In response to decision to temporarily release a Cuban spy, Rene
Gonzalez, wife of Alan Gross says she hopes for reciprocal act of goodwill.
By Rachel Hirshfeld
First Publish: 3/21/2012, 11:43 AM
A Miami judge issued a decision, on Tuesday, temporarily releasing
convicted Cuban spy, Rene Gonzalez, allowing him the opportunity to
visit his ailing brother who suffers from lung cancer.
The ruling "offered a rare moment of relaxation in tension between the
two countries," noted the Associated Press.
It also raised hopes that Cuba might reciprocate with a humanitarian
gesture in favor of Alan Gross, the American international development
worker who has been imprisoned in Cuba for his efforts to help the Cuban
Jewish community improve its access to the Internet.
Gonzalez, one of the so-called Cuban Five agents who were convicted of
spying on Cuban exiles in South Florida and trying to infiltrate
military installations and political campaigns, was freed last year
after serving most of a 15-year sentence, but was ordered to remain in
the U.S. for three years on supervised release, noted the AP.
The wife of Alan Gross, welcomed the decision saying that she hopes that
the Cuban government will grant her husband a similar request. Gross
issued a request to be allowed to return to the United States to visit
his mother and adult daughter, both of whom are battling cancer. His
supporters are anticipating the upcoming visit of Pope Benedict XVI to
Cuba as an opportunity for a gesture of goodwill on Gross' behalf.
"I empathize with Rene Gonzalez's need to visit a dying family member
and am pleased that he has been granted permission for a temporary
visit," Judy Gross said in a news release Tuesday. "I now hope that
President [Raul] Castro will grant Alan's request to visit his ailing
mother Evelyn, who is suffering from inoperable lung cancer. Evelyn's
final wish is to see her son one last time."
In a letter to Cuban President Raul Castro, Gross' counsel Peter Kahn
said that the condition of Gross' mother had worsened and that she
wished to see her son one last time.
"We are reaching out to you directly, with the knowledge that you have
the power to grant such humanitarian requests, as you have done in the
past, and with the hope that you will extend a humanitarian gesture not
only towards Alan, but to his ailing mother," Kahn wrote in a letter
obtained by Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/153995#.T2zLtdmTWuM
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