Cuban officials arrested 60-year-old social worker Alan P. Gross over suspicions he is a spy, according to this article in the New York Times.

Gross, who studied social work at the University of Maryland and Virginia Commonwealth University, went to Cuba as part of a United States government program that provided encouragement and financial aid to religious nonprofit groups.

Cuba has not formally charged Gross with any crime and have given almost no information to the U.S. government, raising speculation about why they detained him.

“The Cuban regime is obviously looking for some kind of U.S. concession, callously using the contractor as a bargaining chip,” said Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.), a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

gone to Cuba as part of a United States government program and was providing encouragement and financial assistance to religious nonprofit groups