Brain trauma found in Cuba diplomats in sonic-attack claims

OFFICIALS are investigating whether US and Canadian diplomats working in Cuba have been the targets of sonic attacks that left them with conditions including mild traumatic brain injuries and damage to the central nervous system.

A doctor diagnosed the conditions after the diplomats complained of symptoms including hearing loss, nausea, headaches and balance disorders, CBS News reported yesterday, citing medical records it had seen.

The “incidents” began affecting diplomats in Havana in late 2016, CBS News said. Now investigators are looking at whether the diplomats were targets of some form of sonic attack directed at their homes.

A source said the incidents had continued to occur on the island and some US diplomats had to cut short their assignments.

The State Department did not immediately comment on the CBS News report. The department said earlier this month that several Americans serving in Cuba had returned to the US for “medical reasons” that were not lifethreatening. The department learned of the incidents at its embassy in Havana in late 2016, said Heather Nauert, a spokesman.

She said the source of the “incidents” was unknown but they “caused a variety of physical symptoms” in American government employees.

Several US citizens at the embassy

‘We would never allow the Cuban territory to be used for any action against diplomats or their families’

were evacuated over the past six months for treatment. Some subsequently received hearing aids. Washington has already expelled two Cuban diplomats over the incidents.

The Cubans say they are investigating the claims but insist they would “never … allow the Cuban territory to be used for any action against accredited diplomatic agents or their families”.

CBS News said one doctor who reviewed the medical records warned about the health risks of future exposures. An American doctor also visited Havana to assess US Embassy workers, the source said.