Cuba Reiterates Readiness To Help Probe 'Health Incidents' Involving US Diplomats

Cuba Reiterates Readiness to Help Probe 'Health Incidents' Involving US Diplomats

Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla has reiterated Havana's readiness to cooperate on the investigation of mysterious acoustic incidents involving US diplomats who worked at the embassy in the island nation as Washington has declassified an internal report on the US' handling of the incidents

BUENOS AIRES (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 13th February, 2021) Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla has reiterated Havana's readiness to cooperate on the investigation of mysterious acoustic incidents involving US diplomats who worked at the embassy in the island nation as Washington has declassified an internal report on the US' handling of the incidents.

Earlier this week, US State Department spokesman Ned price said Washington was working to determine the causes that made the diplomatic personnel in Cuba sick back in 2016 and 2017 to ensure an adequate response to the incidents. The newly released internal report lambasted the actions of then-US President Donald Trump's administration, saying it lacked senior leadership and used the incidents as a justification to largely reduce the US mission's staff and close the US Consulate, reversing the thaw in bilateral relations.

"A serious declassification of information on the alleged health incidents affecting US diplomats will reveal how far Trump, [ex-State Secretary Mike] Pompeo and [Senator] Marco Rubio went to artificially justify a setback in bilateral relations. Someday it will be possible to clarify what did and did not happen. #Cuba reiterates its willingness to effectively cooperate both politically and scientifically to solve this issue," the minister wrote on Twitter.

In August 2017, the US Department of State said nearly two dozen diplomats working at the US embassy in Cuba were affected in an incident involving a mysterious audio device and some of the diplomats suffered permanent hearing loss and possible brain injuries.

The Cuban government has denied any involvement in the incidents, while Washington established a task force in 2018 to respond to the mysterious acoustic incidents overseas.