National News
Senator: 'Give and take' needed between US, Cuba
Posted: Feb 24, 2013 8:35 AM by Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) - A senator just back from Cuba says it will require "give and take on both sides" and "quiet negotiation" to secure the release of an American man imprisoned in Cuba.
Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont says that Alan Gross isn't going to be released by the Cuban government because of pressure from the United States.
Leahy tells CNN's "State of the Union" that it's time to re-examine the overall U.S.-Cuban relationship and move on from the "Cold War mentality" of the 1960s and 1970s.
Leahy met last week with Gross and raised his case during a meeting that a congressional delegation had with Cuban President Raul Castro.
Gross, who's from Maryland, is serving a 15-year-sentence for bringing communications equipment to the island illegally while on a USAID-funded democracy-building program.
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