The warning Alan Gross should have received
By Collin Laverty
Saturday marked the two-year anniversary of the imprisonment of Alan Gross, a U.S. Government subcontractor imprisoned in Cuba. Gross and his family have maintained that he was providing simple internet training to Cuba’s small Jewish Community, while the Cuban Government has accused him of bringing in sophisticated communications devices as part of a United States Agency for International Development (USAID) program intent on producing regime change.
Judy Gross, Alan’s wife, recently stated that Gross was unsure if what he was doing in Cuba was legal and wanted reassurances from Development Alternatives, Inc. (DAI), the company he was working for, but was urged not to inquire about the legality of the program and his activities on the island. Whether Gross, a man that has worked on projects across the globe, was truly that naïve is unclear. He and his family, however, are claiming he was not properly informed about the risks involved in his work on the island.
Below is a note that Gross should have received from USAID before undertaking his work in Cuba to eliminate misconceptions about the program and its risks.
Dear U.S. Government Subcontractor:
As you know, Cuba is an authoritarian state that controls access to information and the interactions of its people amongst themselves and with foreigners. The U.S. and Cuba have been at odds over the last five decades and currently do not have normal relations. Therefore, there are significant risks involved in traveling to Cuba as a U.S. Government operative and carrying out clandestine activities aimed at weakening the regime. With your safety and the well-being of your family in mind, we want you to be completely aware of the risks involved in the work you are undertaking.
The Cuban Government has repeatedly called for an end to the USAID Cuba program, labeling it a violation of sovereignty and provocative. With this in mind, you should be fully cognizant that you are taking part in a program that the host government considers illegal, incendiary and threatening.
You are traveling to Cuba as an agent of the U.S. Government, but will enter on a tourist visa. You will not declare your role as a U.S. Government agent, but will conduct activities as a U.S. Government contractor on the island. Working for a foreign government without registering as a foreign agent is a crime in Cuba, as it is in the United States. In other words, your clandestine travel to Cuba is a crime alone, punishable by arrest, detention and jail time.
Upon arrival to Cuba you will be required to fill out a customs declaration form. This form will ask you what items you are bringing with you to Cuba, paying special attention to electronic items. The form will ask about laptops, normal mobile phones, satellite phones and other electronic devices. By declaring some or none of the sophisticated communications devices you are importing you are committing a crime. This is a serious customs violation and is punishable by arrest, detention and jail time.
The USAID Cuba program is authorized under Section 109 of the Helms-Burton legislation, the stated purpose of which is to support groups on the island intent on regime change. In response to the Helms-Burton law, Cuba passed Law No. 88, The Law for the Protection of National Independence and the Economy of Cuba, which makes many of the USAID activities on the island explicitly illegal, including efforts to introduce and distribute materials from the government of the United States of America, its agencies, dependencies, representatives or officials. Violation of Law No. 88 is punishable by arrest, detention and jail time.
USAID’s Cuba program is run in a highly covert manner and little information about it is available to taxpayers or those responsible for oversight in Congress. It’s very much like a CIA program run under the guise of development assistance. The lack of transparency is meant to protect you and other operatives, but simultaneously irks the Cuban Government and helps their case against you if you’re caught.
If arrested and imprisoned while in Cuba there is very little the U.S. Government will do to secure your release. Technically you’re not a U.S. Government employee and you are now well aware of the risks involved in the work. The politics surrounding Cuba will make it very difficult for any administration to enter into direct talks with the Cuban Government to negotiate your return home.
While the potential consequences for you and your family are great, we will compensate you for the dangers with mucho dinero. FYI – dinero is Spanish for money (you should probably learn that before your first trip). The company that we’ve contracted for this project, DAI, will pay you more than a half million dollars for your work, despite the fact that you speak little Spanish and have no history of working in Cuba. With that payout in mind, you should be well aware of the politics and risks associated with the program and your travels to Cuba. Please contact us if you would like more details about the Cuban penal code – specifically, which crimes your work will be in direct violation of and the length of associated criminal sentences.
Sincerely,
USAID Legal Counsel
Collin Laverty is an MPIA candidate at UC – San Diego’s School of International Relations and Pacific Studies. He is the author of the recently released monograph, Cuba’s New Resolve: Economic Reform and its Implications for U.S. Policy.
