"Cuba upholds US man’s jail sentence" by Associated Press / August 6, 2011
HAVANA - Cuba’s highest court upheld a US government subcontractor’s 15-year prison sentence for crimes against the state yesterday, ending the legal side of a case that has chilled already-icy relations between Washington and Havana.
The ruling means Alan Gross, 62, a Maryland native who has been behind bars for more than a year and a half, has no further judicial recourse to appeal his sentence. It leaves him, his family, and US officials hoping instead for a release on humanitarian grounds.
Gross, who has been behind bars since his arrest in December 2009, was found guilty in March of bringing satellite and other communication equipment into the country illegally. He has acknowledged he was working on a USAID-funded democracy program but said he meant no harm to the government and was trying to help the island’s tiny Jewish community....
AID = CIA
Prominent Jewish leaders in Havana have denied working with Gross....
CIA
The Gross case has been a stumbling block to any warmer relations between the Cold War rivals.
And who benefits?
US officials say ties cannot improve while he remains in prison. A spokeswoman at the US Interest Section in Havana said diplomats were still considering the ruling and were not ready to comment.
It's like an excuse.
Gross’s arrest also caused soul-searching in Washington over the democracy programs, which are passionately supported by several Cuban-American politicians.
And the reaction that, gee whiz, another AmeriKan spy was nabbed.
--more--"
Related: Globe's Cuba Coverage is Gross
Can you really argue with the perception anymore?
UPDATE: Wife sees American jailed in Cuba, fears he’ll die
Also see:
Cuba considers economic changes
US releases more Bay of Pigs papers
Imho, those stories tell you nothing or nothing we did not already know. It's all filler.
Update: Odor prompts United jet to land in Cuba
Yeah, the stories literally stink.
