Alan Gross’s Wife on US-Cuba Impasse
HAVANA TIMES — Forget South Florida politics, negotiate with the Cubans and find a way to bring Alan Gross home. That’s what Judy Gross told me earlier this week.
Her husband has been in jail in Cuba for more than four years – 1,521 days, to be exact. And she said she is angry and frustrated that the U.S. government doesn’t do more to secure his freedom. She said:
“…It’s been way, way too long and our government is responsible for Alan being there and I just can’t believe that they can’t do anything about it. Sometimes I wonder if there’s some kind of motive behind it. Not to be paranoid, but it just blows my mind still that they don’t even mention Alan’s name.”
Gross reiterated her call to President Obama to step up efforts to free her husband. Asked about Secretary John Kerry’s recent request that the Vatican help out, Gross said:
“…it’s really Secretary Kerry’s job to free Alan, not the Pope. So instead of asking the Pope, I think Secretary Kerry should work on it.”
Judy Gross also faulted the Cuban government for jailing her husband in 2009, but expressed admiration for the Cuban people.
“I really love Cuba and I hope to keep going back under different circumstances. The people are so friendly…”
A full transcript of our interview is below:
Tracey Eaton: How are you?
Judy Gross: I’m doing OK, just you know living life every day and trying to do the best I can.
TE: After your last visit to Cuba, do you see any hopeful signs? Did you learn anything new that gives you reason to be more optimistic?
JG: You know, I was just there three weeks ago. The thing that was positive, I think, and that was different is that just coincidentally Scott (Gilbert, the Gross family lawyer) and I were there at the same time as the State Department delegation for the migration talks, so they got to meet with Alan and that’s the first time, other than the Interests Section in Cuba, that’s really the first time somebody from State has met with him.
So if there was anything positive I think it was very good for them to see Alan and to talk to him and to see what his daily life is like and to hear his issues and how he’s feeling. It put something real to the person, to get to really see him face to face.
TE: Do you know which officials met with him?
JG: I don’t remember all of them. The usual people from the Interests Section in Cuba, you know, the chief of mission, and the delegation was headed up by (Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for Western Hemisphere Affairs Edward) “Alex” Lee from State here in Washington.
TE: Did they give you any of their impressions after that visit?
JG: I think they were humbled. I think they were very humbled by talking to Alan and seeing him and hopefully, you know, that will make some difference. We’ll just have to see.
TE: That must have been an emotional meeting in a way because I’ll bet Alan is extremely frustrated and angry and wants to talk to somebody. What was his reaction to the meeting?
JG: Pretty much everything you just said. He was angry. He was frustrated. I mean, he expressed those things I should say – anger and frustration and a lot of sadness and grief and lots of other adjectives that he expressed.
There’s a lot pent up in somebody when they’re incarcerated for four years and it’s basically in a one-room cell.
TE: I watched several of your interviews on CNN and other media outlets and you had talked about the need for President Obama to be personally engaged. Do you feel that now he is personally engaged or is intervening?
JG: I have not heard anything and so I can’t say that that situation has changed. It might have and I just don’t know that it has, but as far as I know, and as far as I feel, he still needs to get, the White House needs to get involved in this. It’s very upsetting obviously that they haven’t.
TE: Yeah, I’ll bet. I wonder has your opinion of the U.S. government changed any since this whole ordeal began?
JG: (laughs) I think that I have gained a lot of perspective on bureaucracy and how big this government really is and how bureaucratic it really is and (it’s) kind of difficult to mire through it. But as far as the government, no, really it hasn’t changed.
I feel angry. I feel angry that there’s no response from the government who sent Alan there to begin with. It was a U.S. government project, obviously. And I feel angry that there’s been no communication, especially because he was working as a U.S. government contractor. But I don’t think I feel differently about the government.
I still believe in our political system.
TE: I understand. So it’s not as if U.S. officials are reaching out to you regularly and keeping touch with you and giving you updates or anything like that?
JG: That’s right.
TE: OK. And can you describe the experience of having to sue the U.S. government and Alan’s employer to try to obtain some sort of compensation?
JG: I was never there at any of the meetings, the litigation or any of that, so I personally can’t describe any feelings of actually being there. But it was very frustrating because it took so long and I was very scared to be honest with you. I didn’t know how I was going to live. I mean I would have had to move into like a, what do you call it, not even a one-bedroom apartment. A very, very tiny apartment and live very carefully. And I still am afraid of my future financially. So that was frustrating that that all took so long. And I’m just glad it got settled.
TE: I don’t know the latest. Isn’t there an appeal in the lawsuit against the U.S. government?
JG: That’s something because there’s still litigation that I can’t really talk about.
TE: I was a little surprised, I read a few days ago that U.S. lawmakers had defunded USAID programs in Cuba in their newest budget.
JG: Really? I hadn’t heard that. That’s something I would have thought I would have known about.
TE: It hasn’t really gotten much notice at all. I just wondered if you know if your husband’s case somehow influenced that decision?
JG: I can’t speak on that. I’m going to have to find out.
TE: It’s been voted on and approved.
JG: Holy cow! How would (Sen. Robert) Menéndez allow that to happen? I’m very surprised that I didn’t hear that.
TE: Do you think release of Fernando González (a Cuban Five member set to be freed on Feb. 27) will have any impact on the case?
JG: No, I don’t. I don’t think that will have any change on anything.
TE: What about Secretary of State Kerry reportedly asking the Vatican to help win Alan’s release. Any idea whether that might help in the process? Have you heard anything about that?
JG: I’m very skeptical about that. We’ve had Vatican contact in the past with the former Pope and I just, you know, I would love to be wrong but I don’t think anything’s going to come from that. And it’s really Secretary Kerry’s job to free Alan, not the Pope. So instead of asking the Pope, I think Secretary Kerry should work on it.
TE: Good point. And altogether you’ve been to Cuba how many times?
JG: I think this was my sixth trip.
TE: Wow, lots of trips.
JG: Lots of years.
TE: I read that the Cuban foreign minister told you the Cubans were waiting for U.S. to send an American envoy who could start negotiations with the Cubans. Did you get that same impression the last time?
JG: The foreign minister is Bruno Rodríguez. I met with him the last time, not this most recent trip. In this most recent trip, we were told that Cuba has reached out via letter asking the United States to contact them so they can start talking, and they said there were no preconditions.
TE: And during your trips to Cuba I imagine your focus is like a laser on Alan, but have you gotten any impression of the country or any opinion on the country itself?
JG: I wish I could get out of Havana. I never got past Havana. I really love Cuba and I hope to keep going back under different circumstances. The people are so friendly and with all the difficulties they have, and they certainly have plenty of difficulties, they seem to just maintain great mood. This is what I see from observing. I don’t have any personal relationships with anyone. But they just, the people that I have met they have been very gracious and very kind and I love the feel of the city. I look and try to think what it was like before the infrastructure started falling apart. I love the music. I love the culture.
TE: If time machines existed, I’d like to go back to 1958 to see what that was like.
JG: (laughs) I look forward to the day when really the Americans can share music with Cubans. That’s what I look forward to.
TE: That will be great.
Some lawmakers say Cuba should make concessions to the U.S. – improving basic human rights, for instance – before we even talk with Cuba about Alan. What’s your opinion of that?
JG: My opinion is that they need to sit down and negotiate whatever they want to negotiate. I don’t want to get involved in the political issues of Cuba. Our lawmakers- I think everything should be on the table. I don’t think our lawmakers should make any preconditions, let’s put it that way.
TE: I just have one more question and it’s very open-ended. I wonder, is there anything that journalists haven’t asked you that you wish they would have? Is there something that you would like to cover or would like people to know?
JG: Well, that’s a question I’ve never been asked. That’s a tough one. I just want to reiterate my frustration I would have to say with both governments. I can’t just say the U.S. government obviously. The Cuban government is very much at fault, too, for arresting Alan to begin with. But you know it’s been way, way too long and our government is responsible for Alan being there and I just can’t believe that they can’t do anything about it. Sometimes I wonder if there’s some kind of motive behind it. Not to be paranoid, but it just blows my mind still that they don’t even mention Alan’s name.
TE: I’ve thought it strange, too. We’re supposedly the most powerful government on earth. It’s occurred to me – could they take him by force? Although then I imagine that could endanger Alan. It’s just hard to believe we can’t do more.
JG: I think politics rears its ugly head in a way. You might want to find out more about the influence that Menéndez has and (U.S. Rep.) Ileana (Ros-Lehtinen) and (Sen. Marco) Rubio, but especially Sen. Menéndez. I honestly think that he has a lot of power in this whole thing. I could be wrong, but I can’t think of any other reason why the president won’t speak about it.
TE: It’s great to talk to you.
JG: OK, take care.
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(*) Visit Tracey Eaton’s blog Alongthemalecon.
This is an easy one. You claim ad nauseum that because the Castros have remained in dictatorial control over the Cuban people for 55 years, it is FACT that Cubans do not wish to return to a more democratic and free society. You blindly equate over and over again that the government-controlled media in Cuba is simply the other side of the same coin as the multidimensional corporate-owned media in the US. And just for giggles, you seem to believe as FACT that opposing the Castro dictatorship is equal to opposing the Cuban people. Obama and I share at least one thing in common. People like you love to say you do not judge by skin color, but if he and I hung up our tailored suit jackets for a hoodie and appeared to follow you half a block on the street, 911 would get a frantic call claiming a “thug” was about to rob you. I have heard it all before.
Hahahaha,
Very funny .
Goose-stepping to the Soviet anthem ????
….that’s KILLER Saturday Night Live or Jon Stewart material .!!!
You forgot to mention that we’d all have to sleep with a copy of “Mein Kampf ” as a pillow and eat babies .
Great stuff I.C.
How’s that remedial propaganda writing class going ?
You seem to want to talk about imprisonment for no reason and torture when it is the Cuban government that allegedly is doing it.
When it comes to Guantanamo however , it suddenly is time to get on topic.
Please explain what an ” ad hominem” attack on the U.S would be .
This is something new in debating terms for me since ad homjnem arguments are personal attacks .
Just how does one go about making a personal attack on a a country ?
OOOOOOH ! The U.S. issued a “FIRM statement” .!
I am SOOOO frightened about the possible “even FIRMER” statement that is sure to follow .
Every attack I make on the GOVERNMENT of the United States (and not on “the United States” as you are wont to put it ) is legitimate and backed up by historic fact .
I would defy you to show me where anything negative I have ever had to say about the GOUSA was not based in solid fact.
I can do this with complete confidence that you will not find anything to back up your claim .
Obama should be judged solely on who he has served over the past five years or so .
It is a big mistake to judge him by his skin color .
Silly boy !
Of course we live in a capitalist society .
It’s the reason we have so much to discuss.
My communist mentality centers upon helping the poor and direct democracy .
AS someone who pitches for capitalism and the GOUSA you stand on the opposite side of things.
That IS the way it is . Americans prefer totalitarian systems .
I know that far better than you precisely because I am a communist.
Most Americans do not want anything to do with democracy, it’s a sort off slave mentality being told what to do and not being able to question or not wanting to question that authority.
That system lasts about another 20 years at the outside IMO.
The world should be paying us back. But for the US we would all be goose steeping to the Soviet anthem. …I know JG, I know, you would have been ok with that
John, I think it’s time you come to grips with the fact that we live in a capitalist society….and that’s the way we and the vast majority of Americans want it. It is your communist mentality that is repulsive in our society
…Like I said, American exceptionalism is not always popular. Just keep using our technology, enjoying our cultural exports, and benefitting from the advances in science and medicine ‘Born in the USA’. The rest of your whiny complaints amount to background noise.
No I’m not an American, and I’m dammed proud of that. How any American can feel a sense of pride in their government is a mystery…unless of course, like you, they are completely oblivious and lack empathy concerning the suffering their nation has caused for decades around the world. Allen Gross was in clear violation of Cuban law, and as such, he was convicted and sentenced accordingly. End of story. To suggest that your government…or any other government for that matter, has any kind of legal or illegal right to intervene in the domestic affairs of another sovereign nation with the use of force is tantamount to promoting terrorism. Oh, but Americans don’t call it terrorism when THEY violate international law by using force and threaten world peace. No! No! No! Not at all! How hypocritical would THAT be??? Moses, you’re not a badassss…you’re a dumbasss…and trust me, you’re even less popular than your government. You’re just a brainwashed arrogant pawn of your American war machine.
First, it seems you criticize the US because of our perceived militaristic problem-solving methods. Then you close with a veiled threat. Sounds hypocritical.
He was caught distributing a couple of laptops and cell phone SIM cards. Hardly a threat to national security. Taking Gross hostage is a failed attempt to force the US to negotiate with a tinpot dictatorship.
Obama can’t win it seems. Wackos on the left accuse him of being too conservative and extremists on the right call him a socialist. The truth is that closing Guantanamo takes Congressional action. He has continuously urged Congress to close Gitmo including during his recent State of the Union address. As recent as last week, the US issued a firm statement to the government of Russia defending the rights of all people to love whomever they wish. Your ad hominem attacks on the US are boring and baseless. Besides, this is a blog about Cuba. Please try to stay on topic.
And when the only tool you have is a hammer, the solution to every problem is a nail .
The U.S has intervened in well over 100 instances to prevent democratic elections, overthrow democratic elections, prevent self-determination in colonial countries and for over 100 years , prevent leftist movements from succeeding .
A recent poll of 68,000 people around the world showed that the United States of America is considered the biggest threat to peace in the world by far. You should Google up the poll to see just how your sort of chauvinist, bullying thinking has affected the world.
Payback is a bitch, Moses
Cuba has laws against what he did or tried to do.
He knew that.
The State Department’s USAID knew that when they sent him .
He got caught and now has to pay the penalty for his crime in that country.
It does not matter what you think about Cuba’s government or revolution or laws .
You should remember that it was and is the USA which is behind the hostility that caused Gross’s imprisonment.
Stop blaming Cuba which is the victim in this.
I challenge you to point out where the U.S. has been defending freedom in the world and specifically what freedoms those were.
Guantanamo is part and parcel of U.S. secret prisons, torture regimes and other atrocities that are all a part of U.S. imperialism .
Obama never had any intention of closing Guantanamo and this is evident by his expansion of U.S. military activities into many more countries since he took office.
Obama and the overwhelming majority of Congress are center-right and wholeheartedly support capitalism and U.S. imperialism ( or “defending freedom” as you will euphemistically express it) .
They have far more in common than they have in opposition to one another’s policies.
The idea that Obama is even a liberal is a necessary illusion you have to maintain in the face of his obviously conservative agenda .
He is to the right of Nixon, you know .
I heartily agree that Guantanamo should be closed post-haste. President Obama has directed a divided Congress to act and until now, there has been resistance by his Republican opposition. With regards to the alleged abuses Guantanamo, as shameful as they may be, the difference between what has occurred in Gitmo and what continues on the streets of Havana every day is simple. The US, in defense of freedom all over the world, has perverted its mission with errors made against alleged foreign terrorists. In Havana, the Castros continue to beat and arrest fellow Cubans in order to defend their repressive regime.
I should only hope that if I were being held hostage by a regime like Cuba that ignores internationally-recognized basic human rights like free speech, free elections, independent press and freedom of assembly that my government would at least consider a rescue attempt. As an American, Alan Gross likely shares this expectation. I assume by your comment you are not an American. As such, from your milque-toast point of view, this expectation would seem arrogant. However, if your country had the most technologically advanced and most powerful military forces in the world, you would share my expectation to meet tyranny with force as opposed to simply bending over and taking it from behind or, at best, covering your eyes and hoping the bad men go away. Being badassss is not always popular but it has its advantages.
If Judy Gross truly loved her husband she would not have let him make his escapades to Cuba. Alan will never be set free if the US demands his “unconditional release”
Nobody has actually convinced me yet thar Alan Gross has committed anything one should consider a crime. He is a hostage.
“Like Tracey Eaton, I too have wondered why we don’t just blast our way in there and take Mr. Gross by force. But then I assume the risk to Gross is too great and potential for loss of innocent Cuban lives is probably high.”
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Ummmmmmmmmm……..and it would also be a clear violation of international law??? Ironic that you don’t mention this too. But then again, as an arrogant American, why should you have even thought of that. Right? You and your kind have been oblivious to your arrogance for decades concerning Cuba and many other sovereign nations around the world. You think you’re better than the rest…but in truth, you’re attitude smacks of “tyrany”…to borrow your expression. You make me laugh…you’re a constant source of amusement. Let the hypocracy show continue.
http://www.havanatimes.org/?p=100357 is a link that is within the post.
While sympathising with Judy Gross, I note that the story gives little clue as to why her husband was imprisoned. You can read about why and also the futility of many USAID interventions at http://www.lrb.co.uk/blog/2012/01/23/john-perry/our-man-in-havana/
And as for Moses Patterson’s comment, it’s noteworthy that while Human Rights Watch condemns Cuban human rights abuses, it also points out that in the last decade there have been 779 imprisonments without trial in Cuba, many involving torture, in the US prison in Guantanamo.
Sorry,
Not a spot of sympathy for this woman .
She still agrees with her country’s policies ; the same ones that got her husband jailed .
She agrees with or like most Americans does not know that the U.S embargo is intended to bring down the Cuban Revolution by making life as hard as possible for every man, woman and child in Cuba. .
She feels bad for herself and her husband but not the Cuban people whose lives are made worse by people like Gross .
How shallow , how self-centered, how criminally self-insulated from reality.
I can only imagine her despair. Unfortunately, President Obama is President of 330 million Americans and must do what is in the best interests of ALL Americans and not just Alan Gross. She doesn’t come right out and say it but obviously she would like to see the US trade the remaining three convicted Cuban spies for Alan Gross. Unfortunately, that would play right into the hands of the Castros and not be in the long-term interests of the US. I can’t blame her, however, for wanting this to be done. For her, this is not about capitulating to tyrants, it is about bringing her husband home. Like Tracey Eaton, I too have wondered why we don’t just blast our way in there and take Mr. Gross by force. But then I assume the risk to Gross is too great and potential for loss of innocent Cuban lives is probably high. All that remains is the unilateral release of Mr.Gross on humanitarian grounds. One can only hope….