The Miami Republican is calling on the Obama administration to walk back its decision to ease restrictions on travel to Cuba in light of the Cuban government's apparent decision today to seek a 20 year prison sentence for American contractor Alan Gross.
The White House and State Department reacted to the news out of Havana with fury, reiterating a call for Gross's release, whom Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said "has been unjustly detained and deprived of his liberty and freedom for the last 14 months.
"Instead of releasing Mr. Gross so he can come home to his wife and family, today's decision by Cuban authorities compounds the injustice suffered by a man helping to increase the free flow of information, to, from, and among the Cuban people," Gibbs said.
But Rivera tied the Cuban government's decision to last month's move by the White House to make it easier for school and church groups to travel to Cuba.
"The Castro dictatorship has responded by seeking unjustifiably harsh penalties against an American citizen," Rivera said. "The situation with Alan Gross demonstrates the futility of making unilateral concessions to the Castro dictatorship, and shows that the Castro regime has no respect for civil liberties, human rights or due process of law."
He asked Obama to "immediately rescind" the new travel rules in response.
State Department spokesman PJ Crowley said: "As Secretary Clinton has said, Alan Gross has been harshly and unfairly jailed for too long.
We deplore the Cuban government’s announcement that Cuban prosecutors intend to seek a 20 year sentence against Mr. Gross. As we have said many times before Mr. Gross is a dedicated international development worker who was in Cuba providing support to members of the Cuban Jewish community. He has been held without charges for more than a year, contrary to all international human rights obligations and commitments regarding justice and due process. He should be home with his family now."
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