Sonic Attacks in Cuba Have Severely Injured U.S. Spies

Posted on: October 2, 2017 at 20:47:31 CT

http://time.com/4966332/cuba-american-spies-attack-sound-weapons/

(HAVANA) — Frightening attacks on U.S. personnel in Havana struck the heart of America's spy network in Cuba, with intelligence operatives among the first and most severely affected victims, The Associated Press has learned.

It wasn't until U.S. spies, posted to the embassy under diplomatic cover, reported hearing bizarre sounds and experiencing even stranger physical effects that the United States realized something was wrong, individuals familiar with the situation said.

While the attacks started within days of President Donald Trump's surprise election in November, the precise timeline remains unclear, including whether intelligence officers were the first victims hit or merely the first victims to report it. The U.S. has called the situation "ongoing."
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The first disturbing reports of piercing, high-pitched noises and inexplicable ailments pointed to someone deliberately targeting the U.S. government's intelligence network on the communist-run island, in what seemed like a bone-chilling escalation of the tit-for-tat spy games that Washington and Havana have waged over the last half century.

But the U.S. soon discovered that actual diplomats at the embassy had also been hit by similar attacks, officials said, further confounding the search for a culprit and a motive.

Of the 21 confirmed cases, American spies suffered some of the most acute damage, including brain injury and hearing loss that has not healed, said several U.S. officials who weren't authorized to speak publicly on the investigation and demanded anonymity. They heard an unsettling sound inside and in some cases outside their Havana homes, described as similar to loud crickets. Then they fell ill.

Over time, the attacks seemed to evolve.

In many of the more recent cases, victims didn't hear noises and weren't aware an attack was occurring, identifying the symptoms only later. That has raised concerns among investigators that the attacks may be getting more sophisticated and harder to detect, individuals briefed on the investigation said.
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Over time, the attacks seemed to evolve.

In many of the more recent cases, victims didn't hear noises and weren't aware an attack was occurring, identifying the symptoms only later. That has raised concerns among investigators that the attacks may be getting more sophisticated and harder to detect, individuals briefed on the investigation said.

So to better identify patterns, investigators have created a map detailing specific areas of Cuba's capital where attacks have occurred, several individuals familiar with the matter said. Three "zones," or geographic clusters of attacks, cover the homes where U.S. diplomats live and several hotels where attacks occurred, including the historic Hotel Capri.

Since first disclosing the situation in August, the United States had generally avoided the word "attacks." It called them "incidents" instead until last Friday. Now, the State Department deems them "specific attacks" targeting Americans posted in Havana, without saying what new information, if any, prompted the newfound confidence they were indeed deliberate.
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The most obvious motive for attacking Americans in Havana would be to drive a wedge between the U.S. and Cuba. If that's the case, the strategy appears to be succeeding.

Last week's embassy drawdown added to the growing friction between the nations. And an accompanying new travel warning deemed Havana's hotels unsafe for visitors, threatening to drive down tourism, a backbone of Cuba's economy.

In Havana, American diplomats are frantically selling off possessions — from mattresses to canned goods to children's toys — and hurriedly making plans to return to the U.S., where some haven't lived in years. The State Department has worked feverishly to arrange transportation, temporary jobs and places to live for those coming back early from Cuba.

"Heartbroken? Me too, but this will make you feel better," one seller posted in a chatroom for foreigners in Cuba, under a picture of a Costco artichoke hearts jar selling for $6.

For Cubans, it may be no better. The U.S. has been providing 20,000 visas a year to Cubans moving to the United States. It has issued thousands more to Cubans wishing to visit family in America. The reduction in U.S. staff in Havana means visa processing there has been suspended indefinitely.

Cuba has vehemently denied involvement or knowledge of the attacks. Some in the U.S. government believe the Cubans may be telling the truth, officials said.

When President Raul Castro denied any culpability in February, he did so on the sidelines a meeting in Havana with five visiting U.S. members of Congress, the AP found. The U.S. had raised complaints about the attacks to Cuba just days earlier through diplomatic channels.

But the visiting lawmakers knew nothing of the attacks taking place in the country they were visiting.

Nor did they know that Castro had used the occasion of their meeting to pull aside Jeff DeLaurentis, then the top U.S. diplomat in Cuba, to say privately that his government was equally alarmed and willing to help.

The lawmakers all declined to comment. Cuban officials say they're disappointed in the U.S. retaliatory measures but will continue cooperating with the investigation.