Latin America
Related: About this forumMother of U.S. prisoner in Cuba Alan Gross dies at 92
* Time for the US to cut a deal - past time
The mother of U.S. government subcontractor Alan P. Gross, serving a 15-year prison sentence in Havana, died Wednesday without seeing her son one last time after the Cuban government denied his request for a furlough, the Gross family said.
Evelyn Gross, 92, died June 18 in Plano, Texas, after a long battle with lung cancer, the family said in an emailed statement. She had been diagnosed four years ago and her last wish was to see her son before she died.
Cuban officials refused to give Alan a humanitarian furlough to visit his mother, despite repeated pleas and the certainty that she was dying, the statement added.
This is a devastating blow for Alan and our family, said Gross wife, Judy Gross. I am extremely worried that now Alan will give up all hope of ever coming home and do something drastic. Surely, there must be something President Obama can do to secure Alans immediate release.
Gross was arrested in late 2009 and was convicted of threatening Cubas national security by illegally delivering sophisticated communications equipment to Cuban Jews. The satellite telephones that would have allowed them to bypass government controls when accessing the Internet.
Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2014/06/18/4185916/mother-of-us-prisoner-in-cuba.html?fb_action_ids=10152067194846065&fb_action_types=og.comments#storylink=cpy
Judi Lynn
(160,656 posts)for the same reasons who were denied back before the last round of loosening restrictions for only Cuban Americans, under President Obama.
There was a brief period during which it would have been possible under President Jimmy Carter, but that door was slammed shut and nailed under President Ronald Reagan, and stayed there.
Lot of suffering to inflict on people for satisfactory revenge against a people who wanted to be rid of an evil, bloody dictator like Fulgencio Batista, U.S. government fave, and Mafia-connected puppet.
flamingdem
(39,335 posts)for an entire people. Funny how when its personalized by the media people see only that individual's plight.