'Cuban Five' spy convicted in US visits Cuba

Cuban agent Rene Gonzalez, who is on probation in the United States after serving a 13 year prison sentence for espionage, arrived in Cuba on Friday for a two-week visit to see an ailing brother, state television reported. Gonzalez, described on the news as a "hero of the Cuban republic," arrived slightly after noon (1700 GMT) "on a private and family visit." On March 19 US Judge Joan Lenard in Miami allowed Gonzalez two weeks to travel to Cuba. The US Justice Department argued against the visit, claiming that Gonzalez could get new spying instructions if he met with intelligence officials there. Gonzalez was arrested in 1998 along with the other members of the Cuba Five: Gerardo Hernandez, Ramon Labanino, Antonio Guerrero and Fernando Gonzalez. The men were found guilty in 2001 of trying to infiltrate US military installations in South Florida and were given long prison terms, ranging from 15 years to life. Cuba has acknowledged that the five were intelligence agents, but says the men simply aimed to gather information on "terrorist" plots by Cuban expatriates in Florida -- not to spy on the US government. State media said that "in the motion presented by his attorney, Rene expressed that he would meet the terms established by the visit and return to the United States." The unexpected travel permit was granted just days after the attorney for US contractor Alan Gross, sentenced in 2011 to 15 years prison in Cuba on charges of violating Cuba's "independence or territorial integrity," asked President Raul Castro for a similar travel permit to visit his 90 year-old mother ill with cancer. The Cuban government has not responded to the request. Washington has rejected a possible swap of Gross, 63, for the Cuban agents.