Half-Century of Conflict Backdrop to Alan Gross Trial
By Dalia Acosta
HAVANA, Mar 4, 2011 (IPS) - More than 50 years of conflict between Cuba
and the United States, and in particular Washington's consistent support
for dissidents in this Caribbean island nation, will leave their mark on
the trial of U.S. citizen Alan Gross that began this Friday.
Gross was arrested Dec. 3, 2009 when he was attempting to return to the
U.S. after his fifth visit to Cuba in nine months. He is accused of acts
against the independence and integrity of Cuba, punishable by up to 20
years imprisonment.
The 61-year-old U.S. citizen works for Development Alternatives Inc.
(DAI), based in Bethesda, Maryland, near Washington DC, which carries
out development work in other countries. At the time of his arrest he
was a subcontractor for the United States Agency for International
Development (USAID).
As well as alleged involvement in spying, Cuban sources have maintained
for months that Gross illegally brought in satellite communications
equipment to hand over to internal dissident groups, as part of a
programme financed by USAID.
"He violated Cuban laws and national sovereignty and has committed
crimes which in the United States carry heavy sentences," Ricardo
Alarcón, president of the Cuban parliament, said Dec. 10.
Officials in the government of U.S. President Barack Obama and Gross's
defence attorney, however, insist that the contractor was on the island
to help the small Cuban Jewish community connect to the Internet, which
they say is a global right.
"We have made it very clear to the Cuban government that the continued
detention of Alan Gross is a major impediment to advancing the dialogue
between our two countries," U.S. State Department spokesman Philip J.
Crowley said Dec. 3.
A possible swap of Gross for one or more of the five Cuban agents
convicted of espionage and serving sentences in the United States, but
regarded as anti-terrorism fighters by Havana, was apparently also ruled
out by both sides in mid-2010.
Leaders of the Jewish community and of the Cuban Council of Churches
denied any contact with the U.S. contractor. Meanwhile, Washington
devoted 2.6 million dollars to Gross's defence, out of its 20 million
dollar 2010 budget for supporting democracy on the island.
"Gross was not arrested because he is Jewish," said Arturo López-Levy, a
Cuban lecturer at the University of Denver, Colorado. Jewish delegations
from the United States travel regularly to Cuba, and many of them "have
donated computers and cellphones to Cuban Jews," he said.
"But none of these groups has a declared strategy of imposing regime
change in Cuba through laws approved by the U.S. Congress," he added,
calling for a review of programmes to promote a political transition in
Cuba, inherited from the administration of George W. Bush (2001-2009).
The Cuban Democracy Act, approved by the U.S. Congress in 1992,
authorised financial assistance to individuals and organisations working
for "non-violent democratic change" in this socialist country.
According to Cuban-American lawyer José Pertierra, after Bush took
office "the budget for fomenting an opposition in Cuban society allied
to the interests of Miami (where most Cuban exiles live) and the White
House increased astronomically, from 3.5 million dollars in 2000 to 45
million in 2008."
Local observers speculate that the key issue now could be Cuba's
interest in demonstrating links between dissidents and Washington. In
the view of government authorities, the opposition in Cuba exists only
because of financial and logistical support from the United States.
Perhaps the same reason might underlie the Feb. 26 broadcast of the
story of two Cuban state security agents who for years infiltrated
opposition groups like the National Commission for Human Rights and
National Reconciliation, and the Ladies in White.
A documentary screened on national television went beyond the personal
experiences of Moisés Rodríguez and Carlos Manuel Serpa to delve into
the permanent links between dissident groups and the U.S. Interests
Section in Havana, and how U.S. funds and other material aid enter the
country and are distributed among them.
The Cuban agents expressed the view that obtaining money and a refugee
visa are the main motives for dissidents to become involved in what the
Cuban government regards as mercenary activities.
In addition to direct cash transfers, the government views international
prizes awarded to dissident groups as another form of financing, like
those received by the Ladies in White, a group of women who since 2003
have organised protests on behalf of their imprisoned husbands, or Yoani
Sánchez, author of the Generation Y blog.
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