'I’d like to talk to [Obama],' Judy Gross says. | AP Photos Wife's plea for American held in Cuba

The wife of American aid worker Alan Gross, who’s been imprisoned in Cuba for more than two years, said Tuesday she is “disappointed” that President Barack Obama hasn’t responded to her plea to discuss her husband’s case.

Gross, 62 and suffering from health problems, was initially jailed without charges for 14 months and was then convicted by the Cuban courts of attempting to subvert the government. Gross was working in Cuba on a humanitarian mission as a subcontractor for USAID: to improve internet access for the Jewish communities on the island nation.


Judy Gross, who lives in Washington, D.C., said the White House has not responded to her request to speak with the president or corresponded with her.

“We haven’t really had any communication,” she told POLITICO. “I don’t know about the White House and how they feel [about this case]… I’d like to talk to him [Obama] and find out what he thinks he can do to get Alan home.”

“Give me a call, I’d like to talk to you,” she said of the president. Asked what she’d say to Obama, Judy Gross said, “I’d love to tell him what my family’s been through.”

The State Department and members of Congress have stepped up to advocate on behalf of the Gross family, according to Mrs. Gross.

Sens. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Richard Shelby (R-Ala.), Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Chris Coons (D-Dela.) and Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), among others, have visited to Cuba to see Mr. Gross.

The White House insisted Tuesday that it and the State Department had been in regular touch with Mrs. Gross.

“White House and State Department officials have met with and have been in regular contact with Mrs. Gross throughout Mr. Gross’s ordeal, and will continue to strongly advocate for his release,” said presidential spokesperson Tommy Vietor. “As the White House and Secretary of State have said publicly on a number of occasions, we are deeply concerned by Mr. Gross’s unjust detention and believe he should be released immediately.”

Some observers believe that the Cuban government is holding Gross in hopes of securing the release of the Cuban Five, a group of Cuban intelligence officers convicted in the United States of espionage and conspiracy to commit murder.

“Alan is a pawn from a failed policy between the two governments… two countries that don’t have diplomatic relations,” Mrs. Gross said. “The trial wasn’t about him. It was about USAID and U.S. policy towards Cuba.”

The Gross family has endured tremendous hardship since Alan Gross’ imprisonment in December 2009, she said.

Both his 90-year-old mother and his 27-year-old daughter have been diagnosed with cancer in the past year and a half, during the time Alan Gross has been imprisoned. Mrs. Gross, having lost the primary bread-winner of the household to whom she’s been married over 40 years, has had to work 50 hours a week just to get by.

Alan Gross’ own health has deteriorated, having lost an estimated 100 pounds while incarcerated. He also continues to be aggravated by arthritis that acts up when he is not moving around.

There is hope ahead, however, in a coming Papal visit to Cuba on March 26. Advocates of Gross’ release hope that Pope Benedict XVI will press the case with Cuban President Raul Castro.

“We need Alan home on humanitarian grounds. We hope the Pope can do that. It’s not a political case. It’s really a humanitarian case. Whether you’re Republican or Democrat, whether you like Cuba or don’t like Cuba, everybody wants Alan home,” said Mrs. Gross.

Gross says she is doing what she can to remain upbeat despite exhausting, relentless efforts to advocate on behalf of her husband’s release – all on top of a grueling work week and family medical problems.

“There are some days when I feel I’m never going to see him again, that his mother, his family, will never see him again,” said Mrs. Gross. “I won’t be totally satisfied until Alan walks through the door.”

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