US Reinvents Attacks on its Diplomats Stationed in Cuba
HAVANA TIMES – The press in the US says that “bipartisan leaders of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Lower House asked the Center for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health to direct the investigation into the mysterious sonic attacks on personnel of the US Embassy in Havana.”
It is amazing that a year after having detected the first cases of alterations in the health of diplomats in Cuba that the most important health institutions in the US were not involved. So, who directs the investigations?
In reality, Washington has never revealed the names of the victims; who are the doctors who are treating these patients; which health institution conducts the examinations, or what type of analysis they have done to establish the causes of the alleged ailment.
We know from Associated Press journalists that the first affected were CIA agents: “It was not until the spies working under diplomatic coverage reported hearing strange sounds and suffering physical effects that the US detected that something was wrong.”
The same agency obtained an audio recording of the alleged acoustic weapon, the same one that was taken “for analysis to the US Navy, which has sophisticated equipment to analyze acoustic signals (in spite of which) the recordings have not shed light about what is making diplomats sick.”
In the end, after respected Cuban scientists gave their opinion, as well as others from the US and third countries, the AP notes that few believe the story, noting that there is “growing skepticism about the use of a sonic weapon.”
Then they reinvent the story by ensuring that “the sounds could be a side effect of something else that caused the damage” but they return to the charge saying that something is causing “changes in the stretches of white matter that allow communication between various parts of the brain.”
There are no longer specifications to avoid the annoying opinions of scientists who questioned the existence of “acoustic weapons” because they violate the laws of physics. Now what is supposed to produce the new diplomatic disease is something totally undefined.
Canada has limited itself to saying that five of its diplomats present “unusual symptoms” but it seems to believe that Cuba is a safe country because it does not withdraw its officials or issue any warning to prevent Canadians from visiting the island. A surprisingly low profile for a country “attacked”.
The USA continues with this “X Files” like series, with surprising chapters that reflect unprecedented accusations that belie the previous ones and become more obscure and impenetrable. This way nobody can deny them, especially those “brains” of US universities that get themselves involved where they’d be better not to.
In contrast, the US first said that it had 5 affected diplomats and it gradually went up to 10, 12, 15, 17 and so on to 25. Initially they said they were deaf, and only one had mild brain damage. Now it turns out that everyone has brain damage and the noise was a “side effect.”
In short, they keep secret the names of the victims, the doctors who attend them, the health institutions that perform the exams, the diagnoses and only filter, from time to time, dark rumors, which change when scientists deny them. And finally we found out that neither the Center for Disease Control and Prevention nor the National Institutes of Health of the USA are directing the research.
Really this “Acoustic Maine” (Referring to the US ship that sunk in Havana Harbor during the Cuban revolt against Spain) is too much like the lies about the Gulf of Tonkin or the Weapons of Mass Destruction, engineered to start the wars in Vietnam and Iraq. Surely this campaign does not pursue an invasion of Cuba, maybe that’s why it was elaborated in such a crude and improvised way.
First off, it is not a blockade, it is an embargo.
Second, the US is a net importer. You are the one who should have your sanity checked if you believe goods from the US are cheaper than from China. Moreover, most perishables are imported from Latin America.
Third, how do you equate not trading with a country violating their independence?
Fourth, once again, the embargo is a red herring because you are lynch pinning Cuba’s economic incompetence with inability to trade with one country.
Really Pons, I am losing confidence in your rationality with every response. I really can’t decipher your attempt at “communication” in the last part of your rant. (FYI: beyond a prepubescent audience, “lol” and “lmao” are exceedingly transparent, lame, and clear indications of insecurity.)
I really believe your “brain” is scrambled.
Get it together.
Blockading trade from a country that the majority of Latin America is a slave to for exports and imports has NO effect on Cuba? You are absolutely crazy, it is much more expensive to pay for imports from Russia and China or Venezuela than it is from the US because of distance, and just because the U,S, is a sovereign nation doesn’t mean they can violate another country’s independence, and no international law is not a red herring lol. THE ENTIRE WORLD COMMUNITY WANTS IT TO END, lmao that has no importance? It also is IRRELEVANT if it is the government’s fault for the lack of economic progress, that is goal post moving. If the embargo does harm to the Cuban economy (which it does UNDENIABLY) than it is irrelevant if the bigger culprit is the Cuban government.
Violation of INTERNATIONAL LAW, huh? What’s the legal remedy? Nothing.
You must lose a lot of sleep over cars driving over the 55 mph speed limit.
The US is a “sovereign nation” as you like to say.
Listen, the real point is that the embargo should have no impact on Cuban progress.
Number one, Cuba claims to want nothing to do with the imperialist Americans.
Number two, everything that is available from the US is available internationally, within Cuba’s access.
Cuba cannot claim that their dismal economic situation is caused by the embargo.
Arguing upon the embargo’s legality is a superfluous red herring that attempts to skirt the real issue of Cuban progress (or lack thereof). This is, of course, because the Regime and its defenders are incapable, unwilling, and too chicken shit to accept responsibility for the dire conditions they themselves have plunged the country into.
Coming up that the Cuban embargo is a violation of INTERNATIONAL LAW, and that EVERY single country in the world voted against it is nothing? Neither does it matter the majority of Cubans in America and in Cuba oppose it?
If that’s the best you can come up with, your whole idealistic house of cards is on very shaky ground indeed.
The majority of Cubans in Cuba do not like the embargo, hell even the Cuban-Americans don’t like the embargo. And I don’t care how the cuban embargo might effect the Cuban gov. , I care that the cuban embargo violates international law and that it is hurting the Cuban nation
So what if there is an embargo? Cuba has the opportunity to trade with the rest of the world.
It is easy for, and typical of the Regime to shirk accountability by scapegoating with the embargo. With all of Cuba’s obstreperous chest thumping, the US still controls Cuba’s destiny? – By Cuban choice.
Revisit Castro’s response to Obama’s olive branch.
Again its a nice theory, but its not true. Because every opening of relations the Cuban government has un-hesitantly accepted. And one of their MAIN international and foreign diplomatic goals has been the removal of the embargo.
I think you are a dumb idiotic US puppet, yes Cuba is the aggressor in the relations with the US. Do you listen to yourself? America literally has a trade embargo in place that no country voted against in 2016
The Regime’s foundation is built upon animosity toward the US. Mess with this, and the whole house of cards comes tumbling down.
I don’t think you are naive; you just have a serious chemical imbalance.
The Castro oligarchy fears competition. They understand that opening relations with the US will only add competition.
I know what you are going to say, they use the embargo as a propaganda excuse for their failures. Come on, that is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard, do you know how much profit the Cuban leadership is making from the expansion of foreign capital into Cuba? A lot. The way they have carried their actions, their constant attempts to settle with the United States, etc.
There is a large faction of Cuban leadership with a vested interest in maintaining the status quo. Progress in relations with the US threatens the basis that leadership in Cuba has used to justify their methods of controlling government.
What motive does Cuba have to do this? They have always tried to improve relations, there is no way the Cuban government would do this
You are right. I apologize. Different crack pipes.
OK Eden. This “disparate” aside, you seem like a fairly rational fellow. Like I mentioned before, I’ll let it play out and see where it lands. The truth is always more interesting than speculation.
America has a long history of such hysteria–even before it was the U.S.A. The first historical episode of such hysteria that I can recall was back in the 1690’s, in the days of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, when such mass hysteria resulted in the deaths of dozens of victims; in that case, it was all about accusations made by powerless girls, plus some of their parents using the opportunity by spontaneously “redistributing” the property of folks who were accused. Leaving out many additional examples in the 17th, 18th and 19th Centuries, with every war during the infamous Century just past (W.W.I. with German-Americans and those from Southern Europe; W.W.II with the Japanese, and Korea and the Cold War with Lefties and Progressives), it has been the same paranoid bullshit. As recently as the 1980’s and 1990’s many innocent victims were railroaded into long prison terms and their lives destroyed via the mass hysteria of “repressed memories,” “ritual cult abuse” and child molestation. Yes, the Puritanical U.S. has a long history of mass hysteria. The buzzing brains of C.I.A. “diplomats” are but the latest example.
“… Wong, you seem a bit flummoxed as evidenced by your delay…”
Give me a break, my internet is crap here.
“… As Circles would say “…this time you’ve really gone off the deep end…”
I’m happy to privately tell Circle exactly why I’m not off the deep end, but to an anonymous person on a public forum who could be anyone? Not so much.
I stated simple facts as I know them from first hand, direct personal experience. I have never been a member of the nutbar club on this forum and I have never posted utter crap like so many others here. Take it or leave it, it’s my opinion, no big deal either way.
Wong, you seem a bit flummoxed as evidenced by your delay, but you really should elaborate – that is, if you value any credibility you may have garnered. As Circles would say “…this time you’ve really gone off the deep end.”
I have no idea what you are basing your assertions on. Could be anything from overhearing a couple of street urchins over cafecito, to your work as a state operative. At this point I have to lean closer to the former.
Hell, I was even agreeing with most of your posts thus far. Defend yourself man! Even blaming a sudden onset of Tourette’s might give you a pass.
You have me on the edge of my seat, whether for ground-breaking revelation or train wreck.
US is not a credible country to dictate any conditions to any country, especially under the disquise of helping Cuban people for transition to democracy and improving human rights. See Iraq, Libya, Syria, Yemen etc., before and after.
THX Michael. Moses has long history as a anti-cuban crusader and his wicked twist on facts is well known. US assassinations list on foreign non-compliers is endless (never mind millions of people killed on the way) just to stay consistent they name others a Terror States basing on nothing but lies. I’m extremely proud of Cuban People to withstand never ending terror from Northern neighbor and present the world with nothing but grace, dignity and culture that amazes people everywhere.
Please elaborate. Extremely interested in behind the scenes FACTS.
With all due respect, it’s barely credible that you have first hand knowledge that Canadian embassy staff who have claimed to be injured are lying. Furthermore, to project that you have intimate knowledge that the Canadian foreign minister will blackball other embassy staff who claim to be injured is a little hard to swallow.
No imagination whatsoever. First hand knowledge.
First hand knowledge.
By “meaningful changes” I mean democracy. I mean a free and independent press. I mean the release of political prisoners. When you write “the Revolution will survive”, do you mean more crumbling infrastructure? More record outmigration? Food and medicine shortages? If so, I would heartily agree.
Wow! That’s a new stretch. Seriously Wong? Quite an imagination.
As you will know Gavril, the Castro regime firmly rejected the opportunity to fully discuss the US embargo and Guantanamo. (March 28 and March 29, 2016)
Few will endeavor to excuse or support President Trump(f) for anything. But, although now antiquated, I don’t imagine that you are opposed to the conditions for lifting the embargo given in the US Cuban Democracy Act. I am not suggesting that you should favour the embargo, merely testing whether you think that achieving those conditions would benefit the people of Cuba?
“… Either way, his argument falls short because he fails to suggest a motive as to why both the US and Canadian governments would collude to invent such a ridiculous story…”
The Canadians have done zero colluding. They know none of their personal were actually injured, it’s all hysterics and sympathy pains in order to escape Cuba and get back to Canada on a nice indeterminate length medical leave. It’s an embarrassment they’re quietly sweeping under the carpet with the understanding that if anyone else claims they’ve been attacked that their diplomatic career is finished.
This whole thing has been a joke from Day One.
Anything is possible. I bet my money on CIA. First, it happened when Obama started a move to normalize relations with Cuba, which obviously would disturb neo-Johns; which also explains why Canadians – with whom Cuban government officials have good relations – were also affected. Second, a terrorism convict in Guantanamo has been complaining about the same symptoms for years through his lawyer. Third, USA/CIA is known to be using unreasonable, beyond-imagination tricks: 9/11, Iraq, ISIS etc. Fourth, USA denied Cuba any collaboration to investigate the incident. Fifth, the Trump government tends to act on ill-will against Cuba in every issue; just check the new chargé d’affaires Trump considers sending to Cuba: a Mr. Goldberg who was declared persona non grata by Morales in Bolivia for allegedly conspiring against the democracy, and expelled from Philipipines for allegedly interfering with the Philippines internal politics.
I am quite prepared to believe this is all a fabrication by the US government. A government which as Fernando points out fabricates stories to permit invasions in Vietnam and Iraq and regularly facilitates the overthrow of governments it doesn’t like or even arrange the assassination of their leaders is hardly one to be believed in this case. Even if the story was true their credibility is zero. While not a shining light frankly the Cuban government is more credible.
Despite Fernando’s (and others’) wish that this issue just disappear, it apparently is not.
Let’s let the investigations and inquiries play out.
The world is not going to let US accusations stand unresolved – especially as vehemently and potentially destructively defamatory to a sovereign country as they might be. Someone is going to end up with egg on their face and rightly so. Will it be Trump or Fernando?
I might also note that like Fernando (among others), Trump is known to prematurely lobby for investigations to vanish.
Rhetorical questions:
– Why would Trump want “fake news” Russian probe to vanish? (At this point, we all pretty much know the answer.)
– Why would Fernando and others in The Regime want the embassy investigations to cease?
Modus operandum seem identical.
Coincidence?
Sir, with all due respect, the U.S. has a considerable history of both deception and assassination attempts upon Cuban President Fidel Castro. What possible reason would we have to believe them now, considering that they have offered no credible evidence to support their nonsensical charges?
To your final point, US/Cuban relations will not significantly improve simply because the Castros are gone. And if you mean by “meaningful changes in Cuba,” that the independent island nation will surrender its sovereignty to a capitalist regime– that is not going to happen.
Even without the physical presence of a Castro at the head of Cuban government, the spirit of the Revolution will survive and thrive.
Hasta la Victoria Siempre, mi amigo.
Fernando writes, “respected Cuban scientists…”. Really? Do they work for the Castro dictatorship? Respected by whom? Second, it is unclear what confounds Fernando. Does he not believe that US and Canadian embassy personnel were injured at all? That is to say that this is all a complete hoax? Or, does Fernando simply not believe that the injuries were caused by some secret and unknown sonic weapon? Either way, his argument falls short because he fails to suggest a motive as to why both the US and Canadian governments would collude to invent such a ridiculous story. The US needs no pretext to walk away from the Castro dictatorship. The last 58 years are testament to that. I believe that this “story” is so bizarre, that it must be at least partially true. With or without this incident, US/Cuban relations will not significantly improve until the Castros are gone and there are meaningful changes in Cuba. Fretting about this issue is a waste of time.