Florida

Alan Gross Released From Cuban Prison After 5 Years

An American contractor who spent five years imprisoned in Cuba after he was accused of spying for the United States was released Wednesday.

Alan Gross, 65, was released on humanitarian grounds and arrived by plane at Andrews Air Force Base early Wednesday, NBC News reported.

At a news conference Wednesday afternoon, Gross, who appeared very slim and was missing five teeth, thanked President Obama and everyone else who helped secure his freedom.

"It's good to be home," Gross said. "It was crucial to my survival knowing I was not forgotten."

Gross said he didn't blame the people of Cuba for his ordeal, and called the normalization of U.S.-Cuba relations "a game changer."

"It pains me to see them treated so unjustly as a consequence of two governments' mutually belligerent policies," Gross said. "Such belligerence inhibits better judgment, two wrongs never make a right."

Gross received a meal of popcorn, latkes and a corned beef sandwich on his plane ride from Cuba, and spoke with the president and his daughters while on board, a family spokesperson said.

Gross' release is part of an agreement with Cuba that includes the release of three Cubans jailed in the United States.

At an event in Miami Wednesday morning, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush said he was happy to hear the news.

"It's a tragedy that he had to be in prison that long for simply doing his job," Bush said. "But the fact is that he's coming home and that's great news."

"It's exciting, It's exciting that he's heading home, unfortunately Cuba's still a totalitarian state and still causing civil unrest in Venezuela, but that's great that Alan Gross is coming home," Gov. Rick Scott said.

Gross was detained in December 2009 while working to set up Internet access as a subcontractor for the U.S. government's U.S. Agency for International Development, which does work promoting democracy in the communist country. It was his fifth trip to Cuba to work with Jewish communities on setting up Internet access that bypassed local censorship.

Cuba considers USAID's programs illegal attempts by the U.S. to undermine its government, and Gross was tried and sentenced to 15 years in prison.

The three Cubans released in exchange for Gross are part of the so-called Cuban Five - a group of men who were part of the "Wasp Network" sent by Cuba's then-President Fidel Castro to spy in South Florida. The men, who are hailed as heroes in Cuba, were convicted in 2001 in Miami on charges including conspiracy and failure to register as foreign agents in the U.S.

Two of the Cuban Five were previously released after finishing their sentences.

Gross, who lived in Maryland with his wife and two daughters before his arrest, went on a hunger strike earlier this year and was emotionally deteriorating, his attorney said.

Florida Congressman Ted Deutch said Gross' family never gave up hope for his return.

"Having worked with my colleagues and all those throughout America who fought for Alan and pressed for his release, I am overjoyed that after five harrowing years held captive in Cuba, Alan Gross will be spending this holiday season at home with his wife and children and all those who love him," Deutch said in a statement Wednesday.

"Alan Gross should never have spent one day in prison and we are glad that he will finally be reunited with his family," Congressman Mario Diaz-Balart said in a statement. "However, the way that his release was achieved is outrageous and proves that once again, President Obama is the Appeaser-in-Chief who is willing to provide unprecedented concessions to a brutal dictatorship that opposes U.S. interests at every opportunity."

In a statement marking the fifth anniversary of Gross' detention earlier this month, Obama hinted that his release could lead to a thaw in relations with Cuba.

"The Cuban Government's release of Alan on humanitarian grounds would remove an impediment to more constructive relations between the United States and Cuba," Obama said in a statement.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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