Spy convicted in US asks to return to Cuba

One of the "Cuban Five" spies convicted on espionage charges has asked a U.S. court to modify the conditions of his release so he can return to live in Cuba, his lawyer told Agence France Presse. Rene Gonzales, one of five Cuban spies convicted in 2001, was released on probation last October under orders to routinely report to the court. But on Tuesday he asked to be allowed to return to Cuba to serve out the remainder of his supervised release, under the condition that he would not need to report to U.S. authorities as long as he remained outside the United States. Gonzales would renounce his U.S. citizenship upon return to Cuba and would report to U.S. officials within 72 hours of any return, according to a copy of the legal request provided by his attorney, Philip Horowitz. Gonzales was allowed to make a two-week visit to Cuba in March to visit his ailing brother. State news reports referred to him as a "hero of the Cuban republic." The U.S. Justice Department had argued against the visit, claiming that Gonzalez could get new spying instructions from intelligence officials there. Gonzalez was arrested in 1998 along with the other members of the Cuban Five: Gerardo Hernandez, Ramon Labanino, Antonio Guerrero and Fernando Gonzalez. The men were found guilty in 2001 of trying to infiltrate U.S. 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 were only gathering information on "terrorist" plots by Cuban expatriates in Florida -- not spying on the U.S. government. The unexpected travel permit was granted just days after the attorney for U.S. contractor Alan Gross, sentenced in 2011 to 15 years in prison on charges of violating Cuba's "independence or territorial integrity," asked President Raul Castro for a similar travel permit to visit his ailing 90 year-old mother. The Cuban government has not responded to the request. Washington has rejected a possible swap of Gross, 63, for the Cuban agents.