from Editing by Kevin Gray and Todd Eastham)* U.S. judge granted permission for 15-day trip
* Cuban agent promised to return to U.S. to finish parole
* Jailed American Alan Gross has requested similar release
(Adds comment from Alan Gross' wife)
By Jeff Franks
HAVANA, March 30 (Reuters) - A Cuban agent on parole in the
United States after 13 years behind bars for his activities in
an espionage ring has returned temporarily to the communist
island to visit his critically ill brother, state television
reported on Friday.
Rene Gonzalez, one of what Cuba calls the "Five Heroes,"
returned on Friday "on a private family visit," it said.
U.S. District Judge Joan Lenard granted Gonzalez his request
for the visit on March 19 with the proviso that he had to obtain
permission from the U.S. government and return within 15 days.
Gonzalez's brother is said to be dying of lung cancer.
Similarly, jailed American contractor Alan Gross has
requested that Cuban President Raul Castro allow him a temporary
return to the United States to visit his 89-year-old mother, who
has inoperable lung cancer.
Gonzalez, 55, is one of the so-called Cuban Five convicted
of conspiring to spy on Cuban exile groups and U.S. military
activities in Florida. Their organization was known as the "Wasp
Network."
One of them is serving a double life sentence for his part
in the shooting down of two U.S. planes in 1996 flown by an
exile group that dropped anti-goverment leaflets over Havana.
In the United States, the case is little known outside the
Cuban exile community, but is a major issue in Cuba where the
government repeatedly says they were wrongly convicted and
demands their release.
It says the agents were only collecting information on Cuban
exile groups planning actions against the island 90 miles (145
km) from Key West, Florida
Gonzalez, who has dual U.S.-Cuban citizenship, was the first
of the five to be released from jail when he finished his
sentence last year, but was ordered to stay in the United States
for a three-year probation.
WELCOMED BACK TO THE HOMELAND
His U.S. lawyer, Phil Horowitz, assured Lenard in a February
hearing he would return from Cuba to complete his probation. He
has been living at an undisclosed location in Florida.
"In spite of the conditions imposed, our people, with deep
respect, welcomes our dear Rene to the homeland and do not cease
in the struggle for his definitive return along with his four
close brothers," state television said.
Cuba has hinted at a possible swap of the Cuban Five for
Gross, who is serving a 15-year sentence in Cuba for illegally
installing Internet networks for Cuban Jewish groups. He was
working for a U.S. program that Cuba considers subversive.
The United States has rejected the idea, but Gross' attorney
Peter Kahn recently sent a letter to Cuban President Raul Castro
requesting that Gross, 62, be allowed to visit his family. His
mother has inoperable lung cancer and has taken a turn for the
worse, and his daughter has breast cancer.
His wife, Judy Gross, said she was pleased Gonzalez had
been allowed to visit his ailing brother in Cuba and hoped her
husband would be allowed to travel to Dallas for his mother's
90th birthday on April 15.
"I certainly empathize with his (Gonzalez's) family's
suffering," Judy Gross said. "I pray that President Raul Castro
will find it in his heart to reciprocate the U.S. gesture and
give us a positive answer.
"This is Cuba's chance to show that they are serious about
dealing with Alan's case on what they themselves have called a
'reciprocal humanitarian basis.'"
Both the Gross family and the U.S. government asked Pope
Benedict to seek his release during his visit this week to Cuba.
A Vatican spokesman said "humanitarian requests" had been
made to the Cuban government, but offered no further details.
Gross has been in Cuban custody since December 2009 and his
family says he suffers from health problems.
The case has stalled modest progress in U.S.-Cuba relations
under U.S. President Barack Obama.
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