The government of the United States confirmed this Thursday that the health of 16 Americans in Cuba was affected as a consequence of presumed and mysterious “acoustic incidents.”
Department of State spokeswoman Heather Nauert indicated in a press briefing that they could confirm that 16 members of the embassy community had suffered some type of symptom and have been treated in Cuba and the United States.
Nauert specified that among the affected there are both diplomats and relatives of employees of the U.S. embassy in Havana. However, she underlined that it is still not known who is responsible for this enigmatic event.
The spokeswoman affirmed that they consider the situation as extremely serious, that they don’t know who is responsible and that the investigation is ongoing. She also pointed out that there has been no previous news of this type of activity.
She added that “some” of the affected are still in Cuba while “others” returned to the United States.
U.S. intelligence officials have commented that a series of possibilities are being assessed, based on the reported symptoms, and that it is still not clear if ultrasonic sound waves are to blame for what happened. It could also have been radio waves or even an attempt at poisoning, said an official cited by NBC.
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Meanwhile, White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders limited herself to pointing out in a press briefing that President Donald Trump has been informed of the incidents.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) as well as the Cuban government are investigating the events, which according to the Department of State took place in late 2016 and stopped during this spring.
Although the Trump administration has publicly referred to “the incidents,” it has not confirmed the press reports that point to the diplomats having been the victim of an “acoustic attack” with “sonic devices” that would have impaired their hearing.
The U.S. government decided to expel in May two diplomats from the Cuban Embassy in Washington given that it was considered that Havana had not adequately met its commitment of protecting the U.S. personnel.
The Cuban government has denied having been behind any action against the U.S. employees and showed its disposition to carry out a joint investigation.
In an official communiqué, the island’s Foreign Ministry affirmed that “Cuba has never allowed or will allow Cuban territory to be used for any action against accredited diplomatic officials or their families, without exception.”
According to the statement, the Cuban government “took this issue with the utmost seriousness and acted expeditiously and professionally in order to clarify the facts of this situation, initiating a comprehensive, priority and urgent investigation,” while describing the expulsion of its two diplomats from Washington as “an unjustified and unfounded decision.”
The United States has left the possibility open of the participation of a third country in the event.
ACOUSTIC ATTACK OR AN ARGUMENT A LA JAMES BOND?
According to CNN, the mysterious attack against the U.S. diplomats in Cuba presents questions about weapons that sound more of something of James Bond than of reality.
Department of State officials told CNN that their government believes the sophisticated devices that operate outside the hearing sonic gamut were deployed in or outside the residences of the diplomats in Havana and caused damages to their health.
Faced by this, experts cited by the U.S. press media opine that the question is not just what type of weapon could have been used, but rather if the damage was caused even by a weapon.
Although a multi-institutional investigation is being carried out, the publicly available information is to a great extent anecdotic and is not a good base to come to conclusions, these experts warn. They point out a series of factors that present doubts, among them the fact that the sonic weapons do not produce consistent results.
Other consulted specialists note that it is illogical that the “acoustic incidents” occurred at a time when both countries were working to improve bilateral relations. “Why choose that moment to participate in a particularly damaging harassment campaign?” they ask themselves.
Experts like Sharon Weinberger, a journalist and author of The Imagineers of War: The Untold Story of DARPA, point to other possibilities, including environmental factors. Meanwhile, former Foreign Service officer James Lewis points to the possibility of a human error, particularly a vigilance operation that didn’t turn out right.
Lewis, senior vice president of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, points out that the use of devices based on sound for vigilance is common.
According to an official cited by CNN, the Americans are investigating if a third country is involved as “retribution” for actions carried out by the United States in other places and to place a “wedge” between the U.S. and Cuban governments.
According to Weinberger, the idea of using sound as a weapon “almost dates back to biblical times.” Artifacts of this type are currently used by the armies and police departments of several countries, among them Israel and even the United States, as well as by private companies.
However, studies have “repeatedly” revealed that these weapons generally don’t function, the experts explained, adding that what you see is that the sound affects different people in different ways, and therefore in that sense it is not an effective weapon.
Both Lewis and Weinberger are of the opinion that if the objective was to harass the Americans, a silent and invisible attack would not be psychologically effective because the victims wouldn’t know they were being harassed.
The mystery continues.
EFE / OnCuba
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OnCuba editorial staff
