Reference News Network said on August 12 that the relationship between the United States and Cuba has been fragile because of Trump's tough stance, and now it has been tested by a mysterious medical incident by a US diplomat. Washington made an initial response to this.
According to Agence France-Presse on August 10, the incident dates back to a few months ago, but it was not revealed until this week, and the United States revealed very little information. On the 9th, U.S. spokesperson Heather Nauert made it clear that at the end of 2016, staff at the U.S. Embassy in Havana reported "a variety of physical symptoms." "For medical reasons", the United States eventually recalled these "American workers". But she did not explain the cause of the "incident" or the number of people involved.
On the 10th, Canada made it clear that one of its diplomats was hearing impaired, exactly the same as several U.S. diplomats.
AFP, citing CNN, reported that several unnamed U.S. ** revealed that Washington is investigating a possible "sonic attack". The attack may have been carried out by deploying cutting-edge acoustic equipment inside and outside the residences of U.S. diplomats that can emit sound waves that are inaudible to the human ear.
On the 10th, Nolte did not confirm or deny it when asked about it. "We're still trying to determine the real reason why they're in this situation," she said. We are investigating, no final results yet. We cannot point fingers at any country at this stage. ”
Relations between the United States and Cuba were repaired in 2015 after a half-century of breakdown, but deteriorated again with Trump's entry into the White House, the report said. In June, Mr. Trump intensified his rhetoric on Havana, undermining his predecessor Barack Obama's claims to bring him closer to Cuba.
Cuban diplomats were expelled. But the controversy between the two countries does not seem to have risen to excessive proportions.
Havana launched a "detailed, priority and urgent" investigation into the matter and ruled out the involvement of third countries, assuring that "Cuban territory has never been allowed to be used for operations against diplomats and their families, without exception".
On the 10th, Nolte admitted in Washington: "We are still in regular contact with Cuba, and Cuba has provided some assistance to the investigation." She expressed hope that the collaboration would "solve problems in a satisfactory way."
If confirmed, the "sonic attack" against a diplomat would be the first of its kind in Cuba, the report said.
According to the Efe news agency on August 10, the United States said on the 10th that it could not identify the mastermind behind the incident that caused several diplomats in Cuba to have "physical symptoms" last year, so it could not blame "any country" for this matter now.
U.S. spokesman Nolte said at a press conference, "We don't know who caused these incidents, and we can't blame anyone or country at this time."
Nolte said Cuba** had helped with the investigation of the incident and that Washington and Havana were in "normal contact" on the matter.
Although the United States does not now directly blame Cuba for the incident, in May of this year the United States expelled two diplomats from the Cuban Embassy in the United States. Nauert explained that this is because the United States believes that Cuba has not fulfilled its responsibility to protect the safety of American diplomats.
According to the EFE news agency, Canada said on the 10th that at least one Canadian diplomat in Cuba suffered physical pain similar to that of a U.S. diplomat in Cuba, which should have been caused by a deliberate sonic attack on diplomats.
Canada issued a statement on the 10th, saying that they had received information about "unusual physical symptoms" of American diplomats and were working to find out the "cause".
According to Canadian sources, the affected Canadian diplomat's family also experienced symptoms such as hearing loss and migraines, while the diplomat himself had symptoms severe enough to necessitate hospitalization**.
Canada** indicated that it was working with the United States and Cuba to investigate the root causes of these ailments.
Exterior view of the U.S. Embassy in Cuba in Havana, Cuba.