• Submitted by: manso
• Politics and Government
• 03 / 08 / 2011

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March 7 update: An IPS reporter said the press service was wrong about the $2.6 million and has deleted references to it. An inadvertent translation error led to the mistake, the reporter said.

March 6 post: Inter Press Service said today that U.S. officials are spending $2.6 million to defend Alan Gross, the American contractor found guilty on accused* of taking part in a "subversive project" aimed at toppling Cuba's socialist government.

The IPS claims officials are using funds from a $20 million budget that the State Department set up to pay for democracy programs in Cuba in 2010.

A reader questioned the IPS report and said the press service might have mixed up some numbers. The company that hired Gross, DAI, had a $2.6 million government contract. That same dollar amount, the reader noticed, somehow became the amount the U.S. is spending to defend Gross in the IPS article.

The reader said he believes the report must be inaccurate, and I think he's probably right.I sent IPS an email asking if the agency has any documents or other information to support the claim. I'll post additional information if I get it. Phil Peters of the Cuban Triangle blog points out that Gross has not been found guilty - yet.

Source: http://alongthemalecon.blogspot.com/