Washington, January 10 (RHC)-- The U.S. State Department has shifted its travel warning rate to Cuba from Level 4 to Level 3. Category 4, issued on September 29, advised U.S. citizens not to travel to the island, citing the alleged “sonic attacks” on American diplomats based in Havana and their relatives. The United States also ordered the evacuation of most of its employees at its embassy in the Cuban capital.
The new travel advisory has placed Cuba on Level 3, which recommends U.S. citizens to “reconsider” visiting the island. The new warning still asserts that US Citizens may be at risk, since the U.S. has not been able to identify the source of the health disorders of its staff.
The new Cuba travel advisory also eliminated a reference to the responsibility of the Cuban government to prevent attacks against U.S. diplomats, which was included in the previous one.
In a special teleconference on the Department´s new travel advisory Wednesday, Michelle Bernier-Toth, acting deputy Assistant Secretary for Overseas Citizens Services, said that the measure was taken “after a very careful assessment.”
“We talked to all of our experts, and this is where we came out on Cuba,” she said.
This week, an FBI report quoted by the Associated Press says that agency has not any evidence pointing to the occurrence of those attacks, following months of investigation and four trips to Havana.
On Tuesday, during a US Senate hearing on the issue, State Department officials acknowledged they had no concrete data verifying the existence of the reported attacks on its diplomats.
Josefina Vidal, General Director of the U.S. Desk of the Cuban Foreign Ministry reiterated on Tuesday that Cuba has no responsibility in the incidents.
She stressed that "the island is a safe, peaceful and healthy country for Cubans, for foreigners, for accredited diplomats and for the millions of people who visit us every year, including the Americans."
Vidal said on her twitter account that over one million US citizens and Cuban American travelled to Cuba in 2017.
