(JTA) — The wife of a Jewish U.S. aid worker jailed in Cuba accused of being a spy has written a letter to the country’s president expressing his regret.
Reuters also reported that Judy Gross, wife of U.S. Agency for International Development employee Alan Gross, said that President Obama has done little to help secure her husband’s release.
Alan Gross, 61, was arrested on Dec. 3, 2009, for assisting the Cuban Jewish community to connect to the Internet and with world Jewry.
In an Aug. 4 letter to Cuban President Raul Castro, Judy Gross wrote that her husband is needed at home since their daughter was diagnosed recently with breast cancer and is undergoing chemotherapy, according to Reuters. She apologized for her husband’s work in Cuba on behalf of both of them.
"I recognize today that the Cuban government may not like the type of work that Alan was doing in Cuba," she wrote. "But I want you to know that Alan loves the people of Cuba, and he only wanted to help them. He never intended them, or your government, any harm."
Castro has not responded to the letter, according to the report.
No official charges have been filed against Alan Gross, who Cuban officials say committed "serious crimes," Reuters reported.
Judy Gross praised U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton for her efforts on behalf of her husband, but said Obama had yet to take up the case.
Alan Gross suffers from several health ailments that have worsened in prison. Reuters reported that he has lost more than 80 pounds.
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