For the first time in more than five years, the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) admitted that its complaints against Cuba for the so-called “health incidents” against its diplomats in Havana, which earned the island another battery of sanctions still in force were not caused by “a deliberate attack”.
A report released today by the CIA on the events “confirms Cuba’s position,” Johana Tablada, Deputy Director General for the United States of the Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told local journalists.
Tablada explained that the press reports that allude to a CIA security report “indicate that the health manifestations reported in 2016 cannot be attributed to a common cause, much less to a hypothesis as far-fetched as a deliberate attack.”
He also recalled that “on repeated occasions Cuban scientists and experts have pointed out the political manipulation of these events and the lack of foundation for theories that associate them with acoustic or microwave attacks.”
“Although incidents have been reported in several countries, the United States has only taken draconian measures against Cuba, which have had a negative impact on the Cuban family,” he reproached.
The intelligence agency, often considered by the Cuban government as “sinister,” concluded that those so-called “sonic attacks” that allegedly occurred in 2016 in Havana were not “the result of a global campaign backed by a power hostile” to the United States.
According to official US government investigations exposed in 2017, the first reported cases in 2016 included nosebleeds, migraines, and nausea after experiencing piercing sounds. Hence they were nicknamed “sonic attacks”.
The matter, of vast global repercussion, served as the basis for the United States to apply more sanctions to Cuba, including withdrawing consular and visa procedures for citizens of the country in Havana. Consular diplomatic personnel were also almost totally withdrawn.
Also described as “Havana syndrome” complicated the process of
visa petitions by Cubans who want to travel to the United States as these procedures are transferred to embassies in other countries, a situation that still exists. The official estimated that these decisions are included in actions “to weaken relations between the two countries,” reported the ANSA news agency.
Versions published in the United States affirm that incidents with profiles similar to those in Havana occurred later in China, Germany, Australia, Russia, Austria, and also in Washington.
Although not only because of that episode, the “thaw” between Cuba and the United States promoted by then President Barack Obama was “frozen” and disappeared.