Family of aid worker wants US government to bring him back home

Americas Now

United States citizen Alan Gross has been imprisoned in Cuba since being arrested in 2009, and is serving a 15 year sentence for “acts against the independence or the territorial integrity of the state.” A government subcontractor for the U.S. Agency for International Development (US-AID), Gross was working to provide internet/intranet access to Cuban citizens in Jewish communities.

The $6 million project, known as the Cuba Democracy Program, was accused of aiming to overthrow the communist government. The internet access Gross was trying to provide would have been out of the government’s control. Washington has responded to the arrest, saying U.S-Cuban relations would not improve until Gross is released. Meanwhile, Cuba demands the release of three of the remaining “Cuban Five” intelligence agents that are jailed in America. Fernando Gonzalez, one of the freed five, believes that unless the other agents are released, it is unlikely Gross will be released as well.

Alan’s wife, Judy Gross, has been critical of the U.S. government for not doing more to bring Alan home. She says his health is deteriorating, he has lost weight, can no longer exercise, and has lost partial vision in his right eye. His resolve is also diminishing. “Life in prison is not worth living,” he recently said from behind bars.

CCTV America’s Cuban correspondent Michael Voss has been following this story since it broke in 2009. He recently sat down with Judy Gross in an exclusive, expressive interview to discuss her husband’s incarceration.

Family of aid worker wants US Government to bring him back home

United States citizen Alan Gross has been imprisoned in Cuba since being arrested in 2009. He is currently serving a 15 year sentence for “acts against the independence or the territorial integrity of the state.” A government subcontractor for the U.S. Agency for International Development (US-AID), the government’s international development agency, Gross was working to provide internet/intranet access to Cuban citizens in Jewish communities.