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DE RUEHUB #0772/01 3622045
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O 282045Z DEC 09
FM USINT HAVANA
TO SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 5053

C O N F I D E N T I A L HAVANA 000772 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR WHA/CCA ALSO FOR CA/OCS 
DEPT PASS TO NSC 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/27/2019 
TAGS: CASC PREL PGOV CU
SUBJECT: FIRST CONSULAR VISIT TO ALAN PHILIP GROSS 
 
Classified By: COM Jonathan Farrar for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) 
 
¶1.  (C) SUMMARY:  Consul General Martha Melzow visited 
arrested Amcit Philip Alan Gross on Monday, December 28 at 
Villa Marista. Although Gross was arrested on December 3, 
consular access was not granted by the GOC until December 24. 
Gross told Congen that he is charged with contraband. He 
appeared to be in good spirits although suffering from high 
blood pressure.  Gross signed a Privacy Act Waiver (PAW) for 
his wife, his lawyer and Jack McCarthy of DAI.  END SUMMARY 
 
¶2. f(t_ 
---------------

¶4.  (C) Gross said that the tests revealed high blood 
pressure as well as the existence of a duodenal ulcer for 
which he is receiving medication.  Gross is currently taking 
five prescriptions, three for the ulcer, one for hypertension 
and one for elevated levels of uric acid in his urine.  He 
said he had not experienced hypertension prior to his arrest, 
and hoped that he would be off the medication soon, because 
he felt that it was affecting his clear-headedness and 
balance.  Gross mentioned that he had fallen down and also 
fainted, and that he needed to stand up from a sitting 
position slowly.  Gross commented to the CG that he had lost 
30 pounds, noting that he was trying to limit the amount of 
carbohydrates in his diet. He observed that he was given 
lettuce and fresh fruit to eat and joked that good health 
seemed to be a very important concept for the prison. 
(COMMENT:  Post will request another visit soonest to address 
these health concerns.  END COMMENT.)

ARREST CONDITIONS 
-----------------

¶5.  (C) Gross declared that he was being treated well and was 
not physically abused by GOC officials. However, he did 
reveal that the interrogation schedule had been very intense 
at first; he estimated that it had endured on average 2 hours 
daily.  He repeated that GOC officials had treated him with 
respect. His cell has a television and a fan; however, he 
expressed concern about having to share it with two other 
individuals. He told the CGthat although he was wearing his 
own clothes, this was the first day he had been allowed to 
use a belt and shoelaces.  Gross said that he had been 
permitted outside for a walk in the organic garden belonging 
to the prison.  He confirmed that he had spoken twice by 
telephone with his wife on December 6 and December 23. 

¶6.  (C) When queried by the CG as to what he was charged 
with, Gross said quote contraband end quote with no further 
clarification.  Gross stated that his personal effects at the 
time of his arrest consisted of a rolling suitcase, a 
backpack and that he had been carrying two cell phones, an 
IPOD, his CityBank password decoder and some electronic 
adaptors, in addition to toiletries and his U.S. passport 
which had been confiscated by Cuban authorities. 

¶7. (C) The CG relayed the message from his family:  that they 
were well, that they had retained an American lawyer for him 
and that the attorney was trying to secure Cuban counsel for 
him.  At that point Gross pulled the business card of a Cuban 
attorney who had come to visit him (Armanda Nuria Pinero 
Sierra of the firm Bufete de Servicios Especializados or Law 
Firm of Specialized Services).  He asked that post clarify 
with his U.S. lawyer that they would handle finding him an 
attorney so he did not have to worry about it. 

¶8.  (C) The CG gave Gross the funds which his wife had sent 
via OCS trust and also informed him that a box of supplies 
including energy bars, multi-vitamins, and reading material 
as well as some toiletries and other items, had been left 
with GOC officials for his use.  The visit lasted about an 
hour.  GOC officials expressed surprise that it had not 
lasted longer. 

¶9.  (C) Comment:  Gross wanted to know if the CG knew about 
his activities.  She said she did not.  He then said that 
anyone could do a Google search on the Internet and find out 
what he had been doing in his career.  He told the CG that 
the GOC officials quote knew everything end quote before he 
was taken into custody and had asked for details of all his 
activities, i.e., the projects and companies he had worked 
for in the 54 countries he had travelled to during his 30 
year career.  He asked the CG if there were other Americans 
in the same situation, i.e., other Amcits entering Cuba on 
the same type of program who had been detained.  He also 
asked the CG if his case might be compared in any way to 
that of the Cuban Five.  The CG did not respond to either of 
these questions.Finally, Gross asked that post relay to his 
family that his sense of humor is intact, that he is worried 
about them and that he wants his name kept out of the press. 
He also said that he wanted to thank everyone for all the 
efforts being made on his behalf.

FARRAR