US contractor Alan Gross has landed on American soil after five years of imprisonment in Cuba.
In his first public remarks after arrival, Gross spoke supportively of President Barack Obama's move to normalize ties with Cuba.
"Five-and-a-half decades of history show us that such belligerence inhibits better judgment. Two wrongs never make a right. I truly hope that we can now get beyond these mutually belligerent policies and I was very happy to hear what the president had to say today."
The 65-year-old was freed Wednesday as part of an agreement that also includes the release of three Cubans jailed in the US as well as a swap for an unnamed US intelligence asset held in Cuba for two decades.
Gross was working for the United States Agency for International Development when he was arrested in Cuba in December 2009.
Later, he was sentenced to 15 years for smuggling illegal technology into the country.
