U.S. cuts staff in Cuba, issues travel warning
Investigators don’t know what is behind incidents that harmed diplomats, families
The United States is warning Americans against visiting Cuba and ordering more than half of its Havana embassy personnel to leave the island, senior officials said Friday in a dramatic response to what they described as targeted “specific attacks” affecting the health of U.S. diplomats.
The decision deals a blow to already delicate ties between the U.S. and Cuba, longtime adversaries who only recently began putting their hostility behind them. The embassy in Havana will lose roughly 60 per cent of its U.S. staff and will stop processing visas in Cuba indefinitely, the American officials said. Roughly 50 Americans are currently working at the embassy in Havana.
In a new travel warning, the U.S. said some of the mysterious attacks have occurred in Cuban hotels, and while American tourists aren’t known to have been hurt, they could be exposed if they travel to Cuba. Tourism is a critical component of Cuba’s economy that has grown in recent
years as the U.S. relaxed restrictions.
For now, the United States is not ordering any Cuban diplomats to leave Washington, another move that the administration had considered, officials said. Several U.S. lawmakers have called on the administration to expel all Cuban diplomats.
In May, Washington asked two to leave, but emphasized it was to protest Havana’s failure to protect diplomats on its soil, not an accusation of blame.
Almost a year after diplomats began describing unexplained health problems, U.S investigators still don’t know what or who is behind the attacks, which have harmed at least 21 diplomats and their families, some with injuries as serious as traumatic brain injury and permanent hearing loss. Other symptoms have included fatigue, visual and balance problems, difficulty sleeping and dizziness.
Although the State Department has called them “incidents” and generally avoided deeming them attacks, officials said Friday the U.S. now has determined there were “specific attacks” on American personnel in Cuba.
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson made the decision to draw down the embassy overnight while travelling to China, officials said, after considering other options that included a full embassy shutdown and less significant personnel reductions. President Donald Trump reviewed the options with Tillerson in a meeting earlier in the week.
The officials demanded anonymity to provide the information because the moves had yet to be announced.
The United States notified Cuba early Friday via its embassy in Washington. Cuba’s embassy had no immediate comment.
Cubans seeking visas to enter the U.S. may be able to apply through embassies in nearby countries, officials said. The U.S. will also stop sending official delegations to Cuba, though diplomatic discussions will continue in Washington.
The moves deliver a significant setback to the delicate reconciliation between the U.S. and Cuba, two countries that endured a half-century estrangement despite their locations only 90 miles apart. In 2015, President Barack Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro restored diplomatic ties. Embassies re-opened, and travel and commerce restrictions were eased. Trump has reversed some changes, but has broadly left the rapprochement in place.
The Trump administration has pointedly not blamed Cuba for perpetrating the attacks. Officials have weighed the best way to minimize potential risk for Americans in Havana without unnecessarily harming relations between the countries.
Rather than describe the action as punitive, the administration will emphasize Cuba’s responsibility to keep diplomats on its soil safe.