Castro Admits Alan Gross is a Hostage

Capitol Hill Cubans

The Castro regime has replied to a letter by over 40 U.S. Senators asking for the humanitarian release of American development worker, Alan Gross, held in a Cuban prison since December 2009.

In its response, the head of the Cuban Interests Section in Washington, D.C., Jose Ramon Cabanas, states:

To demand from and hope for the Cuban Government to take the unilateral decision of releasing Mr. Gross without giving any consideration whatsoever to the legitimate concerns of our country is not a realistic approach... 

And what are the regime's "legitimate" concerns?

...[E]nclosed is a summary information on the case of the Five Cubans who remain unjustly imprisoned or retained in the United States, in respect of whom Cuba has legitimate humanitarian concerns.

Alan Gross is the person seized or held as security.

The so-called Cuban Five are the condition for his release.

That is a hostage-taking.

Judy Gross, wife of the Castro regime's American hostage Alan Gross, National Press Club, 11/30/12

December 3rd, three days from now, marks the three year anniversary of Alan's wrongful imprisonment in Cuba. December 3rd, 2009 is when Alan was arrested in Cuba. He was then held in prison for 14 months without charges and then later convicted for undermining the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Cuba. December 3rd, 2009 was the day my family's world began to fall apart... As Alan's wife, I continue to fear that his life is in jeopardy. I plead with the Cuban government to allow his condition to be properly evaluated by an independent doctor of his choosing. I cannot and I will not allow my husband to die in a Cuban prison. I urge the government of Cuba to release Alan on humanitarian grounds.