17 September, 2017
Five Republican senators are urging Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to punish Cuba after USA diplomats stationed in the island nation were harassed and injured under mysterious circumstances.
Republican senators are urging the Trump administration to expel Cuban diplomats and possibly even close the USA embassy over the sonic attacks on American diplomats.
Republican Sens. Marco Rubio of Florida, Tom Cotton of Arkansas, Richard Burr of North Carolina, John Cornyn of Texas, and James Lankford of Oklahoma in a letter sent Friday urged Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to take action regarding the harassment and acoustic attacks on American diplomats in Cuba.
The incidents, which began in late 2016, were first confirmed by a USA official in August. The senators claim the attacks "have caused permanent hearing damage and other significant injuries" to the diplomats.
Cuban President Raul Castro stepped in personally earlier this year to deny his government was responsible after the United States demanded answers about American diplomats harmed in Havana.
"Cuba's neglect of its duty to protect our diplomats and their families can not go unchallenged", they added.
"The safety of USA diplomatic personnel and their families posted overseas remains one of our high priorities and a shared responsibility of those nations that host US diplomatic facilities", the senators added.
The State Department, FBI and US intelligence agencies are investigating.
Some of the victims have reportedly said that they noticed the time when the attack was happening through a ringing in their ears, which some said it stopped after they walked away.
"Cuba has never permitted, nor will permit, that Cuban territory be used for any action against accredited diplomatic officials or their families, with no exception", the government said in August.
"None of this has a reasonable explanation", said Fulton Armstrong, a former Central Intelligence Agency official who served in Havana before the U.S. re-opened an embassy there.
On Thursday, the AP reported of USA diplomats have been hearing "loud ringing or a high-pitch chirping" sounds, which were confined to certain parts of their rooms with "laser-like specificity".
US and Canadian diplomats have suffered hearing loss, nausea, headaches, and even mild traumatic brain injury as a result of the attacks, which go back to 2016 and have continued as recently as last month.
