| JK | The disappearing AP
article about Alan Gross La Alborada – May 14, 2012 The mass media, firmly in line with the State Department, continue to put forward a false description of what Alan Gross was doing in Cuba, usually a variant of "he was distributing laptops and standard computer equipment to help the Jewish community access the Internet." Only the Associated Press has made an effort to investigate the matter, resulting in a report that substantially contradicted the official line. Gross was not a spy as such, but he was attempting to lay the infrastructure for an independent satellite-communications system with encryption capabilities. It was to be part of a system for use in creating dissension in Cuba and to facilitate coordination of activities with US handlers in what USAID calls a democracy-building program. The story about helping the Jewish community to download Jewish songs from Internet, first advanced by DAI, the contractor for USAID that retained Gross as its expert operator, was only a cover-up based on Gross' being Jewish and an active supporter, in the US, of B'nai B’rith, presentable as a kind of Jewish Santa Claus for Internet-deprived Cubans of his religion. The Cuban government states that the Jewish congregations on the island have access to Internet, and that Gross' work was not necessary. A satellite node with wireless access would be available not just to congregations, but to anyone in the vicinity with the password to enter it, as with any home or commercial network. In the US, no such communications may take place through unlicensed satellite connections set up covertly by another country. As the AP reported, some of the equipment that Gross took to Cuba is used typically by intelligence and defense agencies. Gross' unusual pattern of repeated visits to Cuba was detected by Cuban security, which allowed him to continue his activities while under investigation. Gross could not have been so innocent as to not realize what it meant to be a sub-contractor for DAI in one of USAID's regime-change programs, and in Cuba. He himself expressed concern about the legality of his actions and about the possible consequences for him. Gross is not in jail for trying to help fellow Jews share religious and cultural information; he is in jail for being an agent of a foreign country in a program intended to destabilize and ultimately overthrow the government of Cuba. It should be clear that Gross was not the only such agent. Similar examples have been documented, and can be found in the Cuban TV series Las Razones de Cuba, which is on YouTube but is never mentioned by the mass media of the US and Europe. (Links follow below.) The series exposes the connections between diplomats at the US Interests Section, including CIA officers; dissidents created purposefully by the US (except that they became double agents who reported to Cuban intelligence after being approached by US officials); and US agents such as Gross who enter Cuba by different means. Creating off-the-radar communications nodes that can at some point be connected into a phantom network in Cuba has been a continuing goal of the US. See Fake clothing, 1 / 2 (English subtitles), at 6:08 minutes, and "Verdades y principios", 2 / 2 Hillary Clinton continues to deny any improper intent on the part of USAID --which is mandated to operate under guidance of the State Department-- and asserts simply that the Cubans had no reason to arrest and try Gross and must therefore release him. She knows that the mass media will cooperate --with only one exception so far-- by repeating the official line without question. She has asked for the support of Jewish organizations, often but not invariably with success. For example, Abraham Foxman, national director of the Anti-Defamation League, which has campaigned on Gross’s behalf, was mentioned in The Forward as follows: “I have credibility in our government and the [Gross] family, and don’t have credibility just because an AP story appears. Let’s move on.” Foxman insinuated that the AP report was based on misinformation put out by the Cuban government, a “totalitarian, antidemocratic, dictatorship” that “fosters and has fostered [international] anti-Semitism, which is an enemy of Israel and the Jewish people.” “Why should I take [the Cuban government’s] word,” Foxman asked, “as opposed to our government, the secretary of state, members of Congress and [Gross’s] family?” In fact, the AP reported about its sources that “USAID officials reviewed Gross’ trip reports and received regular briefings on his progress, according to DAI spokesman Steven O’Connor. The reports were made available to the AP by a person familiar with the case who insisted on anonymity because of the documents’ sensitivity.” The original story is not easy to find on Internet. Searches now lead mostly to error notices like "The article requested is no longer available" or "We recently upgraded our site and the page you are looking for either no longer exists or has moved," when they do not end up on irrelevant pages.
A search for "alan
gross" within the AP site "did not match any results," although a
parallel chronology of the Gross story can be found at
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