The Cases of Alan Gross and the Cuban Five

Center For International Policy - Cuba Report



Posted on 01/17/2012 by Center for International Policy



By Salim Lamrani, with contributions from Wayne Smith



The way may be opening for increased U.S.-Cuban ties. The United States has removed all restrictions on Cuban-American travel from the U.S. to Cuba and all limitations on Cuban-American remittances to families on the island. Coming at a time when the Cuban government is encouraging the establishment of small private enterprises, this opens the way for importantly increased ties between the two communities-as one observer put it: “for an inflow of capital from the U.S. to Cuba.”



There is, however, the proverbial “fly in the ointment” and that is the case of Alan Gross, arrested on December 3 of 2009 and since then representing a major obstacle to improved relations–along with the case of the Cuban Five on the other side (but more on that later).



Who is Alan Gross?



Alan Gross is a 61 year-old Jewish U.S. citizen from Potomac, Maryland who is an employee of Development Alternatives, Inc. (DAI), a subcontractor of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) which itself is a dependency of the State Department. In December 2009, when Gross was about to leave Cuba with a simple tourist visa–after his fifth visit that year–Cuban state security authorities detained him at the International Airport in Havana. An investigation discovered links between him and the internal opposition to the Cuban government. Gross had been distributing among the opposition portable computers and satellite telephones as part of the State Department program for “promoting democracy in Cuba.” [1]



A long-distance communications technology expert, Gross has great experience in the field. He has worked in more than 50 nations and set up satellite communications systems during the military interventions in Iraq and Afghanistan to circumvent channels controlled by local authorities. [2]



Possession of a satellite phone is strictly forbidden in Cuba for national security reasons and telecommunications are a state monopoly with competition forbidden. [3]



Aid for the Cuban Jewish Community?



The State Department, demanding the release of the detainee declared, “Gross works for international development and traveled to Cuba to assist the members of the Jewish community in Havana to connect with other Jewish communities in the world.” According to Washington, Gross’ activities were legitimate and did not violate Cuban legislation.[4]



In October 2010, during the annual session of the UN General Assembly, Arturo Valenzuela, then assistant secretary of state for inter-American affairs, met with Bruno Rodríguez, Cuban minister for foreign affairs, to discuss Gross. This was the most important diplomatic meeting between representatives from both nations since the beginning of Obama’s era. [5]



Alan Gross’ family also said that his frequent trips to the island were to allow the Jewish community in Havana to gain access to the Internet and to communicate with Jews all over the world.[6] His lawyer, Peter J. Kahn, endorsed their words, “His work in Cuba had nothing to do with politics; it was simply aimed at helping the small, peaceful, non-dissident Jewish community in the country. [7]



Gross doubtless had contact with some members of the Jewish community in Cuba. Leaders of the Jewish community in Havana, however, contradict the official U.S. version of his relationship. In fact, leaders of the community affirm they did not know Alan Gross, and had never met with him despite his five visits to Cuba in 2009. Adela Dworin, president of the Beth Shalom Temple, rejected Washington’s statements. “It’s lamentable […]. The saddest part is that they tried to involve the Jewish community in Cuba which has nothing to do with this.”



Mayra Levy, speaker of the Sephardic Hebraic Center, declared she didn’t know who Gross was and added he had never been to her institution. The Associated Press said “the leaders of the Jewish community in Cuba denied the American contractor Alan Gross […] had collaborated with them.” [8] In like manner, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency reported that “the main Jewish groups in Cuba had denied having any contracts with Alan Gross or any knowledge of his project.” [9]



Reverend Oden Mariachal, secretary of the Consejo de Iglesias de Cuba (CIC) [Cuban Council of Churches] which includes the [non-Catholic] Christian religious institutions and the Jewish community in Cuba, confirmed this position at a meeting with Peter Brennan, State Department coordinator for Cuban Affairs. On the occasion of the General Assembly of Churches of Christ in the U.S., held in Washington in 2010, the religious leader rejected Gross’ allegations. “What we made clear is what the Cuban Jewish Community, a member of the Cuban Council of Churches, told us, ‘We never had a relationship with that gentleman; he never brought us any equipment.’ They denied any kind of relationship with Alan Gross.”[10]



In fact, the small Cuban Jewish community, far from isolated, is perfectly integrated in society and has excellent relations with the political authorities in the Island. Fidel Castro, although very critical of Israeli policy in the occupied territories, declared to American journalist Jeffrey Goldberg that in history “no one has been as slandered as the Jews. They were exiled from their land, persecuted and mistreated everywhere in the world. The Jews had a more difficult existence than ours. Nothing can compare to the Holocaust,” he said. [11]



Cuban President Raúl Castro attended the religious ceremony for Hanukkah-the Festival of Lights–at the Shalom Synagogue in Havana, in December 2010. The visit was broadcast live on Cuban TV and published in the front page of newspaper Granma. He took the opportunity to greet “the Cuban Jewish community and the fabulous history of the Hebrew people.” [12]



Moreover, the Cuban Jewish community has all the technological facilities needed to communicate with the rest of the world, thanks to the assistance of other international Jewish entities such as the B’nai Brith and the Cuban Jewish Relief Project, the Canadian Jewish Congress (CJC), the World ORT, the Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) or the United Jewish Committee (UJC); all of it endorsed by the Cuban authorities. [13]



Arturo López-Levy, B’nai Brith secretary for the Cuban Jewish community between 1999 and 2001, and today a professor at Denver University, is also skeptical about the U.S. version of the Gross case. On the subject, he stated, “Gross was not arrested for being Jewish or for his alleged activities of technological aid to the Cuban Jewish community which already had an informatics lab, electronic mail and Internet access before he got to Havana. [The Jews in Cuba] do not gather at a synagogue to conspire with the political opposition because this would jeopardize their cooperation with the government which is needed for their activities: the emigration to Israel program, the Right by Birth project–through which young Cuban Jews travel to Israel every year–or to deal with humanitarian aid. To protect the most important they detach themselves as much as possible from the U.S. programs of political interference on Cuban internal affairs. Gross travelled to Cuba not to work with any Jewish organization but for USAID.” [14]



Wayne S. Smith, chief of the U.S. Interests Section in Cuba from 1979 to 1982 and director of Cuba Program of the Center for International Policy in Washington, said that “in other words, Gross was involved in a program whose intentions were clearly hostile to Cuba, because its objective is nothing less than regime change.” [15]



Illegal Activities According to Cuban Authorities



Cuban authorities suspected Gross of espionage and internal subversion activities. [16]Ricardo Alarcon, president of the Cuban Parliament, declared he had violated the country’s legislation. “He violated Cuban laws, national sovereignty, and committed crimes that in the U.S. are most severely punished.”[17]



Gross, a USAID employee was providing sophisticated communications equipment. The distribution and use of satellite phones is regulated in Cuba and it is forbidden to import them without authorization. On the other hand, Article 11 of Cuban Law 88 reads that, “He who, in order to perform the acts described in this Law, directly or through a third party, receives, distributes or takes part in the distribution of financial means, material or of other kind, from the Government of the United States of America, its agencies, dependencies, representatives, officials, or from private entities is liable to prison terms from 3 to 8 years.” [18]



This severity is not unique to Cuban legislation. U.S. law prescribes similar penalties for this type of crime. The Foreign Agents Registration Act prescribes that any un-registered agent “who requests, collects, supplies or spends contributions, loans, money or any valuable object in his own interest” may be liable to a sentence of five years in prison and a fine of 10,000 dollars. [19]



French legislation also punishes this type of action. According to Article 411-8 of the Penal Code, “the act of exercising on behalf of a foreign power, a foreign company or organization or company or organization under the control of a foreign agent, any act aimed at supplying devices, information, procedures, objects, documents, informatics data or files whose exploitation, spreading, or gathering can by nature attempt against the fundamental interests of the nation is punishable with ten years of imprisonment and a fine of 150,000 Euros.”[20]



On February 4, 2011, the prosecutor of the Republic of Cuba formally accused Alan Gross of “acts against the integrity and independence of the nation,” and demanded a jail sentence of 20 years. On March 12, 2011 Gross was finally sentenced to 15 years imprisonment after his trial.[21] The lawyer for the defense, Peter J. Kahn, expressed his regret that his client was “caught in the middle of a long political dispute between Cuba and the United States.” [22]



The New York Times remembers that Gross “was arrested last December during a trip to Cuba as part of a semi-clandestine USAID program, a service of foreign aid of the State Department destined to undermine the Cuban Government,” The New York paper also indicated that “U.S. authorities have admitted that Mr. Gross entered Cuba without the appropriate visa and have said he distributed satellite telephones to religious groups. [23]



Since 1992 and the adoption of the Torricelli Act, the U.S. openly admits its objective towards Cuba is “regime change” and one of the pillars of this policy is to organize, finance and equip an internal opposition. [24]



USAID, which is in charge of the implementation of the plan, admits that, as part of this program, it finances the Cuban opposition. According to the Agency for the 2009 fiscal year the amount destined for aid to Cuban dissidents was of 15.62 million dollars. Since 1996 a total of 140 million dollars have been dedicated to the program aimed at overthrowing the Cuban government. “The largest part of this figure is for individuals inside Cuba. Our objective is to maximize the amount of the support that benefits the Cubans in the Island.”[25]



The government agency also stresses the following, “We have trained hundreds of journalists in a ten year period and their work is seen in mainstream international media.” Formed and paid by the U.S., they represent, above all, the interests of Washington whose objective is a “regime change” on the island. [26]



From a juridical point of view, this reality in fact places the dissidents who accept the emoluments offered by USAID in the position of being agents at the service of a foreign power, which constitutes a serious violation of the Cuban Penal Code. The agency is aware of this reality and simply reminds all that “nobody is obliged to accept or be part of the programs of the government of the United States.” [27]



Judy Gross, the wife of Alan Gross, was authorized to visit him in prison for the first time in July 2010. [28]She took the occasion to send a letter to Cuban President Raúl Castro in which she expressed her repentance and apologized for the acts of her husband. “I understand today the Cuban Government does not appreciate the type of work Alan was doing in Cuba. His intention was never to hurt your government.” [29]



Judy Gross also accuses the State Department of not having explained to her husband that his activities were illegal in Cuba. If Alan had known that something would happen to him in Cuba, he would not have done that. I think he was not clearly informed about the risks.” [30]



A Way Out?



Clearly, Alan Gross violated the law. Of that there can be no doubt. On the other hand, he seems to have done little harm. His continued incarceration results in no important benefits to the U.S. His release, on the other hand, could be a major step toward improved U.S.-Cuban relations, especially if in the process he were prepared to apologize for his actions.



There is another side to the matter, however, and that has to do with the so-called Cuban Five. Just as the U.S. seems unwilling to move ahead in relations unless there is some movement in the Gross case, so do the Cubans seem reluctant to move without progress in the case of the Cuban Five, who were incarcerated in 1998. They were sent up to the U.S. by the Cuban government to penetrate and develop information about the anti-Castro terrorists groups in Florida after a sequence of bomb attacks against tourist centers in Havana. The idea was then to provide that information to the FBI so that it could take action to halt the exile terrorists. A meeting between representatives of the FBI and the Cubans was held in Havana over several days in June of 1998 and some forty folders of evidence were turned over to the FBI. The Cubans then waited for the U.S. to take action against the terrorists. But none was taken; rather, shortly thereafter, the FBI began arresting the Cuban five. In other words, they arrested those who had provided the evidence rather than the terrorists themselves. The Five were arrested, tried and convicted, though “tried” is not the right word for the trial was a sham. The prosecutors had no real evidence and so fell back on the old standby of trying them for “conspiracy” to commit illegal acts. No evidence, and they were tried in Miami where anti-Castro sentiment had reached such a level with the Elian Gonzalez case that there was no chance of empanelling an impartial jury. Defense lawyers requested a change of venue, but, incredibly, it was denied.



Worst of all was the case of Gerardo Hernandez, who was accused of “conspiracy” to commit murder and given two consecutive life sentences plus fifteen years–this in connection with the shoot down of the two Brothers to the Rescue planes in February of 1996. Never mind that there was no evidence that he was in any way responsible. But there, behind bars, he remains today, mostly in solitary confinement and after all these years not allowed a single visit from his wife.



The injustice in these cases contradicts the reputation of the U.S. for dedication to the rule of law. It must be corrected. Holding these men year after year without real evidence of any crime other than being the unregistered agents of a foreign power was one thing during the Cold War–though unjustified even then. But now, with the Cold War over and every possibility of beginning a new U.S.-Cuba relationship, it becomes morally unjustifiable and counterproductive. It is time surely to undertake a process of reviewing all these cases and then allowing these men to return to their families. One, René Gonzalez, has already been released from prison to serve out his remaining three years on parole, but at the same time, incredibly, not allowed to return to Cuba to be with his wife, who he has not seen in all these years. That, allowing his return, should perhaps be the first step in the process.



And it goes without saying that as the U.S. begins to move in the cases of the Cuban Five, Cuba should release Alan Gross to return to his family.



It should be noted that Alan Gross himself suggested there should be some reciprocal movement in these cases. “Following the recent exchange of the Israeli soldier, Gilad Shalit, for 1,000 Palestinian prisoners, Gross was clear that he wants the United States and Cuba to make a similar gesture for him and the Cuban Five,” explained Rabbi David Shneyer, who had visited Gross in Havana. [31]



Salim Lamrani, PhD in Iberian and Latin American Studies of the Paris Sorbonne-Paris IV University, is a professor in charge of courses at the Paris-Sorbonne-Paris IV University and the Paris-Est Marne-la- Vallée University. He is a French journalist, and specialist on the Cuba-United States relations. He has recently published: Etat de siege. Les sanctions economiques des Etats-Unis contre Cuba with a prologue by Wayne S. Smith.



Wayne S. Smith, now director of the Cuba Project at the Center for International Policy, was chief of the U.S. Interests Section in Havana, 1979-1982, and is the author of The Closest of Enemies, (New York: W.W. Norton, 1987.



End Notes



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[1] Jeff Franks, <>, Reuter, October 24, 2010.



[2] Phillip J. Crowley, <>, op. cit.; Saul Landau, <>, Counterpunch, July 30, 2010. http://www.counterpunch.org/landau07302010.html (site consulted on February 18, 2011).



[3] Ibid.



[4] Phillip J. Crowley, <>, op. cit



[5] Paul Haven, <>, The Associated Press, October 18, 2010



[6] Anthony Broadle, <>, Reuters, October 24, 2010.



[7] Juan O. Tamayo, <>, El Nuevo Herald, February 5, 2011.



[8] Andrea Rodríguez, <>, The Associated Press, December 2, 2010.



[9] Jewish Telegraphic Agency, <>, February 6, 2011.



[10] Andrea Rodrígues, <>, The Associated Press, December 2, 2010.



[11] Jeffrey Goldberg, <> The Atlantic, December 7, 2010. http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2010/09/castro-no-one-has-been-slandered-more-than-tthe-jews/62566/ (site consulted on February 18, 2011).



[12] The Associated Press, <>; Juan O. Tamayo, <>, El Nuevo Herald, December 6, 2010.



[13] Comunidad Hebrea de Cuba, <>. http://www.chcuba.org/espanol/ayuda/quienes.htm (site consulted on February 18, 2011).



[14] Arturo López-Levy, <>, August 2010. http://www.thewashintonnote.com/archives/2010/08freeing_alan_gr/ (site consulted on February 18, 2011).



[15] Wayne S. Smith, <>, Center for International Policy, March 2011. http://ciponline.org/pressroom/articles/030411_Smith_Intelligence_Brief_Gross.htm (site consulted on March 13, 2011).



[16] Paul Haven, <>, The Associated Press, February 19, 2010.



[17] Andrea Rodriguez, <>, The Associated Press, December 11, 2010.



[18] Ley de protección de la independencia nacional y la economía de Cuba (LEY N˚. 88), Artículo 11.



[19] U.S. Code, Title 22, Chapter 11, Subchapter II, § 611, iii <>, § 618, a, 1 <>.



[20] Code Penal, Partie legislative, Livre, Titre Ier, Chapitre I, Section 3, Article 411-8.



[21] William Booth, <>, The Associated Press, February 4, 2011.



[22] Paul Haven <>, The Associated Press, February 4, 2011.



[23] Ginger Thompson, <>, The New York Times, October 24, 2010.



[24] Cuban Democracy Act, Titulo XVII, Artículo 1705, 1992.



[25] Along the Malecon, <>, October 25, 2010. http://alongthemalecon.blogspot.com/2010/10/exclusive-q-with-usaid.html (site consulted on October 26, 2010); Tracey Eaton, <>, El Nuevo Herald, December 3, 2010.



[26] Ibid.



[27] Ibid.



[28] Jessica Gresko, <>, The Associated Press, October 26, 2010.



[29] Anthony Boadle, <>, op. cit. ; Jeff Frank, <>, Reuters, October 24, 2010.



[30]Anthony Boadle, <>, op. cit EFE, <>, February 8, 2011.



[31] Agence France Presse, <> November 8, 2011.

Amnesty International brands the Cuban Five trial as UNFAIR

Unfair trials

In June, a new appeal was filed in the case of Gerardo Hernández, one of five men convicted in 2001 of acting as intelligence agents for Cuba and related charges. The appeal was based, in part, on evidence that the US government had secretly paid journalists to write prejudicial articles in the media at the time of trial, thereby undermining the defendants’ due process rights. In October, Amnesty International sent a report to the Attorney General outlining the organization’s concerns in the case.

Source: http://www.amnesty.org/en/region/usa/report-2011#section-155-9

Why I Don't Trust the Barack Obama Administration: U.S. Gov´t Asks to Reject Cuban 5 Appeals

Havana, Dec 12 (Prensa Latina) The U.S. government asked Florida''s South District Court to reject collateral appeals from Ramon Labañino and Fernando Gonzalez, two of the five Cuban antiterrorist fighters unjustly held in that northern country since 1998.

The petition, made on December 6, states that the arguments made by both men lack legal merits to be considered by the court.

The government said the argument on the government's payment to Miami journalists before and during the trial against the Five to create an atmosphere of hostility against them and prejudice the jury presented in both appeals does not constitute a violation of due process.

The government´s motion responds to the appeals presented by defense attorneys of Ramon Labañino and Fernando Gonzalez on August 8 and September 12, 2011, respectively, states the note.

Labañino and Gonzalez, along with Antonio Guerrero, Rene Gonzalez and Gerardo Hernandez, are currently serving harsh sentences for informing on the plans of violent actions against Cuba conceived by terrorist groups based in U.S. territory.

Rene Gonzalez was released from prison on October 7 and a Miami judge decision has forced him to serve three years of "supervised release" in the United States after completing his sentence.

Such situation puts his life at risk and is an additional punishment for him and his relatives.

According to the judge, Rene Gonzalez should respect the special condition of not approaching places attended by well-known terrorists.

Modificado el (lunes, 12 de diciembre de 2011)

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JG: His campaign of HATE against Cuba has continued. He is no different than George W. Bush

U.S. churches will continue to press for Cuba-U.S. normalization, Kinnamon says

U.S. National Council of Churches News

After 53-year embargo, NCC churches ‘live in hope’ of reconciliation

by Jerry L. Van Marter

Presbyterian News Service

HAVANA, Cuba ― The National Council of Churches in the U.S.A. (NCC) will continue to press for normalization of relations between the U.S. and Cuba, an end to the 53-year-old U.S. embargo of Cuba and release of the “Cuban Five” held in U.S. prisons, NCC General Secretary Michael Kinnamon told a packed press conference here Dec. 2.

Kinnamon, speaking at the conclusion of a week-long visit by 15 U.S. religious leaders, told the crowd of Cuban and international journalists “we come not as politicians or diplomats but as religious leaders. Our first responsibility is to pray for the leaders of both countries and we will … but our churches represent 50 million Christians, so we believe we have some influence and we’ll use it.”

Everyone the delegation spoke with ― from Cuban President Raul Castro to the head of the U.S. government’s Cuban Interest Section here, John Caulfield ― expressed the desire to end the embargo. “The question,” Kinnamon said, “is how to get there.”

Castro, Kinnamon said, “insisted that everything is on the table. All the Cubans require, he told me, is that talks be held in an atmosphere of mutual respect.”

Kinnamon said he and Castro discussed “small steps” that can be taken: cooperation on drug and human trafficking in the Caribbean, coordinated air traffic control (communication about the 50 weekly flights currently operating between the U.S. and Cuba is done by telephone, not electronic tracking), weather monitoring and improved telecommunications.

The chances of even small steps to improve Cuba-U.S. relations “are complicated in an election year,” Kinnamon conceded, “but I am a person of faith so I always live in hope,” adding that “since 1968 the position of the NCC (on normalization) has been strong and consistent, taken out of our faith position of reconciliation.”

The NCC will continue to press for a review of the sentences ― anywhere from 20 years to life ― levied against the Cuban Five, who were convicted of espionage in the U.S. even though they were monitoring the activities of Cuban expatriate counterrevolutionaries plotting against the Cuban government.

Numerous international human rights organizations have branded the sentences ― four of the five have been imprisoned for 13 years; the fifth, Rene Gonzalez, was “freed” this fall to stringent “supervised release” and is not allowed to leave Florida ― unjust. Kinnamon said “they should not have been tried.”

Of more immediate concern to the churches, Kinnamon said, is the ability of family members to visit the imprisoned Cubans, at least two of whom are U.S. citizens. Two of the wives and all of the men’s children have never been allowed to visit them in prison. “We ache with them for this situation that weighs so heavily,” he said.

Kinnamon said he also raised with Castro the situation of American Alan Gross, who has been held in a Cuban prison for more than a year for allegedly smuggling illegal telecommunications equipment onto the island. “[Members of the NCC delegation] met with Alan Gross and talked about his sense of being unjustly accused and about his concern for his family, several members of which are seriously ill, including his daughter with cancer,” Kinnamon said.

“I raised the Alan Gross case with President Castro,” Kinnamon said. “I am not here to pass judgment but I care about him as a person ― the humanitarian issue.”

Kinnamon said that while political and human rights discussions occupied some of the delegation’s time, “the primary purpose of our visit has been to be in communion and conversation with our church partners here in Cuba.” Kinnamon praised the Cuban Council of Churches, saying that “U.S. churches need the Cuban churches in order to feel whole and complete.”

In times of economic transition in Cuba and “economic tensions” in the U.S., “it is the call to the churches of both countries to offer a word of hope in response to the anxiety and fear in both countries.”

Since its founding in 1950, the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA has been the leading force for shared ecumenical witness among Christians in the United States. The NCC's 37 member communions -- from a wide spectrum of Protestant, Anglican, Orthodox, Evangelical, historic African American and Living Peace churches -- include 45 million persons in more than 100,000 local congregations in communities across the nation.

NCC News contact: Philip E. Jenks, 212-870-2228 (office), 646-853-4212 (cell), pjenks@ncccusa.org

Cuban parliament chief downplays unilateral release of American, possible swap for Cuban Five

The Washington Post

By Associated Press, Published: November 11

HAVANA — The president of Cuba’s parliament said Friday no one should expect the island to unilaterally free an imprisoned American aid contractor and threw cold water on hopes he could be swapped for five Cuban agents held for more than a decade in the U.S.

Ricardo Alarcon’s comments, similar to ones he has expressed in the past, maintained Havana’s firm line in a case that has been a thorn in already prickly relations between the Cold War rivals. He spoke in response to comments by a U.S. rabbi who recently visited prisoner Alan Gross at a Cuban military hospital and said the Maryland man hoped for such an exchange.

“They are different situations,” Alarcon told journalists at a convention on fighting corruption.

“I read the statement from Rabbi (David) Shneyer ... I think it is a very measured, respectful statement expressing a legitimate humanitarian concern that I understand.” But, he said, “I don’t think people should expect unilateral gestures.”

Gross, 62, has been behind bars for nearly two years since his arrest in early December 2009, accused of illegally bringing communications equipment into Cuba while on a USAID-funded democracy-building program. Cuba’s Communist government considers such programs tantamount to efforts at regime change.

In March, Gross was sentenced to 15 years in prison for crimes against the state. He maintains he was trying to help members of Cuba’s tiny Jewish community get online.

His imprisonment has put a damper on any likelihood of improved ties between Cuba and the United States, which do not have formal diplomatic relations and are divided by five decades of mutual suspicion and distrust.

Gross’ case was raised earlier this week when Roberta S. Jacobson, President Barack Obama’s nominee to be assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere affairs, appeared before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

“We ... continue to seek the unconditional release of American citizen Alan Gross, a dedicated development worker who has been unjustly imprisoned in Cuba for nearly two years,” Jacobson told the committee.

Family members have expressed concern for Gross’ health and urged his release on humanitarian grounds, but Alarcon’s words suggest that is unlikely to happen anytime soon.

Talk of possibly swapping Gross for one or more of the “Cuban Five” agents imprisoned in the United States has similarly gone nowhere. One of the men, Rene Gonzalez, was paroled last month but ordered to remain in the U.S. while he serves three years of probation.

On Wednesday, the U.S. State Department said officials at the U.S. Interests Section in Havana continue to have regular consular access to Gross and visited him most recently on Nov. 3.

His wife, Judy Gross, has urged Americans to contact members of Congress and write letters to newspapers pressing for her husband’s return.

___

Associated Press writer Peter Orsi contributed to this report.

In Spanish: Message of René González to the People of Cuba

«Todavía tenemos cuatro hermanos a los que tenemos que rescatar y que necesitamos que estén junto con nosotros», afirmó René

Juventud Rebelde
digital@juventudrebelde.cu
14 de Octubre del 2011 0:34:37 CDT

(Versiones Taquigráficas del Consejo de Estado)

Estas palabras son para mi pueblo, al que se las debo desde el día en que salí de la cárcel y que no han podido ser enviadas por las circunstancias que rodeaban la necesidad de que tuviéramos un viaje seguro antes de que pudiéramos dirigírselas.

Es difícil, realmente, dirigirse a un pueblo que se quiere tanto y del que uno se siente parte, a través de una cámara, pero necesitaba comunicarme con ustedes y decirles cuánta gratitud tenemos por todo lo que han hecho, explicarles que nos hemos sentido muy acompañados por los miles de mensajes, las cartas de los niños, de todos los colectivos de trabajo y de estudio que desde Cuba nos han enviado sus mensajes, el apoyo que nunca nos ha faltado y que nos ha alimentado en estos años de injusticia, que ya son demasiados.

Para mí este momento de felicidad que compartimos es, sencillamente, un paréntesis en una historia de abusos en la que todavía no se ha hecho un ápice de justicia. El hecho de que yo esté ahora fuera de la cárcel solamente significa que se agotó una avenida de abusos al que había sido sometido; pero todavía tenemos cuatro hermanos a los que tenemos que rescatar y que necesitamos que estén junto con nosotros, con sus familiares; que estén entre ustedes dándoles lo mejor de sí y no en esos lugares en que están, donde se levantan, se despiertan cada mañana, van a un comedor en el que no deben comer, andan entre gente que no deben andar, y realmente necesitamos seguir esta lucha para sacarlos a ellos adelante.

Para mí esto es solamente una trinchera, un lugar nuevo en el que voy a seguir luchando para que se haga justicia y los Cinco podamos regresar junto a ustedes.

Quiero mandar un saludo especial a los familiares de los otros cuatro hermanos, que realmente me han conmovido a través de su alegría. Realmente llega profundo cuando uno habla por teléfono con una persona que sabe que tiene a su hijo preso, a su esposo preso y recibe la libertad mía como si fuera la libertad de uno de los suyos. A mí, realmente, eso me conmueve y me compromete, y tenemos que seguir haciendo esta lucha, porque ellos no merecen estar donde están.

A todo mi pueblo, a todos los que en estos años nos han acompañado en todo el mundo, que han sido miles, a través de los cuales hemos podido poco a poco ir rompiendo este bloqueo informativo, ir rompiendo el silencio que las grandes corporaciones de la prensa han hecho sobre el caso, les extiendo, de parte de los Cinco, mi más profundo agradecimiento, mi compromiso de seguirlos representando a ustedes como se lo merecen, que en definitiva es lo que estamos haciendo los Cinco, porque no somos solamente Cinco, somos un pueblo completo que ha resistido durante 50 años, y gracias a eso es que nosotros estamos resistiendo todavía, porque nos inspiramos en ustedes, porque sabemos que los representamos y nunca les vamos a fallar y siempre estaremos a la altura que ustedes se merecen.

Un abrazo para todos.

Les queremos los Cinco desde dondequiera que estemos.

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JG: The Cuban Five are the big shame for Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack H. Obama and Yankee Imperialism.

René González sale de las mazmorras del imperialismo yankee

Silvio Rodríguez feliz por liberación de René González

Reclaman a Barack Obama la libertad completa para René González

René González, uno de los cinco antiterroristas cubanos.
Foto: Juventud Rebelde
Juventud Rebelde
digital@juventudrebelde.cu
11 de Octubre del 2011 10:05:46 CDT

Artistas estadounidenses enviaron una carta al presidente Barack Obama para exigir la completa libertad de movimiento del antiterrorista cubano René González, confirmó este martes en un comunicado el Comité Internacional por la Libertad de los Cinco Cubanos, informa PL.

La misiva forma parte de la campaña Actores y Artistas Unidos por la Libertad de los Cinco Cubanos y reclama.

Entre las personalidades que rubricaron el mensaje están Edward Asner, Jackson Browne, Peter Coyote, Héctor Elizondo, Mike Farrell, Richard Foos, Danny Glover, Elliott Gould, Greg Landau, Francisco Letelier, Esai Morales, Michael O Keefe, Bonnie Raitt, Susan Sarandon, Pete Seeger, Andy Spahn y Haskell Wexler.

René González, arrestado en 1998 y sentenciado en 2001 a 15 años bajo cargos de conspiración, salió en libertad el pasado 7 de octubre después de cumplir su sentencia, pero una jueza de Florida le negó permiso para viajar y reunirse con su familia en Cuba.

No solo la orden para que cumpla tres años adicionales bajo libertad supervisada en Estados Unidos es extraordinariamente punitiva, sino que además constituye un insulto gratuito que agrava aún más las ya deterioradas relaciones entre ambos países, recalca la carta.

La decisión suma un mayor dolor a la familia de este hombre pues tendría que prolongarse la separación por tres años más, agrega la nota, citada por el Comité Internacional y fechada en Oakland, California.

Durante los 13 años que René González permaneció en una prisión federal norteamericana, el gobierno de Washington le negó a su esposa Olga Salanueva visas de entrada para visitarlo, recordó la asociación de solidaridad con el pueblo cubano.

La misiva a Obama advierte que si González permanece en Estados Unidos su vida corre peligro ante la agresividad de organizaciones violentas anticubanas asentadas sobre todo en Miami.

Los actores y artistas le preguntan al Presidente: ¿Cómo se garantizará la integridad física de González en medio de un ambiente que genera inseguridad?

El presidente Obama recientemente declaró que está abierto a nuevas relaciones con Cuba. Pues tiene la oportunidad para ello si le permite a González reunirse con su esposa, hijas y padres en Cuba. Sería el tipo de gesto que podría preparar esa nueva relación, afirman los firmantes.

El actor Mike Farrell apuntó: Yo rezo para que el presidente Obama entienda la injusticia cometida contra René González y otros de los Cinco Cubanos en nombre de juegos políticos. González ha cumplido su injusta sentencia y ahora se le debería permitir reunirse con su familia, dijo.

La vida del antiterrorista cubano René González corre grave riesgo si autoridades federales persisten en la decisión de que deberá cumplir un castigo de libertad supervisada en Estados Unidos, alertó también el director de la Revista Areito, Andrés Gómez.

El 16 de septiembre la jueza Joan Lenard, del Tribunal Federal de Distrito del Sur de la Florida, sancionó que González tenía que permanecer tres años adicionales sin salir de este país una vez terminada una condena de 13 años.

Abogados habían solicitado al tribunal que esos tres años González por razones humanitarias pudiera regresar a Cuba para reintegrarse a su familia. El patriota cubano forma parte del grupo conocido internacionalmente como Los Cinco Héroes, junto a Gerardo Hernández, Ramón Labañino, Antonio Guerrero, y Fernando González.

Los Cinco, como identifica la solidaridad internacional a esos luchadores contra el terrorismo, fueron arrestados el 12 de septiembre de 1998 en la ciudad de Miami. Un proceso irregular y viciado celebrado allí los condenó en 2001 a penas que van desde la doble cadena perpetua hasta 15 años.

AP Interview: Cuba won't unilaterally free Allan Gross

Associated Press

By OLGA R. RODRIGUEZ , 10.10.11, 08:21 AM EDT

MEXICO CITY -- The United States should not expect Cuba to make a unilateral humanitarian gesture to release an imprisoned American government contractor, a senior Cuban official said Sunday.

Cuban Parliament President Ricardo Alarcon told The Associated Press in an interview that to expect such a gesture on behalf of Alan Gross "would not be reasonable."

Gross was sentenced to 15 years in prison in March for crimes against the Cuban state. He was arrested in December 2009 after getting caught illegally bringing communications equipment onto the island while on a USAID-funded democracy building program.

Cuba's Supreme Court upheld Gross' sentence in August, and U.S. efforts turned to winning his release on humanitarian grounds. Both his elderly mother and adult daughter are battling cancer and his family has suffered financial hardship since his arrest, says his wife, Judy Gross.

During a visit to Mexico, Alarcon said the U.S. government "should get a good armchair and sit down to wait" if it is hoping for a humanitarian release.

"To expect a unilateral gesture wouldn't be reasonable," Alarcon said.

He also had harsh words for former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, who visited Cuba in early September to negotiate Gross' release. Cuban officials rebuffed his efforts, and Richardson went home without seeing Gross.

Alarcon said Richardson went to Cuba on a private trip and not as part of a U.S. mission. Richardson's trip "was like doing amateur diplomacy, and that doesn't exist, that's Bill's invention," Alarcon said.

Richardson has said he was invited to the island by Cuban officials to negotiate Gross' release.

Alarcon said Richardson suggested the U.S. and Cuba conduct a swap between Gross and Rene Gonzalez, one of five Cuban nationals convicted in 2001 as part of the "Wasp Network" that sought to spy on U.S. military installations in South Florida. Gonzalez has dual U.S.-Cuban citizenship.

Gonzalez was released Friday after 13 years in prison but a judge has ordered him to serve three years probation in the U.S. before returning to Cuba.

Cuban officials say the five attempted to prevent terrorist attacks on the island by monitoring Cuban exiles and tried to place operatives inside the campaigns of anti-Castro politicians. They were convicted of espionage and of trying to infiltrate U.S. military bases.

"Richardson has entangled everything because I can't believe someone would seriously think that there could be a negotiation between Rene Gonzalez ... a man who was about to complete his sentence ... and a man who is just about to start serving his," Alarcon said.

He said Gonzalez's life is at risk if he remains in South Florida, especially after U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, a Republican from Florida, said Gonzalez "has American blood on his hands."

"Not only is his life at risk ... but someone could be interested in provoking an incident with him to have the judge send him back to prison," Alarcon said.

Alarcon said sending Gonzalez back to Cuba would be in the best interests of both the United States and Cuba, and he also urged the Obama administration free the four other members of the ring still in prison.

Caroline Heck-Miller

Fiscal que secuestra a René en Miami es viuda de exoficial de Inteligencia militar, que dio nombre a la operación CIA Peter Pan

JEAN-GUY ALLARD

Caroline Heck-Miller, la fiscal que niega a René González el derecho de regresar a Cuba y que rehusó perseguir a Luis Posada Carriles por terrorismo, es viuda de Gene Miller, un exoficial de Inteligencia militar en la guerra de Corea, anticomunista visceral, que el Miami Herald luego reclutó y quien le puso el nombre de Peter Pan a la operación CIA de rapto de niños cubanos.

Read the Complete Story

Para que se conozca la verdad de René González Sehwerert y se haga justicia

21 de septiembre de 2011

En la sentencia que le impusieron a René incluyeron este requisito inaudito: “Como una condición especial adicional de la libertad supervisada se le prohíbe al acusado acercarse a/o visitar lugares específicos donde se sabe que están o frecuentan individuos o grupos terroristas”.

En una reciente entrevista a Ricardo Alarcón de Quesada, presidente de la Asamblea Nacional del Poder Popular, a Trabajadores, en ocasión de cumplirse 13 años del injusto encierro de los Cinco antiterroristas cubanos en cárceles de Estados Unidos, el periodista Rafael Hojas Martínez, le preguntó sobre la libertad supervisada que pretenden cumpla René González Sehwerert en el sur de la Florida y el enorme peligro que eso significa para su vida. Granma reproduce ese fragmento.

Ha trascendido que René González será liberado el próximo 7 de octubre si se aplica el beneficio por buena conducta y a partir de ese momento comenzaría el periodo de libertad supervisada. ¿Quién "supervisará" a los terroristas de Miami para que René no sea víctima de una acción criminal y pueda regresar sano y salvo a su patria? René corre un enorme peligro.

"Debo aclarar que René no deberá salir de la prisión el 7 de octubre por buena conducta o porque reciba algún beneficio. Esa es exactamente la fecha establecida en la injusta sentencia que le fue impuesta. Su abogado defensor ha solicitado a la jueza Lenard que le permita regresar a Cuba inmediatamente donde está su familia. Obligarlo a permanecer allá tres años más es prolongar un castigo inmerecido y por supuesto sería una situación muy riesgosa para él.

"La salida de René de la prisión coloca a la administración Obama en una situación, por decir lo menos, incómoda y lo mejor para los actuales gobernantes norteamericanos sería que René vuelva lo más rápido a nuestro país. Recuerda que por insistencia del régimen de W. Bush en la sentencia que le impusieron a René incluyeron este requisito inaudito: ‘Como una condición especial adicional de la libertad supervisada se le prohíbe al acusado acercarse a/o visitar lugares específicos donde se sabe que están o frecuentan individuos o grupos terroristas.’

"Esa prohibición es la prueba más escandalosa de la complicidad de aquel régimen con los peores terroristas que, por cierto, abundan en Miami. El presidente Obama tiene que decidir ahora si él también se va a ocupar de ‘proteger’ de René a los terroristas como quería W. Bush."

Washington Must Allow Rene Gonzalez to Return Home

www.cubasi.com

Written by RHC

The most humane and reasonable solution is that Washington allows Rene Gonzalez, one of the five Cuban anti-terrorist fighters in US jails, to return to Cuba after he meets his prison sentence.

The coordinator of the US National Committee to Free the Five, Gloria La Riva called on Judge Joan Lenard to hear the petition by the defense attorney of Rene, Phil Horowitz, Prensa Latina news agency reported.

Gonzalez will meet a 15-year term in the Florida-based Mariana prison on October 7, but the US justice gave him a three-year probation, which is considered a sanction that adds to the already unjust process against the five Cubans.

Horowitz filed a motion for René to be allowed to serve his three years' probation in Cuba, but the US government has opposed that motion and is currently demanding that Rene serves his probation in Florida, where he has no family.

Rene Gonzalez, along Gerardo Hernandez, Ramon Labañino, Antonio Guerrero and Fernando Gonzalez were arrested in 1998 after they monitored Florida-based ultra-right organizations that have undertaken terrorist actions against Cuba. In 2001, these men, known as the Cuban Five were given extremely long sentences in a biased trial in the city of Miami.

The Cuban Five Must be Unconditionally Freed

Translation by Machetera

Posted on September 13, 2011

Speech given by Ricardo Alarcón at the central event held at the Astral theatre in Havana during a day of solidarity for the Cuban Five, September 12, 2011.

I will be brief in order for the artists present to raise their voices in solidarity with Gerardo, Ramón, Antonio, Fernando and René.

Today marks the completion of thirteen years of an injustice that has gone on far too long for the Cuban Five. They have received the worst sentences and most cruel treatment, which among other things, has impeded their families from visiting them, and reached inhumane extremes with the prohibition against Adriana and Olga reuniting with Gerardo and René. They have also been punished by the total silence imposed by a media tyranny which aims to extinguish the solidarity that they deserve and hide the larger truth: the Cuban Five are in prison for opposing the terrorists who are enemies of Cuba and its people.

On a day just like today, Washington had them arrested and tried in a fraudulent and extremely arbitrary proceeding, for one reason alone: to protect and support the anti-Cuban terrorism that was created by the United States half a century ago and which has always relied on its active support or complicit tolerance.

Very soon, the current rulers will have to deal with the dilemma of whether or not to continue the immoral cynicism of their predecessors. On October 7th, René González Sehwerert will leave prison after having completed the very last minute of his unjust incarceration.

For René, this would open up a three year period of so called “supervised release” which constitutes a certain risk for him and an unjust additional punishment for him and his family. But it also signifies a challenge for the Obama administration, which one would hope it will face with wisdom and common sense. From that day forward, we will see one of the most revealing, and for that reason, one of the most silenced aspects of the sordid process to which our companions have been submitted.

I’ve said before that the case of the Cuban Five is irrefutable proof of Washington’s complicity with the terrorists. Believe me, I wasn’t exaggerating. It is proven in the trial record and other documents from the Miami trial. The prosecution urged that the harshest and most exaggerated sentences be imposed, but furthermore, it insisted that for Washington there was something just as important as a maximum prison sentence. This something, that they called “incapacitation,” consisted of taking measures so that after concluding their prison terms, none of the accused could ever be able to try do to anything to stop the terrorists or their plans.

In the sentence pronounced against René, this demand was expressed in these words: “As a special additional condition of supervised release, the accused is prohibited from associating with or visiting specific places where individuals or groups such as terrorists, members of organizations advocating violence, and organized crime figures are known to be or frequent.”

This was proclaimed by a U.S. federal court in December of 2001, scarcely three months after the abominable terrorist act of September 11th, and it was made at the formal and express request of the farceurs who unleashed a so-called “war on terrorism,” based on illegality and lies, that has caused the death and suffering of countless innocent people all over the world.

While it launched this effort – as cruel as it was hypocritical – the Bush regime recognized that in South Florida there are individuals and terrorist groups, whose location and activities are known. But instead of capturing them and putting them on trial, as was its duty, the regime shamelessly protected them and demanded that neither René nor anyone else bother them.

What will the current government do? Asking that it cancel this sanction against René and dare to send its agents to arrest the known terrorists in the places where they are “known to be or frequent” might be too much. The possibility remains, however, to avoid the problem by letting René return to Cuba now, to his home and his family. If René is forced to remain in the United States one single day after October 7th, President Obama will have to choose which side he is on in the struggle against terrorism.

Washington ought to answer for other things. The gross manipulation of the government’s supposed “proof” against Gerardo in order to accuse him of murder and later find itself obliged to acknowledge on May 30, 2001, that it was impossible to prove the accusation and ask for it to be withdrawn in what was called “an unprecedented action.”

The full dimension of the government’s conspiracy with the local media in Miami and with its fake “journalists” which it financed with federal money so they could lie and create an atmosphere of hatred against the Cuban Five, to convict them beforehand. The satellite imagery that it has hidden for fifteen years because it shows that the incident of February 24, 1996 took place over Cuban territory and therefore Washington had no jurisdiction or legal basis whatsoever to accuse anyone of anything. Its refusal to admit Gerardo’s Habeas Corpus petition or to grant him a hearing in which he might speak and where the government would have to openly discuss its false allegations. What is Washington afraid of?

The official U.S. attitude is essentially one of coverup. If the citizens of that country know little or nothing about the subject, they will not ask essential questions. When they understand the truth, they will be able to persuade President Obama to do what he must: free the Cuban Five, each and every one, unconditionally.

Breaking this wall of silence therefore, is of the utmost importance. We will attempt to do so by every means possible. Let song, poetry and love puncture that wall.

Machetera is a member of Tlaxcala, the international network of translators for linguistic diversity. This translation may be reprinted as long as the content remains unaltered, and the source, author, and translator are cited.

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JG: The kangaroo trial in Miami against the the five Cuban heroes is a deep shame for the United States. Cuba has a right to defend itself against US-sponsored terrorists.

Many thanks for Machetera for making it possible for all north-americans to read about something that the imperialist controlled press rarely talks or reports.

Washington and Obama continue repeating their lies

If you believe that Alan P. Gross was only a "contractor" you are an extremely gullible person.

The imperialists would like to recover the very valuable "real estate" which they lost when, on Jan 1st, 1959, Fulgencio Batista, put his tail between his legs and hightailed it to a nation governed by another imperialist favorite son, Rafael Leonidas Trujillo.

For 52 years the imperialist have thrown everything but the kitchen sink at the Republic of Cuba, including assassination attempts. This comes from a country and government that tells the world that "we are a nation of laws." Another huge lie!

AFP reports today that:

Alan Gross, 62, an independent contractor employed by the State Department, was arrested in December 2009 and sentenced in March to 15 years in prison for violating "the independence or territorial integrity" of Cuba.

Washington rejects the espionage charges and says Gross was bringing satellite phones and other equipment to Cuba's Jewish community while working for the US Agency for International Development's democracy-building program.

Cuba claims that the United States continues to imprison five Cuban anti-terrorist agents who were convicted of espionage in 2001. Havana considers the "Cuban Five" political prisoners and says their aim was not to spy on the US government but to gather information on "terrorist" plots by Cuban expatriates in Florida, a bastion of anti-Castro fervor.

What Washington, Bush and Obama can not stand, or understand, is that Cuba has a government dedicated to defending its national interests and sovereignty.

The Cuban people and government are not stupid. When Bush and Obama say that they want to bring democracy to Cuba, what they really mean is that they would like to return dog-eat-dog capitalism to the island.

Want to free Gross? Release the Cuban Five!