By Harleen Kaur
On Wednesday December 17, 2014 Alan Gross returned to the US after five years of imprisonment in Cuba. Gross has said to have been unfairly imprisoned in a Cuban prison for the past 5 years, and when he returned home he was congratulated by President Obama for his return home and to his returned freedom. In return Gross thanked the President for allowing his release to be made possible. Although, following his return Gross received $3.2 million in a settlement to compensate for his five years in prison, but he and his wife had first sued for $60 million. Yet, a federal judge rejected the claim.
Gross formerly worked as a contractor for USAID, the agency overseeing foreign aid, was arrested in Cuba after being accused of bringing cell phones and communication equipment to the Jewish community in Cuba without the permit required under Cuban law. The US stated that Gross was aiding Cubans as a part of democracy-building program by allowing access to Internet in an area where information is limited. Gross was arrested in 2009 and found guilty in a Cuban court in 2011. During his sentence Gross lost 100 pounds, five teeth, and most of the sight in his right eye. After five years in a Cuban prison, where his wife said he became very “hopeless” especially with 10 yet remaining to his sentence, he was told he would be able to return to his home.
Gross was released in December, ending his 15-year sentence, following an agreement between the US and Cuba put forth in order to restore diplomatic ties. This agreement allowed Gross to return back to American soil, and it also allowed the release of three Cubans imprisoned in the US, supposedly members of the Cuban Five, and it allows more trade accesses to and from the US and Cuba. According to government officials, this process took many months beginning in the spring after President Obama allowed high-level contact with the Cuban government. This agreement is said to have normalized relations between the US and Cuba that have been ongoing for fifty years, ever since the Cold War, a key goal in the President’s second term. President Obama stated, “These 50 years have shown that isolation has not worked. It’s time for a new approach.”
