New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson says he’s made progress in talks with Cuban officials on released a jailed US contractor. The contractor, Alan Gross, was arrested in December on suspicion of being a US spy after handing out equipment to Cuban opposition groups. Speaking in Havana, Richardson rejected linking Gross’s case to the jailing of the Cuban Five, who are serving lengthy sentences in the US for trying to monitor violent right-wing Cuban exile groups responsible for attacks inside Cuba.

Bill Richardson: “The Obama administration asked me to raise at the highest levels the case of Alan Gross, and I’ve done so with several officials. I’ve been informed by the Cuban government that the Gross case is at a very sensitive investigatory and legal process. I do believe, as I want to emphasize, that I’ve made inroads on this case. I believe that the two cases of the Cuban Five and the Gross case are separate, and I believe both countries are treating them separately.”