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Statement by Josefina Vidal Ferreiro,
Ministry of Foreign Affairs United States Division
general director
We
have learned about the unfortunate news of the
passing of Mrs. Evelyn Gross, the mother of Alan
Gross, the US citizen who is serving an imprisonment
sentence in Cuba. We would like to convey our
heartfelt condolences to his relatives.
Given the doubts expressed by persons who wonder
about the reasons why Mr. Gross was not able to
visit his mother, it is necessary to clarify that
neither the Cuban penitentiary system, nor the US
penitentiary system, provide the possibility for
inmates to travel abroad, no matter the reason.
It
is necessary to remember that when Carmen Nordelo -
the mother of Gerardo Hernández Nordelo - one of the
Cuban Five who is serving the unjust two life terms
plus a fifteen-year imprisonment sentence in the
United States - passed away, he was not allowed
either to travel to visit and say farewell to her.
There are other elements of a profound humanitarian
nature, which would be impossible to overlook, that
concur in the situation facing Gerardo and his
colleagues Ramón Labañino and Antonio Guerrero. For
almost sixteen years they have been separated from
his relatives, some of them of an advanced age, who
entertain the hope to be able to see them back; and
they have not been able to see their children grow
up.
This
unfortunate situation could have been avoided. We
reiterate Cuba’s firm determination to find,
together with the United States, a solution to the
cases of Gross, Gerardo, Ramón and Antonio, that is
acceptable to both sides and takes into account the
humanitarian concerns of both governments and their
respective relatives.
Havana, June 18, 2014.
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