Cuba Jewish groups deny work with jailed American
By PETER ORSI
Associated Press
HAVANA -- The leaders of Cuba's two main Jewish groups both denied
having worked with a jailed American contractor whose family says he was
on the island to hand out communication equipment to Jewish organizations.
Cuban authorities have accused Alan Gross of espionage, though they have
not pressed charges despite keeping him in custody since he was detained
last Dec. 3.
Adela Dworin, president of Havana's Temple Beth Shalom and Cuba's
largest Jewish organization, the Jewish Community House, told The
Associated Press on Wednesday it's possible Gross came to the center as
one of "hundreds" of foreign visitors it receives each year. But she
said she doesn't remember meeting him and he certainly was not doing any
work with her group.
Dr. Mayra Levy, president of the Hebrew Sephardic Center of Cuba, said
the same thing: "I never saw him. He never came here."
Cuba's tightly knit Jewish community is believed to number about 1,500
people, most of whom live in Havana and belong to one of those two
groups. While it is possible Gross was working with one of the other
Jewish groups scattered across the island, the other organizations
represent very small numbers of people.
"As far as I know, none of the three synagogues (in Havana) authorized
any such activity," Dworin said.
Gross' wife, Judy, has denied that her husband was a spy and says he is
a veteran development worker who was helping members of Cuba's Jewish
community use the Internet to stay in contact with each other and with
similar groups abroad. Communications equipment he brought with him was
intended for humanitarian purposes, not for use by the dissident
community, she said.
Dworin said many visitors bring donations - medicine for a community
pharmacy, books, DVDs, computer games, food for religious festivals -
but she stressed that the group would not accept any contraband
equipment, or even have need for it.
"We have all the necessary media to communicate with the entire Jewish
world," Dworin said. "We are able to communicate freely."
"We respect the laws of the country where we were born," she added.
The detained man, a native of Potomac, Maryland, was working for a firm
contracted by USAID when he was arrested. Senior Cuban leaders including
President Raul Castro have accused Gross of spying.
Cuba and the United States have been at odds since shortly after Fidel
Castro's 1959 revolution, and the U.S. has maintained an economic
embargo on the island for 48 years. Havana criticizes USAID for seeking
to promote democratic change in Cuba, saying it uses millions of dollars
to bankroll opposition activity.
In August, Cuba allowed Judy Gross to visit her husband for the first
time since his arrest.
U.S. diplomats insist Gross was not doing anything wrong and have said
his continued detention makes it difficult to improve relations.
Gloria Berbena, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Interests Section in Havana,
which Washington maintains instead of an embassy, said consular
officials last visited Gross in jail Nov. 16. She said that
"unfortunately," she knew of no new developments in his case.
The Cuban government did not respond to requests for comment on the
case. Officials have said previously the case is working its way through
the legal system and there is nothing unusual about the long period
Gross has spent in jail without charge.
Also Wednesday, a group of Cuban religious leaders who traveled to the
United States last week for a religious conference said Washington
officials asked them for help in Gross' case.
The leaders said the matter was raised during meetings with Peter
Brennan, counselor for Cuban affairs in the State Department, and Dan
Restrepo, President Barack Obama's point man on Latin America at the
National Security Council.
Rev. Oden Marichal, secretary of the Council of Cuban Churches, an
umbrella organization encompassing non-Roman Catholic Christian churches
and the Jewish community, said the visitors agreed to help but would not
intervene as negotiators.
"What we made clear to them is that the Jewish community in Cuba ...
told us: 'We never had ties with that gentleman, he never brought us any
kind of equipment,'" Marichal said.
The leaders also presented a petition seeking the release of the "Cuban
Five" - five Cuban agents convicted of spying and sentenced to long jail
terms in the United States.
Cuba maintains the men were not a threat to the U.S. and were only
keeping watch on anti-Castro groups that it accuses of a number of
violent acts, including a 1990s hotel bombing campaign in Havana.
Associated Press writer Andrea Rodriguez contributed to this report.
http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/12/01/1952381/cuba-jewish-groups-deny-work-with.html
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