At least 16 Americans suffered negative health affects in Cuban embassy incidents
At least 16 Americans suffered negative health affects in Cuban embassy incidents:- At least 16 Americans associated with the U.S. embassy in Cuba experienced symptoms related to attacks on their health, including severe hearing loss, the U.S. State Department said Thursday.
State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert had previously confirmed an “incident” occurred in 2016, but the number of Americans affected had not been known.
“This is something that we have not experienced in the past,” Nauert said.
In May, two Cuban diplomats were ordered to leave their embassy in Washington, but Nauert said that the State Department does not know who was behind the attacks. An investigation involving multiple U.S. agencies remains underway, and the attacks have stopped, according to Nauert.
The Associated Press reported earlier this month the incidents had involved a covert sonic device, but Nauert said no equipment has been found.
The Cuban ministry of foreign affairs said earlier this month that it was cooperating with the U.S. on the matter and added that, “Cuba has never permitted, nor will permit, that Cuban territory be used for any action against accredited diplomatic officials or their families, with no exception.”
The U.S. embassy reopened in 2015 after former President Obama re-established diplomatic relations with the island states. But late last year, several U.S. diplomats in Havana began suffering unexplained hearing loss.
The Cuban government said it was informed of the incidents in February.
At least one Canadian official also experienced similar symptoms, the Canadian government said.
Nauert did not say to whether all of the affected were embassy employees or family members or the extent of the injuries. Some of the affected remain in Cuba, she added.
A U.S. doctor diagnosed some of the afflicted diplomats with mild traumatic brain injury and likely damage to the central nervous system, CBS reported on Wednesday. Nauert said she could not confirm the CBS report.
U.S. officials have previously experienced harrasment in Cuba in the past, Nauert said, but she could not say whether behavior was linked to the attacks related to hearing loss.
U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., condemned the attacks in a tweet Thursday and said the “Castro regime should be held accountable.”
Source:-Â https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2017/08/24/least-16-americans-suffered-negative-health-affects-cuban-embassy-incidents/600320001/
