LatinNews Daily - 17 March 2011

Cuba: On 12 March the US government said it deplored the ruling by a Cuban court which sentenced a US national, Alan Gross, to 15 years in jail for subversion and acts against the Cuban state. Gross's lawyer, Peter J. Kahn, said that he may appeal the ruling before the Supreme People's Tribunal, the highest court in Cuba. There is also some expectation that having made its point about US interference in sovereign affairs, the Cuban government might decide to release Gross on humanitarian grounds, given that the political costs of continuing to hold him in Cuba would be fairly high. The Barack Obama government has repeatedly warned that further official efforts to improve bilateral relations hinge on the release of Gross.