US State Department without Evidence against Cuba
HAVANA TIMES — Washington is changing its tune as Diplomatic Security Assistant Director, Todd Brown, accepts that a sonic weapon might not exist but he does say that US diplomats in Havana could have been targets of a “viral” attack. Of course, he didn’t offer a hint of evidence to back up his statement.
The problem is that the FBI report states that its Operational Technology Division “tested the hypothesis that air pressure waves via audible sound, infrasound or ultrasound could be used to clandestinely hurt US citizens in Cuba, and found no evidence.”
A few days before, Republican Senator Jeff Flake had already confessed to AP journalists the fact that, after four FBI trips to Cuba, “US authorities haven’t found any evidence of US diplomats in Havana being victims of attacks.”
The CIA weighed in against the FBI’s conclisions. That’s because the first “victims” were CIA agents, who were spying in Havana disguised as diplomats… “wow, what a coincidence” Les Luthiers comedy group would say.
Another person to immediately throw themselves into the counter-attack was Cuban American Senator Marco Rubio. He claimed that US officials “know full well that the method used in the attacks is still being questioned, but there were victims of some sort of sophisticated attack, there’s no doubt about that.”
Thus, he recognizes the fact that he has no idea whether a weapon like this exists but nevertheless, he is still a strong advocate of the “sonic attacks”. He has become the creature’s adoptive father and is looking to pressure Trump so that the blame falls on Cuba’s government.
Some people are asking what happened with Canadian diplomats. Karen Foss, a Canadian diplomat in Cuba has already responded to this query: “Many of the symptoms are similar to signs of extreme stress, and there is the possibility that there could be mental health effects caused by the fear of being targeted.”
In US media, the balloon seems to be deflating after “exclusive” recordings of crickets, scratching blackboards, tourists with pins and needles in their feet were presented and insinuating that there are mysterious weapons here in Cuba that are able to violate the laws of physics.
The “sonic Maine” is already sinking and they could let it sink, after having already achieved their fundamental goal: to roll back the detente between Cuba and the US, which was a result of successful negotiations between presidents Raul Castro and Barack Obama.
After 60 diplomats left the US embassy, things are even worse off than they were before the rapprochement process. Now, it will be impossible to give out 20,000 visas per year, Washington’s commitment to Havana in its agreements, in order to ensure organized, legal and safe immigration.
This maneuver creates serious problems for ordinary Cubans, especially the fact that visas are no longer being granted on the island; now they must seek a visa in Colombia or Mexico and so they first need a visa to get to one of these countries.
Cuba’s most dynamic industry, tourism, will also suffer. The alleged threat of sonic attacks, plus the lack of consular services and US citizens being banned from traveling as individuals has made many US people cancel their trips.
This “Maine” seems to be targetting ordinary Cubans, these are the people who can no longer emigrate or visit their families. They are the entrepreneurs who lose out the most in tourism given the fact that US citizens prefer to stay at and eat in private businesses.
AirBnB, the company which put up thousands of US citizens in Cuban homes in 2016, has almost disappeared from the national market. Now, Trump is forcing US citizens to travel in groups and the only option for group holidays, because of the number of rooms needed, are State-run hotels.
This all seems to form a part of its economic war against Cuba and it seems to chase after the same objectives that the US Department of State outlined decades ago: to create hunger, misery and desperation among ordinary Cubans to push them to revolt against the government.
It’s the strategy of attacking the innocent, of pushing civil population to its limit so as to reach their political ends. The world calls these kinds of actions “terrorist”… when the people who are suffering the consequences aren’t from the US or Europe.
The Rubio hearing contested of a single medical witness giving a medical opinion that the injuries were consistent with non natural head trauma. Most of the rest of the hearing consisted of the self testimony by Senator Rubio including as fact that the anti Castro Cubans do not have the capability and no one in this rooms believe they would do this and the US government does have such a weapon, would not use it and does not know how this was done.
Thanks for the assurance Senator Rubio we would never ever believe a government that use drones as weapons of terror, calls unnecessary military murder collateral damage, tortures prisoners, runs a prison where people are held for years without trial, who’s police shoot first, try’s to assinated other countries leaders, and collects mounds of internet data would do such a thing.
Kim O’Brien
Texas, USA
Yes, it sucks that countries as small and ill-suited as Cuba continue to expand scarce resources for spy services. It is also sad that countries as big and wealthy as the US divert such grand sums to equally dated behavior. But such is the world we live in, isn’t it?
You mention successes…….
Perhaps you’re referring to the successful re-branding of ‘torture’?
They now call it ‘enhanced interrogation’ don’t they?
Classy.
Your “historical facts” are anything but. The CIA has been far from perfect but your anecdotal tally of CIA “f*ck ups” fails to consider that CIA successes go unknown. Only the mistakes are counted and made public.
The statement that the CIA is more likely to be behind this than anyone else is simply based on historical facts. Historical facts would also suggest that it might not even have been deliberate. Just yet another CIA f**k up. Perhaps even yet another assassination plot gone wrong. Maybe they were going to North Korea to try and infect KJU with a virus but got on the wrong plane by mistake. Then when they realised they ran off to the US Embassy and accidentally dropped the vial of virus on the floor and infected themselves and others.
Would be far from the dumbest thing that bunch have ever done!
Maybe in 50 years time some fruitloop of a president will try to stop the facts being published…….
Who knows.
Cuba’s economy can only boom when there is more people to people contact across the Florida Strait encouraging personal businesses to prosper on the island, especially during the Obama period before Trump decided to shut the door again. And now we’re back to square one!
Not a complete failure. Look at the state of the economy in Cuba. It’s not exactly booming.
I have to take exception to the assertion that the CIA is out to do anything with Cuba. While I consider it an abomination of public office to call any country a “shit-hole,” Cuba is way off the political radar for the US. We have much more serious international issues to deal with. Cuba poses no threat at all, and in all truth, virtually no tangible, relative benefit from regime-change.
Harming the Castro dictatorship often carries collateral damage, i.e., the people of Cuba. Different things but both on the same boat when the Trump regime tries to rock it; this has been going on for the past 59 years without success, pushing the dictatorship even deeper into the hands of the Soviets. With the outstanding exception of the Obama presidency, this is just another example of the utter failure and incompetence of US diplomacy to this day!
Harming Fidel Castro’s dictatorship and harming Cuba are very different things.
Well of course it is. As your assertion that the CIA is more likely to blame is based on half-brained (your words, not mine) political points of view.
Mr full-brained P…….
Your suggestion that this is more likely to stem from the Cuban Government rather than the CIA is not based on anything other than your own personal political points of view.
As you suggest, your comment reflects the perspective of people with “half a brain”. Those of us fully-endowed are led to believe that the fact that both US and Canadian embassy staff have been affected dismisses the “hoax” explication. What really happened remains a mystery but the Castro regime is the primary suspect.
On the contrary, the Castros have a history of self-immolation. They have consistently shown a willingness to hurt the Cuban economy in their selfish aim to maintain their tyrannical control of the Cuban people.
Historically, the CIA will look for any excuse to harm Cuba. Perhaps, the Maine was blown up by a sonic attack or worse! True, there is a desperate need for social change in Cuba, but isolating the Cuban people is not the way to do it! In Trump’s wild mind, Cuba is just another “shit hole” country.
Mr P, I think curt9954 has made a good point.
You are lacking in objectivity here. It’s as if you (And Senator Rubio) are trying to ‘wish’ attacks into existence. It’s a bit like believing in Bigfoot or the Loch Ness Monster because you really, really, really want their existence to be real.
Just think about it logically.
The Cuban economy is heavily reliant on tourism.
Why on earth would the Cuban Government formulate attacks on US diplomats (and spies) when doing so would clearly damage the one thing that their economy is so very reliant upon ?
I am not 100% sure one way or another. How could I be? My suspicions naturally incline towards the CIA given the agency’s history regarding Cuba. But that’s just an inclination.
But your assumptions are surely way off the mark.
The logic is against your assumption. It just doesn’t stack up at all.
Anyone with half a brain knows the whole thing is a hoax concocted by Marco Rubio and Bob Menendez because they were against Obama’s opening with Cuba. Our CIA is capable of doing many horrible things to people, like creating the conditions that may have harmed our diplomats. CIA Workers were supposedly the first ones affected by the “conditions” that the U.S is claiming what happened to the diplomats. After almost a year experts are unable to find any evidence or reason why the “attacks” took place. Moses, you are so biased against the Cuban government that you are unable to objectively look at the situation.
Sen. Marco’s comment rings true, “…there were victims of some sort of sophisticated attack, there’s no doubt about that.” The lack of evidence as to how the attacks took place doesn’t negate the existence of the attacks.