Cuba requests a 20-year prison sentence for 'US spy'

In a statement released through the Communist paper newspaper, Cuba said Alan Gross, the contractor, was being charged with violating Cuba’s “independence and territorial integrity”, whilst revealing that a trial date will be set up “shortly”.

The cases has created a new diplomatic tension between Washington and Havana, Cuba’s capital city.

The charges against Gross, 61, are enlisted as crimes against state security and suggest that Cuba is taking a hard line in the case.

“The US government has been informed of this and duly notified through the diplomatic channels that its consular representatives, Mr Gross's relatives and his family lawyers will be allowed to attend the trial," the statement said.

But the US government heavily criticised the action. President Barack Obama's spokesman Robert Gibbs said Gross "has been unjustly detained and deprived of his liberty and freedom for the last 14 months."

But instead of releasing him, the White House said the decision "compounds the injustice suffered by a man helping to increase the free flow of information, to, from, and among the Cuban people."