Cuba has hit out at allegations that mysterious sonic attacks made US diplomats ill in the country, dismissing them as “political manipulation” aimed at undermining relations.
At least 24 US diplomats in Cuba suffered health problems from November last year to August, in what US officials say might have been a result of attacks carried out with some kind of covert acoustic device.
Washington has not formally blamed Havana, but US President Donald Trump in the middle of this month said that he holds Cuba responsible — and the White House has said it believes the country could bring the attacks to a halt.
Cuban Minister of Foreign Affairs Bruno Rodriguez early on Saturday said that it was “unacceptable and immoral” that any political differences between the two countries would translate into measures affecting their nationals.
“The so-called sonic attacks ... are totally false,” he said in a surprise appearance at a meeting of Cubans living in the US, held in Washington.
He slammed the allegations as “political manipulation aimed at damaging bilateral relations.”
Ties between Washington and Havana were only fully restored in 2015 after a half-century Cold War breakdown, but have been strained since Trump took office in January.
Rodriguez said that given the allegations “there has been a serious deterioration in the relationship between both governments and both countries.”
Following the spate of illnesses, the US late last month withdrew more than half of its diplomatic staff in Cuba and expelled 15 Cuban diplomats from Washington.
Cuba insists it has shown goodwill by letting FBI investigators visit the country three times this year to investigate.
For a month now US officials have stopped issuing visas for Cubans to travel to the US, a move Havana deems unjustified.
The US Department of State said that Cubans can process their immigrant visas at the US embassy in Colombia, and that other visas could be requested in other countries.
This procedure “will make the already discriminatory requirement” for obtaining visas “impossible,” Rodriguez said.
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