Md. man in Cuban prison dreams of baseball games

Posted on Monday, 08.06.12

Md. man in Cuban prison dreams of baseball games
By JESSICA GRESKO
Associated Press

WASHINGTON -- An American man imprisoned in Cuba for more than two years
would like to see a Cuban baseball game, eat ribs and drink Scotch if
and when he gets out of prison, his older sister Monday.

Bonnie Rubinstein, the sister of Cuban prisoner Alan Gross, was in
Washington Monday for a weekly demonstration in front of Cuba's
equivalent of an embassy.

In an interview afterward, she said her 63-year-old brother is a
Washington Redskins football fan who has grown interested in Cuban
baseball because his jailors watch games.

She said he would also like to enjoy ribs with her and other family
members in Texas and her husband recently bought a bottle of 12-year-old
single-malt Scotch he plans to save until his brother-in-law is home.

It could be a while. Gross, a Maryland native, has been in prison for
almost 1,000 days. He was arrested in 2009 while working for a U.S.
government subcontractor as part of a democracy-building program in
Cuba. He is now serving a 15-year prison term for bringing restricted
communications equipment into Cuba.

Rubinstein, who is four years older that her brother and lives in
Dallas, was one of more than a dozen supporters who stood in front of
the Cuban Interests Section in Washington chanting "Free Alan Gross Now"
and "Let Alan Gross Go."

Rubinstein described her brother as gregarious and outgoing, a lover of
music and a whiz at picking up and playing musical instruments. She also
expressed frustration that her brother remains in prison in Cuba with a
number of growing health issues.

"Why is he still there?" she asked, adding that she feels "he's being
ignored" by the U.S. government.

"Alan does not want to be forgotten. He doesn't want to be left there.
He wants people to know about him," she said.

http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/08/06/2936257/md-man-in-cuban-prison-dreams.html