129 NewYork Times

16 Americans Sickened After Attack on Embassy Staff in Havana

The American Embassy in Havana. Experts suspect there was a sonic attack on United States diplomats in their homes, which are provided by the Cuban government.ALEXANDRE MENEGHINI/REUTERS

By GARDINER HARRIS
August 24, 2017

WASHINGTON — At least 16 Americans working at the U.S. Embassy in Havana became ill last year in a mysterious health attack, the State Department disclosed on Thursday.

The attack, which may have been caused by a sonic wave machine, seemed to begin last December. But American officials did not notice a pattern to the symptoms reported by employees until two months later.

“It took some time for people to be able to determine that, yes, there is a pattern taking place here. Yes, there is something going on,” said Heather Nauert, the State Department’s spokeswoman.

Once a pattern was seen, she said, the government responded fully.

“We take this situation extremely seriously,” Ms. Nauert said. She was careful not to blame the Cuban government.

“We’re not assigning responsibility at this point,” Ms. Nauert said on Thursday, adding that the perpetrator of the attack is unknown. “The investigation is ongoing.”

However, she said the State Department was certain that the attack was no longer taking place.

CBS News has reported that one of the American envoys suffered mild traumatic brain injury with likely damage to the central nervous system. Most of the United States government employees reported headaches, dizziness and hearing loss, and at least six were flown to the University of Miami Hospital this year for diagnosis. One of the patients had a serious blood disorder.

Experts suspect a sonic attack on employees in their homes, which are provided by the Cuban government. The mystery deepened recently when Canada said that some of its employees had also become ill.

The episode was the latest in a series of tensions between the United States and Cuba. It mystified even the most senior experts on Cuba, who questioned if Havana’s intelligence agents had pulled off an unauthorized stunt to end President Barack Obama’s reconciliation efforts, or, more likely, if new eavesdropping technology had gone awry.

In a recent statement, the Cuban Foreign Ministry said that “Cuba has never allowed, or will it allow, the Cuban territory to be used for any action against accredited diplomatic officials or their families, without exception.”

But the Cuban government has long harassed American diplomats in Havana.

During the Cold War, American envoys told stories of finding feces in their residences, of power being shut off and of Cuban agents tailgating diplomats’ vehicles and making it impossible for them to change lanes.

The recent illnesses, though, were worse than the standard harassment, officials said, even in the worst times.

Several Americans cut their tours in Cuba short after falling ill late last year, the State Department said.

The Cuban government learned of the illnesses in February. Washington expelled two of Havana’s diplomats in May because Cuba had failed to keep American diplomats safe.

(Now wake the fuck up.) (Ive gone through this for 2 years now.)