WILMINGTON, Del. – U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, released the following statement Wednesday on the release of Alan Gross by the Cuban government. Mr. Gross has been imprisoned for five years after being arrested while participating in a project sponsored by the U.S. Agency for International Development, helping provide internet access to Cubans. Senator Coons visited Mr. Gross as part of a bipartisan Congressional Delegation to Cuba in February 2012 and has corresponded with him since. During the trip, the senators pressed Cuban President Raul Castro to release Mr. Gross.
“Alan Gross was not a spy and he was not a soldier, and he was unfairly detained for far too long,” Senator Coons said. “He was a humanitarian working to ensure Cubans could experience some of the freedoms we enjoy every day. Alan’s health deteriorated significantly during his time in prison, making his release all the more urgent and necessary.
“It was a privilege to meet with Alan in Cuba two years ago as part of a bipartisan Congressional Delegation,” Senator Coons continued. “He gave me a bracelet he’d made out of scraps of plastic with hopes that we wouldn’t forget him. We didn’t. I am grateful to President Obama, Secretary Kerry, and all those who never stopped working to win Alan’s release. “