Member of Cuba 5 says he's optimistic about deal
Member of Cuba 5 says he's optimistic about deal
By MICHAEL WEISSENSTEIN and ANNE-MARIE GARCIA, Associated Press | September 4, 2014 | Updated: September 4, 2014 5:54pm
HAVANA (AP) — A Cuban intelligence agent who spent more than 15 years in a United States prison said Thursday that he's optimistic that softening U.S. attitudes will lead to the liberation of three fellow agents who remain behind bars.
Fernando Gonzalez, whom the Cuban government lauds as a national hero, told The Associated Press that one of the most positive signs he's seen is former Secretary of State Hilary Clinton's statement in a recent book that she recommended that President Barack Obama end the decades-long U.S. embargo on Cuba.
Cuba has linked the case of its three agents to that of Alan Gross, a U.S. government subcontractor serving a 15-year prison sentence for bringing sensitive technology into the country. Havana has said repeatedly it wants to sit down with Washington to negotiate the fate of Gross and the Cubans, who were arrested in 1998 and convicted on charges including espionage. Cuba argues that they were only keeping tabs on militant exile groups blamed for terror attacks on the island.
Gonzalez said that "at this moment there's a political context that makes me cautiously optimistic."
"There's a growing interest there in changing U.S. policy toward Cuba," he said. "I would like to think that before finishing his term, President Obama would decide to improve relations with Latin America. That would involve a change with Cuba and that would necessarily take place through a solution to the case of my three colleagues."
More:
http://www.chron.com/news/crime/article/Member-of-Cuban-5-says-he-s-optimistic-about-deal-5734335.php
