Alan Gross Freed Amid Historic U.S.-Cuba Rapprochement

Cuban authorities freed imprisoned U.S. subcontractor Alan Gross on a day when the leaders of both countries vowed to improve bilateral relations.
 

The sixty-five-year old was released on humanitarian grounds as part of a prisoner exchange that also included an unnamed U.S. intel agent. Three convicted Cuban spies were let out of prison as part of a purported deal between the U.S. and Cuba. 

Gross was detained in 2009 on charges of spying and sentenced to fifteen years in prison. His detention served as one of the main points of diplomatic tension in recent years between Washington and Havana. 

"What a blessing it is to be a citizen of this country," exclaimed a relieved Gross in a press conference from Andres Air Force Base.

"Today is the first day of Hanukkah, and so far it's the best Hanukkah that I’ll be celebrating for a long time," added Gross who also thanked all those who helped secure his release.
 
Cuban-American Senators Bob Menendez and Marco Rubio heavily criticized the prisoner swap as well as the Obama administration's push to reestablish diplomatic ties between the U.S. and Cuba.  For Gross, however, the White House's actions were the correct actions to take:

Daily Headlines: June 3, 2014

* Mexico: Representatives of numerous Latin American governments including Mexico’s foreign secretary praised King Juan Carlos I of Spain who announced yesterday that he will abdicated his throne.

* Cuba: Could the exchange of a U.S. soldier held captive in Afghanistan for five Guantanamo detainees serve as a precedent for a possible swap of a U.S. civilian jailed in Havana for three imprisoned Cuban spies?

* Peru: Peru’s government postponed a planned coca eradication program that would’ve been partially funded by the U.S.

* Brazil: The Foreign Minister of Brazil rejected U.S. intelligence whistleblower Edward Snowden’s claims that he has formally sought asylum in the South American country.

Video Source – Associated Press via YouTube

Online Sources – USA TODAY; Time.com; LAHT; ABC News; Xinhua

Daily Headlines: March 24, 2014

* El Salvador: Will Salvadoran Archbishop Oscar Romero, who was murdered while celebrating Mass on this day 34 years ago, be granted sainthood by the Vatican within the next three years?

* Spain: Argentine soccer superstar Lionel Messi’s hat trick helped push Barcelona to a 4-3 victory against their traditional Spanish rivals Real Madrid.

* Brazil: Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff has reportedly come under fire over alleged irregularities in the costly purchase of a California oil refinery by Petrobras in 2006.

* Uruguay: President Jose Mujica of Uruguay said that his country would take in several Guantanamo Bay detainees in exchange for the U.S. freeing three Cubans convicted of spying in 2001.
 
Video Source – YouTube user interestmedia

Online Sources- The Pilot; SI.com; Forbes.com; Xinhua

Daily Headlines: February 27, 2014

* Latin America: Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu claimed that his country plans to install military bases in several nations including Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela.

* Mexico: Hundreds of supporters of recently apprehended drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman marched in Culiacan yesterday, and insisted that he was innocent and a benefactor for the poor in Sinaloa.
 
* Cuba: Fernando Gonzalez, one of the “Cuban Five” men convicted in 2001 of spying in the U.S., is expected to be released from prison today after having completed his fifteen year sentence.

* Brazil: Military police in Rio de Janeiro simulated a riot in anticipation of possible street protests during the upcoming soccer World Cup. 

Video Source – Prensa Latina via YouTube (Video uploaded in May 2013).

Online Sources- CNN; ABC News; MercoPress; The Latin Americanist; BBC News

Daily Headlines: September 13, 2013

* Uruguay: Recent polls have shown growing public support for a proposal to legalize marijuana use though most Uruguayans are still opposed to it.

* Honduras: The government granted the rights to over 1.6 million acres of coastal land to some 21,800 members of indigenous Miskito communities.

* Cuba: Hundreds of people marched to the U.S. Interests Section in Havana yesterday and called for the release of four Cuban intelligence agents convicted of spying in 2001.

* Venezuela: Regional newspapers are reportedly in danger of shutting down due to the escalating costs of newsprint.

Video Source – YouTube via AFP (Video uploaded on Aug 1, 2013).

Online Sources- GlobalPost; Businessweek; Christian Science Monitor; UPI

Daily Headlines: May 7, 2013

* South America: Rodrigo Riofrio, Ecuador’s ambassador to Peru, was removed from his post after his involvement in a fight in a Lima supermarket led to heightened diplomatic tensions between the two countries.

* Cuba: One of the “Cuban Five” men convicted of spying on the U.S. in 2001 will reportedly renounce his U.S. citizenship so he can stay in Cuba.

* Puerto Rico: Immigration officials believe that there has been a spike in the number of Haitian migrants traveling to Puerto Rico in order to reach the U.S. mainland.

* Brazil: Catholic Church hierarchy in Brazil excommunicated a "popular" priest over his public comments in favor of birth control and same-sex marriage.

Video Source – YouTube via user 24HorasPTV

Online Sources- Reuters; Huffington Post; NBC News; The Guardian

Daily Headlines: February 28, 2013

* South America: At least twenty-seven people have died in Paraguay and thirty-three people have died in Brazil this year as a result of a dengue outbreak.

* Peru: The One Laptop Per Child program in Peru, which started in 2007, has reportedly had “mixed results” including logistics issues and improvements in education.

* Cuba: The Cuban Foreign Ministry accused the U.S. of not granting consular access to a paroled member of the “Cuban Five” group of convicted spies.

* Mexico: Will Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto pursue other union bosses aside from recently arrested teachers' union chief Elba Esther Gordillo?

Video Source – YouTube via user elsiglodetorreon

Online Sources- USA TODAY, Prensa Latina, BBC News, ABC News, Christian Science Monitor

Daily Headlines: March 21, 2012

* Brazil: The Brazilian government is urging a thorough investigation into the recent death of a Sao Paulo-born student shot with a Taser gun by police in Sydney, Australia.

* U.S.: According to the Pew Hispanic Center nearly half of all Latinos reside in Texas and California, and the Latino population in the U.S. is “now more dispersed than a decade ago.”

* Cuba: A U.S. judge allowed one of the convicted “Cuba Five” spies to return to his homeland for two weeks and visit his ailing brother.

* Argentina: A strike by grain truckers seeing higher pay will enter its third day with little hope for a prompt resolution.

Image Source – Flickr via Cea. (CC BY 2.0)

Online Sources- Reuters, NPR, Fox News Latino, ABC Online

Daily Headlines: October 3, 2011

* Cuba: According to the Miami Herald’s website the first member of a group of convicted spies known as the “Cuban Five” will be released from prison on Friday.

* Latin America: U.S. President Barack Obama could send stalled free trade pacts with Colombia and Panama to Congress today, while Human Rights Watch warned that Colombia has made "virtually no progress" in getting convictions against killers of labor activists.

* Venezuela: President Hugo Chavez claimed that he prayed to “God to protect the life of our brother Muammar Gaddafi” and also expressed solidarity with Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad.

* Argentina: Los Pumas qualified to the quarterfinals of the Rugby World Cup but they will face the daunting task of trying to beat host country and heavy favorites New Zealand.

Online Sources - NPR, MiamiHerald.com, Reuters, CBC News

Image –BBC News (Supporters of the “Cuban Five” claim that they were wrongly convicted of spying on the U.S. government and have been mistreated while imprisoned).

Cuba denies terrorism “sponsor” status

Yesterday we mentioned that a U.S. Department of State labeled Cuba as a “state sponsor” of terrorism along with countries like Sudan and Syria. The agency’s terrorism report claimed that "no evidence of direct financial support for terrorist organizations by Cuba in 2009" yet said that the island’s government has provided safe haven to Colombian rebels and members of Basque separatist group ETA.

Shortly after the report was published the Castro regime responded to the claims made by the Department of State. Unsurprisingly Cuban officials were not too happy:

A statement issued by Josefina Vidal Ferreiro, director of North American affairs at the Foreign Ministry in Havana, said Cuba ``categorically rejects'' the island's inclusion on the list.

``Once again, the United States casts doubts on the (island's) seriousness and commitment in the fight against international terrorism,'' the statement said, adding that the list shows a U.S. ``double standard.''

While five Cuban ``anti-terrorists are unjustly jailed'' in the United States -- they were convicted of spying charges -- Miami exile Luis Posada Carriles ``and others who have confessed to horrendous acts of terrorism against Cuba remain in complete freedom,'' it said.

The Salvadoran press last month cited local and Cuban intelligence reports claiming that that there are active “terrorist cells” founded by Posada Carriles functioning in El Salvador.

On a related note, Havana Roman Catholic Archbishop Jaime Ortega was in Washington this week where he received the Knights of Columbus’ highest honor and met with State Department and national Security Council officials. (Ortega was instrumental in brokering the planned freeing of 52 political prisoners by the Cuban government).

Image- New York Times (“A billboard in Havana bears a likeness of Luis Posada Carriles and reads, “Cuba declares him guilty” in the bombing of a Cuban jetliner in 1976.”)
Online Sources- The Latin Americanist, Miami Herald, EFE

Daily Headlines: December 11, 2009

* Venezuela: Hundreds of protestors including university students marched on Wednesday in honor of an undergraduate killed during a recent demonstration.

* Guatemala: Authorities are looking into how documents relating to the murder investigation of lawyer Rodrigo Rosenberg were secretly leaked to the local press.

* Brazil: One of the men sentenced for the murder of nun and rain forest activist Dorothy Stang waived his right to a new trial.

* Cuba: A U.S. federal judge reduced the sentences of two members of the “Cuban Five” – a group of Cubans sentenced in 2001 for spying.

Image – CNN (“Students demonstrate against the death of Jesus Ramirez in Caracas, Venezuela, on Wednesday.”)
Online Sources- The Latin Americanist, BBC News, AP, LAHT, Kansas City Star

Daily Headlines: October 16, 2009

* Chile: Tensions between Chile’s government and the indigenous Mapuche are near the boiling point after the Bachelet administration controversially invoked a Dirty War-era law against violence.

* Latin America: According to an Inter-American Development Bank study Brazil has Latin America’s worst gender and racial gap while the margin in Bolivia and Guatemala is nearly zero.

* Mexico: Tens of thousands of Mexicans protested yesterday against the federal government’s closing of state-run energy firm Luz y Fuerza.

* Cuba: A U.S. federal judge reduced the sentence of one of the “Cuban Five” convicted over a decade ago of being a Cuban spy.

Image- Santiago Times ("Mapuche flag.")
Online Sources- Guardian UK, csmonitor.com, LAHT, The Latin Americanist, New York Times

Daily Headlines: September 16, 2009

* U.S.: After spending several days in space, Mexican-American astronaut José Hernandez said that the “American economy needs” illegal immigrants and advocated the legalization of their status.

* Puerto Rico: Nine employees at Puerto Rico’s main airport were arrested and accused of participating in a drug smuggling ring.

* Bolivia: Aside for rallying for immigrants’ rights during his visit to Spain, Bolivian president Evo Morales was able to get the European country to cancel over $77 million in debt.

* Cuba: Thousands of marchers demonstrated in Havana and called for the liberation of five alleged Cuban spies jailed in the U.S.

Image- KRON
Online Sources- AP, Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Guardian UK

Top court rejects border fence, “Cuban 5” cases

The U.S. Supreme Court (USSC) rejected hearing a case regarding the “virtual wall” being constructed along the U.S.-Mexico border.

Several southern Texan communities along with environmentalists and the Ysleta del Sur Pueblo indigenous tribe brought up the lawsuit alleging that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) overstepped its authority. The order to expedite barrier construction by then-Secretary Michael Chertoff' under the 2005 REAL ID Act “would constitute an unprecedented expansion of agency authority to preempt state and local law without clear congressional authority-and without any oversight by any court" according to the plaintiffs’ brief.

Yet the USSC decided not to hear the case of County of El Paso v. Napolitano; thus, making it the second recent lawsuit related to the border fence that was rejected by the high courtover the past year. In addition, as the lawsuit winded it’s way though the lengthy legal process most of the 670-mile barrier had already been built.

Aside from the border fence case, another lawsuit that got the short end of the stick from the USSC involved the “Cuban Five”:

Five Cubans convicted in 2001 of spying for the Castro regime had their appeal tossed out Monday by the Supreme Court.

The men had sought a new trial in a politically charged case that has attracted international attention. Lawyers for the "Cuban Five" said their trial in Miami was unfairly prejudiced by the larger community.

The justices without comment denied the request, leaving the convictions in place.

Image- AFP
Online Sources- AFP, AP FOX News, CNN

Daily Headlines: January 29, 2009

* Cuba: According to the AFP lawyers for the convicted “Cuban Five” spies will file an appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court.

* Chile: Chile’s indigenous Mapuche community usually don’t see eye-to-eye with the government; thus, a local history teacher recently created the country’s first Mapuche political party.

* Bolivia: "We want to rebuild our relations with the U.S.” declared Bolivia’s foreign minister yesterday who added that both countries could soon exchange ambassadors.

* Peru: A local court controversially freed two ex-military officers accused of participating in the 1991 Barrios Altos massacre.

Image- New York Times (“Cuba’s government has put signs and posters like this one, in Havana, all over the island as a reminder of the imprisonment of” the Cuban Five.)
Online Sources- Guardian UK, AFP, AP, BBC News, The Latin Americanist

Cuban Five Convictions Upheld but Sentences Were Vacated

Yesterday, a three-judge panel of the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the convictions but vacated the sentences of the "Cuban Five", Cuban intelligence agents who were accused of spying in the U.S.

Writing for the majority, Judge William H. Pryor concluded that “that the arguments about the suppression of evidence, sovereign immunity, discovery, jury selection and the trial are meritless, and sufficient evidence supports each conviction.” The court also rejected claims that their federal trial should have been moved from Miami because of widespread opposition among Cuban-Americans there to the communist Cuban government. The decision included the life sentence for Gerardo Hernandez, who was convicted of murder conspiracy in the deaths of four Miami-based pilots shot down by Cuban jets in 1996. The panel split 2-1 to uphold Hernandez’ life term. The pilots had flown planes that were part of the Brothers to the Rescue organization, which dropped pro-democracy pamphlets on the ground.

The panel vacated the life terms of three other pilots’ 19-year sentences, agreeing with their contentions that their sentences were improperly configured because no “top secret information was gathered or transmitted.”

The five acknowledged being Cuban agents but said they were not spying on the U.S. They said their focus was on U.S.-based exile groups planning “terrorist” actions against the Castro government.

Source : WSJ Blog