WASHINGTON (AP) An American man who is marking four years in prison in Cuba has written a letter to President Barack Obama asking the president to get personally involved in securing his release.
Alan Gross was arrested four years ago Tuesday while working covertly in the Communist-run country to set up Internet access for the island's small Jewish community, access that bypassed local restrictions. At the time, he was working as a subcontractor for the U.S. government's U.S. Agency for International Development, which works to promote democracy on the island.
Cuba considers USAID's programs illegal attempts by the U.S. to undermine its government, and Gross was ultimately tried and sentenced to 15 years in prison. His case has become a sticking point in improving ties between the two countries, which have not had formal diplomatic relations since 1961.
"It is clear to me, Mr. President, that only with your personal involvement can my release be secured," Gross wrote in a letter made public through a spokeswoman.
Gross, 64, says he has "lost almost everything" over the past four years and that his family "has suffered tremendously." His wife has visited him while he's been in prison, where he says he spends 23 hours a day in a small cell with two other inmates, but Gross says he's asked his two daughters not to visit because he "cannot bear them seeing me like this." He has lost weight and suffers from arthritis. He says he is "completely isolated from the outside world" with the exception of a few phone calls and visitors.
