Contractor for Bethesda company detained in Cuba

[Jimmy2]

WASHINGTON -- Cuba has detained a U.S. development worker, on contract with the U.S. government, who was distributing communications equipment in Cuba including cellphones and laptops, the New York Times reported Friday.

The unidentified contractor works for Development Alternatives Inc, a development group based in the Washington, D.C. suburb of Bethesda, Maryland, the newspaper said, citing unnamed American officials.

Officials at the State Department were not available for comment late Friday, and a spokesman for Development Alternatives could not be reached.

The contractor was detained Dec. 5, and the United States Interests Section in Havana has asked for access to the man, who entered Cuba on a tourist visa without proper documents, the newspaper said.

The incident comes as the Obama administration moves to improve relations between the United States and Cuba, hostile since a 1959 revolution put Fidel Castro in power and led to Cuba's transformation into a communist state.

Since taking office, President Barack Obama has removed limits on Cuban-Americans traveling and sending remittances to the island, just 90 miles off the U.S. coast. Congress is considering lifting a ban on U.S. travel to Cuba.

But Obama has said Cuba must free political prisoners and improve human rights before a 47-year-old trade embargo against Cuba can end.

Last month, a human rights watchdog group said Cuba's government continues to repress critics and detain political prisoners.