Alan Gross interviewed by Wolf Blitzer on CNN

[flamingdem]

http://cnnpressroom.blogs.cnn.com/2012/05/04/jailed-u-s-citizen-alan-gross-i-would-return-to-cuba-if-they-let-me-visit-my-mother-before-she-dies/

** Note that he is kissing up, who wouldn't in his position but more important he recognizes that there is a connection between him and the Cuban 5 - Rene Gonzalez in particular who went home to the island and returned to complete parole in the USA. I'm glad that someone is saying it... it's spy vs. spy and we've traded them before, so why not now.

answer:





because the US has still not learned to respect Cuba, its historical position, culture or its laws

[jmcauliff]

1. Alan Gross and Wolf Blitzer

Alan Gross’s conversation with Wolf Blitzer is full of contradictions and worth listening to. One is struck by the relaxed tone of his remarks and that in principle he supports a prisoner exchange.

The video is at

http://situationroom.blogs.cnn.com/2012/05/04/alan-gross-i-am-a-hostage/

or

http://cnn.com/video/?/video/bestoftv/2012/05/04/tsr-alan-gross-full-intv.cnn

I would find Mr. Gross more persuasive if he also criticized the US government for its refusal to negotiate on his behalf and was more honest about what he did and its illegality, as in his own accounts reported by Associated Press.

http://www.newsday.com/news/nation/ap-impact-usaid-contractor-work-in-cuba-detailed-1.3523709

It is unlikely that a similar conversation could happen between a Havana TV station and any of the four Cubans still in prison in the US but it should be tried.

John McAuliff
Fund for Reconciliation and Development

[flamingdem]

2. It is possible he doesn't realize he has been found out

as having been paid quite handsomely by USAID. I suppose he was told not to discuss any exchanges for the Cuban five. He really did himself no favors by spouting about 5,000 political prisoners when the majority have been released. He is uninformed, his family or US supporters do not appear to help him out with accurate information.

Great point that a similar conversation would not happen between a Havana TV station and the four Cubans in prison.

The big picture also includes the fact that his current life in Cuba is probably going to save his life by improving his health!

I appreciate what he said about Raul in the sense that most Americans do not get to hear anything positive about Raul Castro.

He has a good humanitarian angle regarding his mother and her delicate health.

[Bacchus4.0]

3. yes, we should incarcerate more people so their health improves

lets require mandatory physicals and incarcerate people who fail.

anyway, there is no connection between Goss and the Cuban 5 who were actual admitted spies. Goss was giving out laptops and cell phones.

having said that if the US wants to trade the guy on parole for Goss, that would be fine. the other 4 will remain in prison. Goss also noted that the US permited spy number 1 to return to Cuba. Cuba won't let Goss leave.

[naaman fletcher]

4. yes

he was giving out laptops and cell phones, and I have no moral problem with someone who does that in an oppressive country (despite the laughable claims of how democratic Cuba is). But in the end he was an agent working for a foreign government, trying to undermine the gov't of Cuba. He is now a pawn in that game, and it is by that status that he will be treated.

[Daniel537]

5. +1

Don't go intervening in a foreign country's affairs, especially when its one your govt. has been trying to overthrow since the dinosaur age, unless you can handle the consequences. Good luck to Mr. Gross, but unless the Cuban Five are released or the embargo is completely dropped, i don't see him getting out of there anytime soon.

[jmcauliff]

6. Gross not so innocent

Look at the AP story I cited. Gross was bringing BGANS satellite transceivers that create a wifi zone which anyone could use to send encrypted e-mail. On his last trip he had SIM cards that hide the location of the transmission and are normally only available to the military and intelligence agencies. He received $600,000 for this project.

Gross is not a professional intelligence agent like the Cuban 5 but he was engaged in US government funded illegal covert action.

I think the Cubans should let him visit his mother but it would sure help if the US government publicly agreed that he was going to return to Cuba after ten days.

John McAuliff

[Judi Lynn]

7. You have added the desperately needed focus upon what was the actual assignment he undertook.

It's a far cry from the wildly mangled spew we've heard far too many times. Very far cry.

Thank you. Welcome to D.U.

[Bacchus4.0]

8. you buy those phones on line

http://satcomstore.com/

I do understand though that the Cuban government is fearful of new technology involving communications and what Gross did was probably illegal under Cuban law. But I reiterate in the free world, you can purchase these phones online.

[flamingdem]

9. Have you forgotten about the Simm card which is

not available online and is only available through military channels?

[jmcauliff]

10. not fearful of technology, fearful of cyberinvasion

You can get a BGANS on line for about $2000 but a direct satellite transceiver is hardly just a phone. The SIM card is not available on line.

You can't understand Cuba without recognizing that it is a society and social experiment under unremitting attack for 50 years. Our unilateral embargo is universally decried economic warfare and we spend at least $20 million a year (in public accounts) for regime change.

Look at what has happened to US values and constitutional practices following 9/11.

President Obama was completely isolated at the Summit of the Americas and has just been embarrassed again by a scurrilous attack by the US funded and controlled Radio Marti on Cardinal Ortega.

Cuba's authoritarian defensiveness will not change easily, but is least likely to do so while US policy is premised on a right to intervene.

John McAuliff
Fund for Reconciliation and Development

[Bacchus4.0]

11. the Cuban government has chosen to isolate itself from the rest of the world

Open societies have open communications and are not fearful of the internet, cell phones, facebook, twitter, and cable TV.

[flamingdem]

12. The US and Cuban exiles haven't given Cuba a chance to try an open society

Don't forget the Bay of Pigs. Now it's overt and covert regime change.

[joshcryer]

14. Which is why Cuba is privitizing things, reopening travel, and likely will reform the political...

...system as well... right.

[flamingdem]

16. It is a form of political reform

and the push will be stronger once privatization takes hold.

They still have to see if it will work.

[Bacchus4.0]

15. like Josh said in post 14, the Cuban has been able to do all those things

along with private business, property, and lets not forget media. I would also note that some here say that Cuba needs the embargo lifted to buy things they need for the development when in reality Cuba needs to sell things to progress. They have no money to buy. You can't exchange mangoes for autoparts.

to borrow from a South Park episode:

Step 1: Marxism, State controlled everything, State censorship

Step 2: ?

Step 3: Utopia

[joshcryer]

13. Gross was an idiot who used USAID to fund his business.

If the action was covert he would not have been caught. The clandestine networks within Cuba are comprehensive, and Gross could've easily installed one if he knew the right connections.

He just thought he'd go there and distribute some stuff (in order to fulfill his USAID contract), but he wasn't ignorant of Cuba's draconian laws.