U.S. Sticks to Alan Gross Prisoner Swap Ban Despite Bowe Bergdahl Release
Image by getty images
The United States has not changed its stance on trading Cuban prisoners for Jewish U.S. aid worker Alan Gross, despite a recent prisoner swap.
The U.S. last week agreed to exchange five Taliban prisoners being held in Guantanamo Bay for Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, who had been held by the Taliban in Afghanistan for the last five years.
State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Monday in response to a reporter’s questions that “nothing has changed” in Gross’ case.
Since Gross’ arrest Cuba has sought the return to Cuba of five imprisoned spies in return for Gross.
Two of the “Cuban Five” have been released earlier than the maximum time served and returned to the island.
“Every circumstance is different,” Psaki said, while emphasizing that Bergdahl is a member of the U.S. military and was detained during an armed combat.
Gross, 65, of Maryland, is serving a 15-year sentence for “crimes against the state” following his conviction in 2011. He was arrested in December 2009 as he was leaving the country.
Working as a subcontractor for the U.S. Agency for International Development, Gross was on a mission to connect Cuba’s small Jewish community to the Internet.
A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
