Staff at U.S. embassy in Havana at lowest level

MIAMI — The United States has decided maintain a reduced staff at its embassy in Havana, the Department of State announced Friday.

“The embassy will continue to operate with the minimum personnel necessary to perform core diplomatic and consular functions, similar to the level of emergency staffing maintained during ordered departure,” the State Department said in a statement. “The embassy will operate as an unaccompanied post, defined as a post at which no family members are permitted to reside.”

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson decided to reduce the diplomatic presence in Havana at the end of September due to the inexplicable symptoms suffered by at least 24 intelligence officers, diplomats and their relatives, who reported falling ill after hearing strange sounds and feeling vibrations. The State Department considers the incidents, which took place between November 2016 and August 2017, as “health attacks” against U.S. personnel.

The decision on whether or not to return to previous staffing levels had to be made before Sunday, following State Department regulations establishing that the temporary evacuation of personnel can only last six months before making it permanent. In this case, the current decision to declare the embassy in Havana as an “unaccompanied post” should be evaluated annually. That category also means that diplomats cannot be accompanied by their relatives.

The permanent reduction of personnel is bad news for Cubans who want to travel to the United States.

Since Sept. 29, the processing of almost all visas has been suspended in Havana and the issuing of immigration visas has been transferred to Colombia. Cubans must travel to a third country to request tourist and other non-immigrant visas, which has severely limited family and cultural exchange between both countries.

The number of U.S. travelers visiting the island also has dropped after an alert issued by the State Department advised Americans to “reconsider” travel to Cuba.