Want Alan Gross released? Want the remaining three of the Cuba Five released? Read this. The Cuban Five infiltrated anti-Castro groups with a long pedigree of violent actions against Cuba—acts that were planned on U.S. soil with the knowledge of the U.S. government. Most assessments agree that the Cuban agents caused no harm to U.S. national security. According to the UN panel, the political circus surrounding the trial of the Cuban Five in Miami made a fair and just trial impossible. The Cuban government has indicated that it will release Gross if the United States releases the three Cuban Five agents who remain in prison . . . Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and her successor John Kerry have both held that Gross was not a spy. They are correct only at the most technical level, since he did not seek secret information. Still, Cuba’s description of Gross as part of a subversive regime-change strategy is difficult to dispute, not the least because U.S. legislation says so openly. In the meantime, while the U.S. and Cuban governments engage in the spy-not spy discussion, Gross remains a prisoner. Gross will be released only as a result of diplomatic compromise. Gross has written to Obama on behalf of every American who might ever find himself or herself in trouble abroad and asked him to direct his administration to take meaningful, proactive steps to secure my immediate release. It’s time to do it.
Posted on: Sat, 19 Apr 2014 00:00:00 +0000