Cuba: Alan Gross Has Received Perks

Cuba: Alan Gross Has Received Perks
By JTA
Published June 03, 2012.

The daughter of Cuban head of state Raul Castro said that jailed
American Alan Gross "has been granted everything that he's asked for."

In an interview on CNN to be aired Monday, June 4, Mariela Castro told
host Christiane Amanpour: "Alan Gross has been granted everything that
he's asked for: he has been able to see his wife, he has been able to
have matrimonial, conjugal visits, and he has been treated with respect
and dignity the way we always treat prisoners in Cuba. We haven't
received the same treatment on the other hand for our five prisoners who
have very long sentences that are not right. I think that the six must
be released—both the five Cubans and Alan Gross."

Castro is referring to what are known as The Cuban Five, a group of
intelligence officers being held in the U.S. for espionage. She said her
husband's request was similar to that of Rene Gonzalez, whose brother is
dying of cancer in Cuba.

Gross was arrested in 2009 and sentenced last year to 15 years on
charges related to his distribution of communications equipment to the
island's small Jewish community, working as a contractor for the U.S.
Agency on International Development.

He has appealed for humanitarian leave of two weeks to visit his
90-year-old mother, who has inoperable lung cancer. A U.S. judge allowed
Gonzalez, on parole after serving time for espionage, to return to Cuba
for two weeks to visit his dying brother.

Gross' daughter also has undergone cancer treatment since his arrest.

Castro told Amanpour that the release of both the Cuban Five and Gross
would be the "happiest solution."

A number of analysts have said that the Cuban government is detaining
Gross in order to trade him for the Cuban Five.

http://forward.com/articles/157224/cuba-alan-gross-has-received-perks/