for worse) during that time, also if your research is from Cuban-American organization archives, they are strongly biased and exaggerations abound.
DuckRunner: Guantanamo is leased from Cuba from a deal dating back to 1903.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guantánamo_Bay
However, I like you, wonder how our right wing love COMMUNIST CHINA . And HATE COMMUNIST CUBA.
What could the difference possibly be??
Could CORPORATE PROFIT be the difference???????
The truly right-wing don't support the ChiComs. Those who want profit above all and are conveniently conservative or libertarian when it suits them and their purposes (i.e., Koch Bros.) do.
As far as I'm concerned,the Cuban Government should follow suite like the Russians and Germans did and drop their Iron Curtain and the USA should smarten up too.Cuba is good for the USA for tourism,not just for Gitmo as a detension base.
Do you think the US trade embargo which is over 50 years old will topple the Communist government any day now?
AL
If my memory is correct. Russia pulled out of Cuba years ago. They could no longer afford to keep the place afloat. So normalize relations with them and get it over with.
That would suggest that we are going to aquiesce to the "uncompensated nationalisation" of all of the former U.S.-owned assets in Cuba. The Castros still continue to call for the overthrow of the U.S. government. Once they are dead, there'll be an accomodation. I've been waiting for the Castros to die so that I can go down there legally and freely for most of my life now.
LOL, thats what happens when you decide to do the dirty work of the United States. He should have thought of what he was doing before doing it. TOUGH luck pal. Enjoy your stay in Sunny Cuba.
Whatever happened to the good old days, when you get could people back from Cuba for some medical supplies?
America need to take there wet feet law dry feet no more. There worst then the mexican at least there works cuban do fraud and cheat streal everything of the usa then they seat and talk @!$%# that the gringos are a**holes. F to themAmerica need to get on the ball with there laws and protect the american people not the outside world we have our problems to here
In Washington, State Department spokesman Mark Toner flatly ruled out any prisoner exchange....That is exactly why Cuba has no interest in negotiating anything with the US. With that attitude, why should they care about Gross if the US doesn't?? When it came to the Russian spy controversy, we traded them for our spies in Russia so fast that it looked like they were on a tour of our Federal courthouse. One hour in court and then on a plane back to Russia within the next. Those were real spies! The Cuban 5 did nothing against the US, only inform the FBI that the wackos in Miami were planning more terrorist bombs for Havana. If the US really cared about Gross, who was recruited by the Miami politicos to do "Democracy" trips to Cuba, they would meet with Raul Castro monthly on this and other issues until it got worked out. The US better start thinking more on Diplomacy with Cuba now that they have a major oil drilling platform so close to the Florida Keys. What do we have to lose?? Miami politicians like Marco Rubio?, Diaz-Balart twins?, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen?? Their personal grudge against Cuba platform?? How foolish of us..... Peace!
Got back last month from an extended tour of Cuba, from one end of the island to the other. Cuban citizens have no interest in overthrowing their government as so many misinformed Americans believe. On the contrary, there is an amazing degree of solidarity and resolve to continue the revolution. In Cuba, revolution is an ongoing spirit to survive in the face of a 50 year embargo by the US.
What was behind the Cuban Revolution? Hundreds of years of exploitation and brutality by the Spanish, followed by a US invasion to drive out the Spanish and replace them as the exploiters of Cuba. US interests including the Mafia moved in, bringing with them drug dealing, prostitution and exploitation of Cuban resources.
By a long shot, the socialist government of Cuban has been far from perfect. But it is a whole lot better than what they had before. The Cuban government took the literacy rate from 60% to 96%. Everyone in the country receives free medical care, even for cosmetic surgery. Cubans have a higher life expectancy than Americans and a lower infant mortality rate. They also produce a huge number of doctors every year. When we were there we visited a medical university and met a young lady from the US who was enrolled in the university, receiving a free medical education.