Alan Gross Imprisoned in Cuba Begins Hunger Strike

An American Jew who has been imprisoned in Cuba for more than four years after illegally setting up internet access on the island is on a hunger strike, according to a statement his lawyer released Tuesday.

Alan Gross, 64, said he was protesting his treatment by the governments of Cuba and the United States. He said he began fasting Thursday.

“I am fasting to object to mistruths, deceptions, and inaction by both governments, not
only regarding their shared responsibility for my arbitrary detention, but also because of the lack of any reasonable or valid effort to resolve this shameful ordeal. Once again, I am calling on President Obama to get personally involved in ending this standoff so that I can return home to my wife and daughters,” Gross’s statement read.

Gross’s hunger strike comes as U.S. and Cuban officials have questioned a different USAID program on the island. Last week, an Associated Press investigation revealed that USAID secretly created a communications network to stir unrest on the island. The social media network, called ZunZuneo, was publicly launched shortly after Gross was arrested. It reached at least 40,000 subscribers before being shut down in 2012 when a government grant ended.

Gross’s lawyer, Scott Gilbert, said his client was aware of the story, which was published the same day he began fasting. It was one of the factors he took into account in beginning his hunger strike, Gilbert said.

“Once Alan was arrested, it is shocking that USAID would imperil his safety even further by running a covert operation in Cuba,” Gilbert wrote in a statement. “USAID has made one absurdly bad decision after another. Running this program is contrary to everything we have been told by high-level representatives of the Obama administration about USAID’s activities in Cuba.”

USAID’s top official, Rajiv Shah, testified Tuesday before a Senate subcommittee. Responding to questions from Sen. Patrick Leahy, (D-Vt.), who called the ZunZuneo program a “cockamamie idea,” Shah said it was “absolutely not” covert. Shah said creating platforms to improve communication in Cuba and elsewhere is a “core part” of what USAID does.

Shah called Gross’ detention “wrong” but said “the responsibility for his detention rests with Cuban authorities.”

His wife, Judy Gross, wrote Tuesday that she was “worried sick” about her husband’s health and she doesn’t think “he can survive much more of this.”

This article appeared in print on page 1 of the April 9th, 2014 edition of Hamodia.