U.S. says baffling attacks now affect 19 diplomats
WASHINGTON — Mysterious incidents affecting the health of American diplomats in Cuba continued as recently as August, the United States said, despite earlier U.S. assessments that the attacks had long stopped. The U.S. increased its tally of government personnel affected to 19.
The new U.S. disclosures Friday came the same day that the union representing American diplomats said mild traumatic brain injury was among the diagnoses given to diplomats victimized in the attacks. In the most detailed account of the symptoms to date, the American Foreign Service Association said permanent hearing loss was another diagnosis, and that additional symptoms had included brain swelling, severe headaches, loss of balance and “cognitive disruption.”
At the State Department, spokesman Heather Nauert said the U.S. was continually revising its assessments of the scope of the attacks as new information was obtained.
“We can confirm another incident which occurred last month and is now part of the investigation,” Nauert said.
U.S. officials had previously said the attacks, initially believed to be caused by a potential covert sonic device, had started in the fall of 2016 and continued until this spring. Last month, Nauert had said at least 16 Americans associated with the U.S. Embassy in Havana had been affected but that the “incidents” were no longer occurring.
The evolving U.S. assessment indicated that investigators were still far from any thorough understanding of what transpired in the attacks, described by the U.S. as unprecedented. As the saga has unfolded, the U.S. has encouraged its diplomats to report any strange physical sensations, so it’s unclear whether some symptoms being attributed to the attacks are actually unrelated to them.
Still, the fact that there was an incident as recently as August suggests that the attacks likely continued long after the U.S. government became aware of them and ostensibly raised the issue with the Cuban government, creating even more uncertainty about the timeline and who was responsible.
The U.S. has avoided accusing Cuba’s government of being behind the attacks. The U.S. did expel two Cuban diplomats, but the State Department emphasized that that was in protest of the Cubans’ failure to protect the safety of American diplomats while on their soil, not an indication that the U.S. felt that Havana masterminded the attacks.
U.S. investigators have been searching to identify a device that could have harmed the health of the diplomats, believed to have been attacked in their homes in Havana, but officials have said no device has been found.
One of the diplomats affected had arrived this summer to work at the U.S. Embassy and was later diagnosed with concussionlike symptoms, said a U.S. official, who declined to specify the symptoms that led the diplomat to report the situation.
In Canada, a government official said the Canadian government had first learned in March that one of its citizens was affected. Ottawa had previously confirmed that at least one Canadian diplomat was involved but had not revealed any timeline for when it occurred or came to light.
It’s unclear whether Canadians were intentionally targeted or whether they were collateral damage from an attack aimed at Americans, given that diplomats from various countries often live in the same areas of a foreign capital. U.S. officials have said the Americans were targeted in their homes in Havana, not in the embassy.
Canadian officials have been actively working with U.S. and Cuban authorities to ascertain the cause. A Cuban attack deliberately targeting Canadians would be even more confounding, given that Canada has long had friendly ties to Cuba.
The American Foreign Service Association, in describing the damage to diplomats’ health, said it had met with or spoken to 10 diplomats affected, but did not specify how many of the 10 had been diagnosed with hearing loss or with mild traumatic brain injury, commonly called a concussion.
The confirmation that at least some diplomats suffered brain injury suggested that the attacks caused more serious damage than the hearing-related complaints that were initially reported.