Posted on Tue, Jan. 19, 2010
Cuban Jewish Association does not
know man accused of spying
By JUAN O. TAMAYO
jtamayo@ElNuevoHerald.com
Google translation. Revised by Walter Lippmann.
The leader of the main Jewish association in Cuba said Monday it had no knowledge about the case of a U.S. contractor arrested in the island to deliver government aid from Washington to Jewish groups on the island.
" We receive many visitors daily, we receive hundreds of visitors from abroad,'' said Adela Dworin, by the Cuban Hebrew Trustees. "I can not remember the names of all who visit us,'' Dworin said by telephone from Havana.
Alan P. Gross, aged 60 and from Potomac, Maryland, was identified last week as the U.S. government subcontractor who was arrested on December 4. Sources close to the case at El Nuevo Herald reported that Gross was only helping "two or three Jewish groups to obtain unfiltered Internet access.''
The Cuban government, which tries to control all access to internet, said that Gross is linked to the intelligence services of the United States. Federal government officials flatly denied the accusation.
"The government here [in Cuba] has not informed us of anything about this case (...) never addressed it,'' said Dworin.
The Jewish community in Cuba, made up of some 1,500 people has three synagogues in Havana and two in the provinces. It has received support from Jewish groups outside the island for many years. The board, a combination of community center and synagogue has been renovated using primarily American Jews.
Before the revolution, Cuba had about 15,000 Jews, including Turks and from other parts of the Middle East who came to the island after the First World War, and Europeans who came before and during World War II.
Many left after Fidel Castro took power and 400 immigrated to Israel between 1994 and 2000.
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