Cubans scoff at U.S. claims of sonic attack
The Associated Press
HAVANA — A bizarre string of attacks on diplomats in Havana has sent Cuban-American relations to their lowest point in decades, with the Trump administration virtually closing its embassy here and expelling Cuban officials from Washington.
But few people on this communist-run island believe a word of the U.S. allegations.
Despite increasingly tough talk by the U.S., including White House Chief of Staff John Kelly saying Thursday that Cuba “could stop the attacks on our diplomats,” the common reaction in Havana is mocking disbelief.
“It isn’t the first or the last excuse that they invent to discredit Cuba and its leaders,” lawyer Alexander Tamame, 36, said as he walked through Vedado neighborhood in this city where the U.S. says at least 22 strange episodes have occurred over the last year.
“I don’t think anything really happened.”
This skepticism stretches from government supporters like Tamame to its detractors; from fans of the United States to those wary of the giant to the north. Talk to anyone, anywhere in the country about the U.S. allegations that Cuba bears responsibility for attacks with a strange sonic weapon that have affected at least 22 embassy officials or spouses — some very seriously — and you’ll likely be met with laughter.
American officials say embassy officials began hearing strange, highpitched shrieking noises in their homes last year, with many soon after reporting severe symptoms including deafness, vision problems and difficulty concentrating. Despite unprecedented Cuban cooperation with a U.S. investigation, the Trump administration says President Raul Castro’s government has failed to guarantee that Americans will be safe in Cuba.
Some Havana residents took a mocking tone.
“It sounds like Star Wars,” said Dayan Rosete, a 23-year-old language student, as he stood chatting with a friend in front of the Habana Libre hotel.
Cuban skepticism reflects an increasingly assertive stance by President Raul’s Castro’s government, which has gone in three months from issuing statements of deep concern about the attacks to questioning whether they even occurred. While the Cuban media diet has diversified with the spread of internet access around the country over the last three years, most Cubans still get their news from statecontrolled media that function fundamentally as outlets for such statements from the government.
The Cuban Ministry of Foreign Relations said after the attacks became public in August that “Cuba has addressed the matter with the utmost seriousness and has acted swiftly and professionally to clear up the situation.”
It ended its statement saying the government “reiterates its willingness to cooperate to clear up the situation.”
By the time the U.S. pulled staff from Havana last month and expelled Cubans a few days later, Rodriguez was striking a different tone, calling the attacks “alleged incidents” and blaming the United States for impeding the investigation by failing to share information with Cuba.