The decision by a Cuban court to reject the appeal of American citizen Alan P. Gross sends an unequivocal message that Cuba’s hardliners remain unmoved by humanitarian concerns or Washington’s efforts to establish a better relationship with the regime. This regime isn’t interested in a better relationship.

The 62-year-old U.S. Agency of International Development subcontractor was thrown in jail following his arrest in December of 2009 for the “crime” of bringing equipment into the country to help the impoverished members of its tiny Jewish community connect with the Internet. Only in Cuba would this otherwise benign act be characterized as subversion and the hapless individual caught in a trap labeled a spy.

He was later sentenced to 15 years in prison. Cuba’s highest court upheld that sentence on Friday. Ostensibly, it’s a judicial decision, but have no doubt — Fidel and Raúl Castro dictated this outcome. The decision was rightly condemned by lawmakers in Washington from both parties and leaders of the Jewish community in this country for its harshness and unfairness.

U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen of Miami, who chairs the House Foreign Affairs Committee, called it an “unjust and unwarranted imprisonment” and demanded his unconditional release. “This administration must realize that two bit tyrants only understand hardball tactics and they are not at all moved by the diplomatic niceties that Obama has engaged in.” On the other side of the aisle, Rep. Eliot L. Engel, D-New York, labeled the decision “simply unjustified and inhumane.”

Sen. Marco Rubio called it “a deplorable human rights violation.” He’s right. The sentence is vastly out of proportion for what anywhere else would constitute a mere customs violation.

Calls for leniency for Mr. Gross for humanitarian reasons are well grounded. He’s been confined for 19 months already, and, according to his wife, has undergone severe weight loss in prison. He suffers from a variety of ailments, including diabetes. His daughter has cancer and his mother is also said to be in poor health.

Clearly, humanitarian appeals from both the administration and other leading voices in this country have fallen on deaf ears in Havana. Mr. Obama has no choice but to stiffen his backbone and react to hardball tactics by putting a freeze on efforts to reach out to Cuba’s leadership in ways that will get their attention. The Editorial Board has supported increased people-to-people contacts and family visits. We still do. But the administration’s rhetorical demands for his release have gone nowhere, and likely won’t unless the administration makes an appropriate response.

For openers, the administration should put a hold on cultural exchanges — halting visas for Cuban entertainers who come to this country and reap financial benefits for the regime — and reduce family visits to once a year instead of the open-ended rule that currently prevails. Cuba needs dollars now, and anything that affects this vital lifeline would matter to the regime and its leaders.

There’s a time and place for goodwill, unilateral gestures and concessions. But as long as Alan Gross remains a hostage of the Cuban dictatorship, it does not deserve either conciliation from the United States or the level of respect from the international community granted to free countries.

Souce: Miami Herald