Diplomat hurt by sonic weapon?

At least one Canadian in Cuba has been treated for unexplained hearing loss, like U.S. diplomats

At least one Canadian diplomat in Cuba has been treated for hearing loss, the federal government said Thursday, amid reports of similar symptoms among U.S. diplomats in Havana — caused, officials believe, by some sort of advanced sonic device.

Canadian officials “are aware of unusual symptoms affecting Canadian and US diplomatic personnel and their families in Havana,” Global Affairs spokesperson Brianne Maxwell said in a statement.

“The government is actively working — including with U.S. and Cuban authorities — to ascertain the cause.”

Officials don’t have any reason to believe Canadian tourists or other visitors could be affected, Maxwell added.

Canada helped broker talks between Cuba and the United States that led to restored diplomatic relations.

In the fall of 2016, a series of U.S. diplomats began suffering unexplained losses of hearing, according to officials with knowledge of the investigation into the case. Several of the diplomats were recent arrivals at the embassy, which reopened in 2015 as part of President Barack Obama’s reestablishment of diplomatic relations with Cuba.

Some of the U.S. diplomats’ symptoms were so severe that they were forced to cancel their tours early and return to the U.S., officials said. They concluded that the diplomats had been attacked with an advanced sonic weapon that operated outside the range of audible sound and had been deployed either inside or outside their residences.

It was not immediately clear if the device was a weapon used in a deliberate attack, or had some other purpose.

The U.S. officials weren’t authorized to discuss the investigation publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert said the U.S. retaliated by expelling two Cuban diplomats from their embassy in Washington on May 23. She did not say how many U.S. diplomats were affected or confirm they had suffered hearing loss, saying only that they had “a variety of physical symptoms.”

The Cuban government said in a lengthy statement late Wednesday that “Cuba has never permitted, nor will permit, that Cuban territory be used for any action against accredited diplomatic officials or their families, with no exception.”

The statement from the Cuban Foreign Ministry said it had been informed of the incidents on Feb. 17 and had launched an “exhaustive, high-priority, urgent investigation at the behest of the highest level of the Cuban government.” It said the decision to expel two Cuban diplomats was “unjustified and baseless.”

The ministry said it had created an expert committee to analyze the incidents and had reinforced security.