US sent Cuban spy prisoner’s sperm back to his wife in Cuba

The goodwill gesture was part of a wide rapprochement with the socialist island nation

Gerardo Hernandez , one of the "Cuban Five", with his pregnant wife Adriana Perez (Reuters)

The United States government sent a Cuban spy’s sperm back to his wife in Cuba as a goodwill gesture during negotiations with the island nation, it has been confirmed.

Adriana Perez, the wife of Gerardo Hernandez, is expecting a baby in two weeks’ time, despite him having been locked up for sixteen years without private visits.

Mr Hernandez was imprisoned in the United States serving two consecutive life sentences before his release last week as part of a prisoner swap.

He was released alongside two other Cuban agents in exchange for Alan Gross, a Cuban who had been spying for Washington, and 53 unidentified prisoners.

Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy, who facilitated the exchange, has long publicly advocated the release of Mr Goss.

Hernandez was celebrated as an “antiterrorist hero” in his home country for his work infiltrating American Cuban exile groups, at a time when anti-Castro groups were bombing hotels in Cuba.

Upon his return was honoured at a ceremony at the Cuban National Assembly, where he was pictured with his wife, who was obviously pregnant. This fact sparked speculation.

The New York Times reports that Ms Perez became pregnant on the second attempt of artificial insemination, and that the sperm sample was transported through Panama by Cuban officials.

US President Barack Obama this month vowed to chart “a new course on Cuba” and overturn half a century of economic sanctions that failed to topple the Cuban government but intensified its population’s poverty.