No evidence of attacks as a cause for the "syndrome" that strained U.S.-Cuba relations has surfaced: US official

Edited by Jorge Ruiz Miyares
2022-09-16 10:01:38

Pinterest
Telegram
Linkedin
WhatsApp

ilustrativa

ilustrativa

Havana, September 15 (RHC) Under Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Brian Nichols acknowledged that after years of investigations, there is still no evidence that external actors caused the so-called "Havana Syndrome," reported in recent years by over 1,100 U.S. diplomats and spies.

Despite Cuba's adamant denials, the health incidents were used as a pretext to strain relations between the two countries.

According to an exclusive interview for a new three-part series for Yahoo News "Conspiracy" Podcast, the U.S. official admitted that no links had been found between the health incidents described by diplomats in the Cuban capital and the alleged attacks by a power.

Yahoo News Top U.S. officials cast fresh doubt on sensational 'Havana syndrome' claims Michael Isikoff Michael Isikoff·Chief Investigative Correspondent Wed, September 14, 2022 at 5:00 AM·14 min read A top State Department official, countering claims that have circulated widely among members of Congress and the news media, says in a new interview there is no evidence that any external actors caused the

The remarks by Nichols — who oversees Cuba policy at the State Department — echo recent comments by CIA Director William Burns that the agency had not found any foreign actors to be responsible for a "sustained global campaign on the scale of what has been reported" to harm U.S. officials and that "a majority" of Havana syndrome cases could be attributed to alternative environmental and medical factors.

Also speaking for the podcast was John Cohen, who served as acting assistant undersecretary of intelligence and an analyst at the Department of Homeland Security, who said that after analyzing the facts and reports, he never saw anything that was clear-cut that provided even identification of who was doing it, or a definitive source for what was causing these symptoms."

According to Yahoo news portal Chief Investigative Correspondent Michael Isikoff, these claims are especially striking when the CIA and the State Department are preparing to pay compensation of 189,000 dollars to each of the alleged victims under the Havana Act, a law passed by Congress and signed by president Biden.

Cuba always denied the occurrence of any attacks whatsoever against any foreign diplomats.

For the general director of the Cuban Neurosciences Center, Mitchel Valdés-Sosa, the denomination of the "Havana Syndrome" is absurd. Those who use the term seek to achieve a negative association and harm the relations between the two States.



Commentaries


MAKE A COMMENT
All fields required
NOT TO BE PUBLISHED
captcha challenge
up