15/02/2011
While not necessarily timely, there are some stories that—even tardy—deserve a belated comment or two.
I think Alan Gross is one.
Gross—depending on your point of view and your access to the case details, was either unjustly detained in 2009 for “providing satellite communications equipment and Internet access for Jewish groups in Cuba”, or logically arrested for espionage.
How many Jewish people are there in Cuba?
No. That’s not a rhetorical question. I actually don’t know. But I digress…
After spending—let me figure this out (December 2009 till now =?)…over a year in prison awaiting charges, last Friday he was formally charged with "acts against the independence and integrity" of the state—for which a conviction could lead to twenty years in prison.
But let’s let P.J. Crowley from the U.S. State Department explain:
"We deplore the Cuban government’s announcement that Cuban prosecutors intend to seek a 20 year sentence against Mr. Gross. As we have said many times before Mr. Gross is a dedicated international development worker who was in Cuba providing support to members of the Cuban Jewish community. He has been held without charges for more than a year, contrary to all international human rights obligations and commitments regarding justice and due process. He should be home with his family now."
Gross was denied habeas corpus in Cuba? Really?
And I thought that only happened in Guantanamo…
Who do the Cubans think this guy is? Omar Khadr?
I can assure you he looks nothing like him. See here: (http://www.daylife.com/topic/Alan_Gross)
Nor, to my imagination’s disappointment, can I picture him sipping après-subversion martinis in posh Havana lounges.
Gross was working for a USAID subcontractor called Development Alternatives, whose mission it is ”to make a lasting difference in the world by helping developing nations become more prosperous, fairer and more just, cleaner, safer, healthier, more stable, more efficient, and better governed.”
Got that? I know, a lot of commas, aren’t, there?
As reiterated by his family, that meant “working with Jewish groups to help them connect to the internet.”
And so my laziness won’t allow me to avoid my earlier question…
What is the Jewish population of Cuba?
Jewishcuba.org, a website “listed by the US Interests Section of the Department of State as a resource for information on Cuba”, has a link to an article by CNN’s Steve Kastenbaum.
In an article written in 2008, Steve stated the population was 1,500—down from an estimated 15,000 in the 40s and 50s; that’s 1,500 out of a total of 11,423,952—also as of 2008.
Not what you might call a HUGE segment of the population. But then again—even taking into account increased tolerance by the Cuban state, religion still isn’t kosher on the island. So that probably is an underestimate. Nonetheless, although I do in principle support what I think Gross was trying to accomplish, I’m both bothered and amazed.
I’m bothered that USAID would have such a parochial focus on a right of such fundamental importance. Nowhere in the First Amendment does it say Congress shall make no law abridging the Freedom of Speech of the Christian people. Why should it be any different aboard? Is a Jewish Cuban more deserving of that right than any other Cuban?
I’m amazed, even though I know probably shouldn’t be, by the audacity of the American government. They sent an employee to a country (and yes, even if he was a subcontractor, he was still representing the American government) whose government they’ve tried to both overthrow and repeatedly undermine; they then broke that country’s laws, as oppressive as they may be, and expected there not to be consequences?
Maybe Alan Gross is a patsy. But I don’t think so. He knew exactly what he was getting into. And as unacceptable as his treatment has been after one year, he’s now been assured consular representatives, his family, and American legal counsel will be permitted to participate in his trial.
I’m fairly certain there’s a Canadian who would quite willingly trade places.
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