U. S. warns Americans to avoid Cuba
State Department cites series of bizarre ‘ attacks’
The U. S. State Department, responding to a series of mysterious “attacks” on diplomats in Havana, warned Americans on Friday against travel to Cuba and ordered more than half of its diplomatic personnel to leave the island.
The warning comes as the Trump White House was already moving to reverse the Obama administration’s easing of travel restrictions two years ago as part of an effort to improve relations between the longtime enemies.
In 2015, Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro restored diplomatic ties. Embassies reopened, and travel and commerce restrictions eased. President Trump has reversed some changes but broadly left the rapprochement in place.
The latest decision will deliver a heavy blow to the Cuban economy, which increasingly depends on tourism.
The State Department, in issuing the formal travel warning, said on its website that the U. S. has been unable to identify the source of the attacks on diplomats and believes that “U. S. citizens may also be at risk.”
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said in a statement that while there are no reports that private U. S. citizens have been affected “the attacks are known to have occurred in U. S. diplomatic residences and hotels frequented by U. S. citizens.”
He said the decision to pull out nonemergency diplomatic personnel and their families was done to ensure their safety.
“We maintain diplomatic relations with Cuba, and our work in Cuba continues to be guided by the national security and foreign policy interests of the United States,” Tillerson said. “Cuba has told us it will continue to investigate these attacks, and we will continue to cooperate with them in this effort.”
The U. S. is expected to pull out roughly 60% of the embassy’s U. S. staff and halt the processing of visas in Cuba indefinitely.
Cubans seeking visas to enter the U. S. may be able to apply through embassies in nearby countries. The U. S. will also stop sending official delegations to Cuba, though diplomatic discussions will continue in Washington.
The abrupt decision follows a series of unexplained reports, beginning almost a year ago, of health problems for some 21 diplomats and their families. Significant injuries have included ear complaints, hearing loss, dizziness, tinnitus, balance problems, visual complaints, headache, fatigue, cognitive issues and difficulty sleeping, the State Department said.
After a lengthy lull, the U. S. noted renewed attacks in August, senior State Department officials said in a background call with reporters ahead of the official announcement. One official said the means and methods of the attacks remain unknown and therefore could not be characterized as “having stopped in August.”
The FBI and other agencies that searched homes and hotels where incidents occurred found no devices. And clues about the circumstances of the incidents seem to make any explanation scientifically implausible.
Some U. S. diplomats reported hearing loud noises or feeling vibrations when the incidents occurred, but others heard and felt nothing yet reported symptoms later. In some cases, the effects were narrowly confined, with victims able to walk “in” and “out” of blaring noises audible in only certain rooms or parts of rooms, The Associated Press reported.
Diplomats from Canada, which has warm relations with Cuba, have suffered similar health problems.
In a meeting with Tillerson on Tuesday, Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez denied Cuba was involved in the attacks and accused the U. S. of politicizing the incidents, CNN reported. Cuba has also invited FBI agents to travel to Havana to investigate the incidents.
Citing its own investigation, Cuba’s embassy said after the bilateral meeting, “There is no evidence so far of the cause or the origin of the health disorders reported by the U. S. diplomats.”
The Cuban foreign ministry also said in a statement that a “priority investigation” of the incident was opened “from the moment these incidents were first reported, and additional measures were adopted to protect the U. S. diplomats and their relatives.”
The United States notified Cuba of the latest moves early Friday via its embassy in Washington. Cuba’s embassy had no immediate comment.
While the U. S. stopped short of outright blaming Cuba for the incidents, it said it holds Havana responsible for the safety and well- being of diplomats on its soil.
Other speculation on the source of the incidents includes a third country operating in Cuba or a rogue element of the Cuban security services interested in sabotaging attempts to improve ties between the two countries.
Despite the harassment, some U. S. diplomats told CNN they did not want to leave Havana, arguing such reductions would likely play into the hands of whoever was behind the attacks.
Tillerson made the decision to draw down the embassy overnight while traveling to China after considering other options that included a full embassy shutdown, The Associated Press reported. Trump reviewed the options with Tillerson in a meeting earlier in the week.
Republican Sen. Marco Rubio, who represents Florida, suggested Friday that Cuban diplomats should be expelled from the U. S. in retaliation. “( The) Castro regime allows attacks on Americans forcing us to drawdown to keep them safe but he gets to keep about same # of people here?” he tweeted Friday.
Florida is home to the largest contingent of anti- Castro voices among the Cuban emigre community that settled there after Fidel Castro’s rise to power.
James Williams, president of Engage Cuba, a coalition of private businesses and companies working to lift the U. S. travel and trade embargo on Cuba, said the U. S. should be careful not to play into the hands of perpetrators of the incidents who were seeking to disrupt the normalization of relations.
The U. S. is expected to pull out roughly 60% of the embassy’s U. S. staff and halt the processing of visas in Cuba indefinitely.