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Cuba
has exchanged American citizen Alan Gross for three Cubans jailed in the United
States. The prisoner swap is set to pave the way for a major overhaul of
bilateral ties, potentially bringing an end to over five decades of severed
diplomatic relations.
US
officials said Gross was transported on a government plane Wednesday morning
after being released on humanitarian grounds, which followed a request from the
White House. Gross, who had been imprisoned for five years, was viewed as a
stumbling block towards improving relations between Havana and Washington.
US
President Barack Obama is scheduled make a statement at 1700 GMT on Cuba, the
White House said. Obama is expected to announce a shift in Washington's Cuban
policy. Cuban President Raul Castro, in turn, is scheduled to address his
nation at the same time regarding his country's relationship with the United
States.
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According
to US officials, Washington will begin talks on normalizing diplomatic
relations with Cuba and opening an embassy in the country, AP reports. The
embassy could be opened within months, the officials said.
Republican
Senator Mark Rubio, a 2016 presidential hopeful from the state of Florida, also
said the agreement includes normalizing banking and trade ties with Cuba.
According to Dow Jones, that will include allowing US debit and credit cards to
be used on the island nation. Cuba will also release 53 political prisoners as
a response to Obama’s policy shift.
"This
is going to do absolutely nothing to further human rights and democracy in
Cuba," AP cites Rubio as saying in an interview. "But it potentially goes a long way
in providing the economic lift that the Castro regime needs to become permanent
fixtures in Cuba for generations to come."
Cuba
first arrested the 65-year-old Gross on December 3, 2009. Gross, who worked for
the US Agency for International Development (USAID), was sentenced to 15 years
in prison for importing banned technology and trying to set up internet access
for Cuban Jews which bypassed local censorship.
Cuba
has regularly criticized USAID's programs as illegal attempts for Washington to
undermine Havana.
Gross
was reportedly in poor health, having lost over 100 pounds and five teeth since
his incarceration. He is also said to suffer from a severe case of arthritis.
He
was handed over in exchange for three Cubans who were part of the so-called
‘Cuban Five.’ The group was allegedly sent by former Cuban President Fidel
Castro to carry out espionage in South Florida. The men, who were convicted by
a court in Miami in 2001 on charges including conspiracy and failure to
register as foreign agents, are widely lauded back home.
The
United States severed diplomatic relations with Cuba over 50 years ago due to
the Castro's socialist reforms and increased cooperation with the Soviet Union.
ALong with the severed ties, Washington also imposed a commercial, economic and
financial embargo against Cuba in 1960. That embargo was soon expanded to
include all imports to the small Caribbean island.
The
UN General Assembly has condemned the United States’ decades-long embargo
against Cuba nearly two dozen times.
In
2009, the Obama administration outlined a number of steps Havana could take to
help end the diplomatic rift between the two countries.
Those steps included the
release of political prisoners, allowing US telecom firms to operation within
Cuba, and ending government fees on US dollars sent by family living in the
United States.
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