From his perch on the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., called on the Trump administration to remove all Cuban diplomats from the U.S. and consider closing the American embassy in Havana after American diplomats suffered acoustic attacks in that Caribbean nation.
With Reuters reporting earlier this week that more than 20 American diplomats were the target of acoustic attacks in Cuba, Rubio joined four other Senate Republicans--Richard Burr of North Carolina, John Cornyn of Texas, Tom Cotton of Arkansas and James Lankford of Oklahoma--in writing U.S. Sec. of State Rex Tillerson on the matter on Friday.
“We write today concerning the injuries sustained by multiple U.S. diplomatic personnel posted to the U.S. Embassy in Havana, Cuba,” the senators wrote. “Our officials and their families have been the targets of unacceptable levels of harassment and ‘acoustic’ attacks that, in some cases, have caused permanent hearing damage and other significant injuries.
“The safety of U.S. diplomatic personnel and their families posted overseas remains one of our high priorities and a shared responsibility of those nations that host U.S. diplomatic facilities.” they added. “We urge you to remind the Cuban government of its obligation and to demand that it take verifiable action to remove these threats to our personnel and their families. Furthermore, we ask that you immediately declare all accredited Cuban diplomats in the United States persona non grata and, if Cuba does not take tangible action, close the U.S. Embassy in Havana.
“Cuba’s neglect of its duty to protect our diplomats and their families cannot go unchallenged,” they wrote in conclusion. “We appreciate your attention to this important national security matter and look forward to your timely response.”
Heather Nauret, a spokeswoman for the State Department, spoke to the media about the attacks on Thursday.
“All of this underscores that we are, at the State Department, very deeply concerned about what has taken place and what has happened to our American personnel who have been serving at our embassy in Cuba" she said. “The investigation into all of this is still underway. It is an aggressive investigation that continues, and we will continue doing this until we find out who or what is responsible for this.
“The secretary said in – back in August that our personnel in Cuba have been subject to health attack,” she added. We have medically confirmed that our personnel’s health was affected by these incidents...the reality is we don’t know who or what has caused this, and that’s why the investigation is underway.”
Other diplomats were also impacted by sound attacks in Cuba. On Friday, the CBC reported that five Canadian diplomats were also attacked in Cuba.
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