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Subscribe to RSSAmerican contractor Alan Gross has been imprisoned for three years in Cuba for smuggling satellite equipment to the country's Jewish community. NBC's Michael Isikoff reports.
HAVANA, Cuba — Three years after he was arrested in Havana, jailed American contractor Alan Gross is asking the U.S. government to sign a "non-belligerency pact" with Cuba as a first step toward negotiating his release, according to a Cuba policy analyst who just visited him.
Peter Kornbluh , right, stands with Alan Gross, in a picture taken on Kornbluh's iPhone by a guard during his visit to the Havana prison where Gross is being held.
Peter Kornbluh, a Cuba specialist at the National Security Archives, a nonprofit research center in Washington, met with Gross for four hours on Wednesday at the military hospital in Havana where the contractor is being held. He said Gross appeared "extremely thin" — he has lost over 100 pounds since his arrest —and dispirited.
"He’s angry, he’s frustrated, he’s dejected — and he wants his own government to step up" and negotiate, said Kornbluh. "His message is that the United States and Cuba have to sit down and have a dialogue without preconditions. … He told me that the first meeting should result in a non-belligerency pact being signed between the United States and Cuba."
Gross' comments appear to represent a new tack in an aggressive public relations campaign to win his freedom. His supporters have planned a candlelight vigil outside the Cuban interests section in Washington D.C., on Sunday and the U.S. Senate is poised to take up a resolution Monday demanding his release, Gross’ wife, Judy, has also become increasingly critical of the U.S. government for not doing more to demand that her 63-year-old husband be allowed to return home.
Jose Luis Magana / AP
Judy Gross at her home in Washington, D.C. on Nov. 29.
"He feels like a soldier in the field left to die," she said at a press conference in Washington last week.
Gross, who worked for an Agency for International Development contractor, was arrested by the Cubans on Dec. 3, 2009, and accused of smuggling sophisticated satellite and other telecommunications equipment into the country to give to the island’s tiny Jewish community. Gross has said he was only trying to increase Internet access in Cuba. But he was convicted by a Cuban court in March of last year for crimes "against the independence and territorial integrity of the state" and sentenced to 15 years.
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Last month, Gross and his wife filed a $60 million lawsuit against the U.S. government and the contractor he was working for, Development Alternatives, charging he was used as a "pawn" in a U.S. government program to change the Castro regime and never advised about the dangers he faced bringing high tech satellite transmission equipment into Cuba. (The State Department, of which AID is a part and which has repeatedly called for Gross’ release, declined comment. Development Alternatives has released a statement saying it has "no higher priority" than bringing Gross home.)
Kornbluh, who has advocated closer U.S.-Cuba dialogue, was in Havana last week to attend a conference marking the 50th anniversary of the Cuban missile crisis. He was granted permission to visit Gross by Cuban officials. (The Cubans so far have denied all news media requests to meet with him.) He said Gross was most upset about being unable to return home to see members of his family who are ill, especially his 90-year-old mother in Texas who has cancer.
Keystone / Getty Images
Ever since U.S.-backed Cuban President Fulgencio Batista was forced from power by rebels led by Fidel Castro in 1958, the relationship between the two nations has been fraught with difficulties.
"He really wants to see his mother, who is quite old and infirm,” said Kornbluh. When Kornbluh had his photo taken with Gross, the contractor held up a photo that read: “Hi Mom.” When he asked Gross what he wanted to get out of the lawsuit, the contractor replied: “I want to see my wife and I want to see my mother."
To accomplish that, Gross is seeking to nudge the Obama administration, according to Kornbluh. Gross knows that his freedom "is going to depend on his government negotiating in good faith with the Cubans," said Kornbluh. "His message to Barack Obama is: I’m fired up and ready to go. Where are you at this moment?"
Michael Isikoff is NBC News' national investigative correspondent; NBC News producer Mary Murray also contributed to this report.
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I say let them keep him, people seem to go into these sh*t hole countrys and get themselves fubard and then expect the U.S govt. to pay ransoms or trade for their freedom. I say let the cubans feed and take care of him he's not worth trading 5 terrorist douche bags for.
I don't know where this guy's been for the last fifty years. But by the way, YOU'RE NOT SUPPOSED TO GO TO CUBA FOR ANY REASON! Now we're supposed to bow to them so he can get his sorry ass out of jail? There should be no negotiations or relations with Communist regimes.
If he is waiting for Obumer to get his release it will be about two days after Hell freezes over. What a sorry ass joke we have for a President.
Oh my god..he's an American civilian..we have to protect him.
But then again I'm also an American civilian his age or older... and I don't visit other countries to install interrnet dishes!
Serve your 12 more years as a proud American and stop complaining.
Give them a box of twinkies... maybe THEY will change their stance and admit the spies the government sent... Really!! let's give in to them because someone smuggled illegal electronics... IGNORANCE is not an excuse in my book... He made his bed, communists ACTUALLY mean business!!! Sleep in it.... Call honey boo-boo!!!
I agree..but time is running out with the Twinkies!
Maker (Hostess) is closing down.
I completely sympathize with this guy. I'm currently stranded in southern Asia, because I went to an interview which the Unemployment Department said I had to attend (the job was in Malaysia). Upon arrival, I was cutoff from my UI benefits; they scheduled a "reassessment interview" while I was in the air. Not knowing about it and being 30,000 feet in the air, naturally I did not attend.
I've been to several U.S. Embassies in several different Asian countries. They will do NOTHING for Americans. We pay taxes so our government will help everyone -- but us.
Everyone should know one thing before you leave the States: The U.S. government and its embassies will abandon you.
LMAO..So you were cutoff from your UI benefits..aka..its only applies to where you work state wise! Not WORLD WISE!
@Jason Spelts,
Dude you are an Idiot, with a capitalized I. How could anyone have sympathy for something that you did? Or better yet, something you should have prepared for? Just asking.
When in Rome... Unless you are emotionally and mentally prepared to go to jail.
I'm sorry for this man and his family. He knew, however, what he was doing when he brought that equipment into Cuba.
.
I still can't understand why someone would leave a perfectly good country to go commit a crime in another. Aren't our jails good enough for you here?
Same goes for you guys who like to hike in Iran. Try the Rocky Mountains. Veddy nice.
Politics aside, which yes is the prevailing issue, i am coming from a more compassionate place. Okay he did wrong? That is not entirely clear. Whether right or wrong for him to be in limbo this whole time is kind of brutal. I would hope that our all powerful United States of America would step up and at the very least address the situation and enter into a discussion. That is all...so at least he knows what future he is dealing with justified, or unjustified. That is for others to decide unfortunately.
@ Rhonda 1964186, Obviously, you don't understand that politics aren't aside. That has nothing to do with any compassion. He did do wrong, which is entirely clear (do you not have any comprehension?). He is being held by another country, which (let me make this very clear, for idiots like you, Rhonda) doesn't care about US or any rights or laws contained within our Constitution. So what do you want the US to do, bomb Cuba, on account of this one man's actions? Why should the US even entertain anything about what this guy did, especially since that would cost the taxpayer for his crimes? Please, enlighten us all.
Obviously the communists are oppressing Jews again. Where is the outrage over that? The totalitarian regime there should be tossed out.
Give them Cubans what they want, for Fidel's head on a platter.
He's old now..why waste time on him..its life..spy vs spy... BS!
This stupidazz should have stayed in his own country...You would not catch me anywhere near that sh1thole!
We tried to trade him for Obama but they wouldn't bite!...LOL!
Pretty arrogant isn't he? He smuggled into Cuba and got caught. Now he wants to dictate US foreign policy. He should have thought about his mom before he did it. I think he will be there for quite a while.
If this dude is asking me, a loyal US citizen, for sympathy, he isn't getting it. I mean, he doesn't understand. He got himself into his own mess. Own up, not step up.
Really..if the guy ate a few more coconuts and snails in CUBA..he could pass off for Santa at this time of the year!
I can't help but think our government knows some stuff about this guy to let him cool his heels in Cuba. He was breaking the law, something that he's not a stranger too, so why the hell should we worry about him. And I agree with another writer...let his lovely wife join him in Cuba.
Tis the season to be jolly..thats why they do it now..are we FOOLS????
The USA doesn't buckle to blackmail. Even Obama wouldn't do that.
Here's a thought - why doesn't this ADULT take the responsibility for his own actions?? If you travel to a foreign country, especially a COMMUNIST foreign country with whom we have not had any relationship whatsoever, for decades, I'd say you are taking your chances and yes, bad things can happen. I really love this new mindset in America where, personal accountability and responsibility are quaint, antiquated habits. Would you deliberately travel into a very high crime area in America, take no precautions, flash jewelry, cash, etc., and then cry when you're mugged and demand actions from the police?? Really? I've talked with 10 year olds who have more sense than this guy...........
Using someone else's account. She knows.
Hey dude...don't mock gold jewelry flaunting in the inner cities! :)) Keep your argument to some Gloss or Gross who is either a spy, a petty criminal, a big criminal or an idiot. Don't make fun of us גבר ואישה wearing ghetto jewelry and flaunting it man. Ghetto people are at times more real than all these pretentious do-gooders who turn out to be spies or criminals, are taking money for his tribe exclusively.
Something to think about "From Office Space"
Damn it feels good to be a gangsta
Feedin' the poor and helpin out with their bills
Although I was born in Ja----
Now I'm in the US makin' deals
Damn it feels good to be a gangsta
I mean one that you don't really know
Ridin' around town in a drop-top Benz
Hittin' switches in my black six-fo'
Now gangsta-ass come in all shapes and colors
Some got killed in the past
But this gangtsa here is a smart one
Now all I gotta say to you
Wannabe, gonnabe, p----eatin' coc---si----' prankstas
When the @!$%# jumps off what the @!$%# you gonna do
Damn it feels good to be a gangsta
Don't do the crime if you can't do the time! Mr. Gross, tough chit! Mrs. Gross, you are! I guess we should let the Cuban 5 go if they complain enough.
NBCNEWS..this article isn't going to help this guy..its his own fault!!
Been in a Cuban jail for three years now..no American help..he's not a goverment employee then..go figure!
People like to make a fast buck..sometimes it fails!
This man is being manipulated by Cuba. He is a pawn. If he was a drug runner he would have little support. Nevertheless, he knowingly broke the law. The US government is under no obligation to negotiate his release. Americans who do stupid things overseas should not expect US government support. I have little sympathy for him or his relatives.
Jimmy Carter was in Cuba in March 2011 along with other people and part of the visit was about Alan Gross. I thought Mr Gross would have been released by now.
Why???..he broke a law of that country..if he was a Cuban and broke the law in the USA he stays in prison!
If he was military, people in the US would be in an uproar.
If he was military, he would have been serving his country in an official capacity. Quite a different scenario than what Mr Gross got himself wrapped up in...
So you think if someone who does something illegal in this or another country, and happens to be in the military, that they should be given a free pass? I hope that's not what you meant.
Since it did not work for Jimmy Carter, let us try Bush Jr or Chaney accompanied by Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity.