Fidel Castro meets with 5 Cuban agents once held by US

Former president and revolutionary leader Fidel Castro has met with five Cuban agents who were the focus of years-long political battle for their return to the island from imprisonment in the US.
The official daily Granma yesterday carries a letter by Castro about the five-hour meeting he says occurred on Saturday. Castro says the men caused no damage to the US, where they were arrested in 1998 and later convicted on spying-related charges.
The letter is accompanied by photos of the meeting.
The US returned three of the men to Cuba on December 17 under a prisoner exchange. The others were already free after completing their US prison sentences.

Cuba released USAID contractor Alan Gross on the same day in exchange for the agents.