• Submitted by: manso
• Politics and Government
• 08 / 01 / 2011

---

HAVANA -- Cuban lawmakers are seeking tougher punishment for anyone who takes U.S. government funds aimed at promoting democracy, state media reported Saturday.

The reaction followed a decision last week by U.S. Senator John Kerry to end his personal hold on US$20 million in democracy promotion funds earmarked for Cuba.

The funds have not been released yet, however.

They have been on hold as a U.S. State Department contractor Alan Gross is jailed in Cuba, seeking an appeal of his 15-year sentence for taking part in a U.S. campaign to allegedly help Cuban Jews use the Internet. Cuba says he illegally smuggled in communications equipment.

The Cuban National Assembly's international relations committee said that if a U.S. national took money from a Cuban for any reason, he would be jailed.

“So why should any Cuban national be allowed to take major amounts of money approved by the U.S. Congress for nothing less than seeking to undermine Cuba's domestic order?” the committee said.

Cuban authorities call Cuban dissidents in the pay of the United States “mercenaries.” Gross was accused of being a U.S. agent and convicted, following a brief trial, of “acts against the independence or territorial integrity” of Cuba. The case has heightened tensions between Washington and Havana.

Source: www.chinapost.com.tw/international/americas/2011/08/01/311815/Cuba-pursu...