U.S. Sharply Cuts Diplomatic Staff in Cuba Over Health ‘Attacks’
- State Department warns Americans against travel to island
- U.S., Cuban investigators continue probing source of attacks
People attend an event honoring young Cuban athletes is held in front of the U.S Interests Section building in Havana, Cuba, on Saturday, June 27, 2015. U.S. President Barack Obama urged Congress to follow his decision to reopen the American embassy in Havana by lifting the U.S. trade embargo on Cuba.
Photographer: Noah Friedman-Rudovsky/BloombergThe U.S. State Department ordered more than half its diplomats in Cuba to leave the island and warned Americans against traveling to the Caribbean nation after a series of health “attacks” on its officials injured 21 people.
U.S. and Cuban investigators still haven’t determined the source of the attacks, which left some staff with injuries from hearing loss and cognitive issues to difficulty sleeping, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said in a statement Friday. While no private U.S. citizens are known to have been attacked, the incidents continued as recently as late August, according to two State Department officials who spoke to reporters condition of anonymity.