Free Alan Gross

A few years ago I was on a trip with the United Jewish Communities to Cuba.  Our objective was to lend support to the few remaining synagogues in Havana.  We also visited the Jewish center which was a tiny open building in Santa Clara, some four hours away.

Since the demise of the Soviet Union, Cuba has been on its own and the communist regime of Castro is barely able to meet the basic needs of the population.  The synagogues kept storerooms of supplies for its communities.  We brought basic supplies like sunscreen, children’s vitamins and feminine hygiene products.

Alan Gross was with us on that trip.  He has spent years in a Cuban prison for smuggling in file servers, the same kind we all buy at Best Buys.  Diplomatic efforts have failed.

In the online Wall Street Journal, Mauricio Claver-Carone: Cuba’s American Hostage The White House calls for the release of Alan Gross but puts scant pressure on Havana to let him go.

Excerpt:

Will the Obama administration—or a Romney administration—ever make it clear to the Castro brothers that their regime cannot take Americans hostage with impunity? The prospect of the U.S. rolling back non-humanitarian travel and transactions to the island would get Havana’s attention. One thing is abundantly clear: Alan Gross needs stronger, tougher support than rhetorical demands that he be “immediately released.”