Alan Gross, an American imprisoned in Cuba for five years, has been released, according to the White House.
“This morning, Alan Gross has departed Cuba on a U.S. government plane bound for the United States,” a senior administration official told the Washington Examiner. “Mr. Gross was released on humanitarian grounds by the Cuban government at the request of the United States.”
Obama will give remarks at the White House on Gross’ release at noon.
The Cuban government released Gross in exchange for three Cubans jailed in the United States, administration officials confirmed. The Cuban prisoners were convicted of conspiracy after being sent to the United States as spies by former Cuban President Fidel Castro.
Gross was imprisoned in 2009 as a government contractor for the U.S. Agency for International Development. He was sent to Cuba to set up Internet access, a move that clashed with Cuban censorship laws.
The deal could pave the way for future U.S.-Cuba negotiations, which have been virtually nonexistent since a trade embargo was put in place against the island nation.
“The Cuban government’s release of Alan on humanitarian grounds would remove an impediment to more constructive relations between the United States and Cuba,” Obama said earlier this month.
This article was first posted at 9:14 a.m. and has since been updated.
