Gross freed in exchange for three Cubans: US official

WASHINGTON DC, United States – Alan Gross, the US contractor freed after five years in jail in Cuba, was swapped for three Cubans imprisoned in the United States as spies, a senior US administration official said Wednesday, December 17.

The official told AFP it was a “swap with intel assets,” acknowledging that the assets were the three Cubans serving US prison terms for espionage.

The three were the remaining members of the so-called “Cuban Five,” a network of spies arrested in 1998 and convicted in 2001.

The three still in prison at the time of the swap were Gerardo Hernandez, Antonio Guerrero and Ramon Labanino.

The two others — Fernando Gonzalez and Rene Gonzalez — returned to Cuba in February 2014 and April 2013 respectively.

Among other things, the five were accused of infiltrating a Cuban exile group, “Brothers to the Rescue,” which flew private planes over the Florida Straits to look for people fleeing the island by boat.

Information relayed by the group allegedly led to the 1996 shootdown of two of the group’s aircraft by Cuban fighter aircraft, killing four people. – Rappler.com