Details about the sudden release of American Alan Gross after five years of imprisonment (and 10 more to go in his sentence) are sketchy right now which, to me, means they are almost certain to change.
But what we do know is that Gross was convicted by what passes for a criminal justice system in Cuba of “Acts against the Independence and Territorial Integrity of the State”, for providing communications systems that could have been used to get information not supplied by the state – i.e. Castro – controlled media. And that this is not a simple release, but an exchange for at least three Cubans convicted of spying in the United States.
There is speculation that President Obama will use this as a springboard to try to normalize relations with the Castro regime. But we don\’t know that for a fact yet.
What would we get out of normalization of relations with Cuba – other than legal Cuban cigars and another tourist destination among the dozens which already exist in that part of the world? Beats me.
What would Cuba get out of mormalization of relations with the USA? A huge boon to its decimated economy – one which has never been anything but a catastrophe, even with the ongoing aid of the USSR, then Russia, then Venezuela Brazil and other leftist governments in Latin America.
Cuba, simply put, is a case study in the failure of the communist state.
I am glad Mr. Gross is out of prison and back in the USA (he just landed). Beyond that, I\’ll wait to find out what his release entails. I suggest you do too.
But knowing that President Obama – with his virtually unbroken string of foreign policy disasters – is in charge, I can\’t say I am optimistic.
