Hotel Nacional in Havana – dwkcommentaries

Perplexing Status of U.S. Travel to Cuba

Three recent news reports have muddied the waters about U.S. visitors to Cuba .

First, last year was a record year for tourism in Cuba with 4.7 million visitors pumping more than $3 billion into the country’s struggling economy. Travelers from the U.S. rose to 619,000, which is more than six times the pre-Obama level.[1]

However, as a result of Hurricane Irma’s hitting the island last September and the Trump Administration’s hostility towards Cuba, including travel restrictions, U.S. visitors to Cuba dropped 30% last month according to Jose Manuel Bisbe York, the president of the Cuban state travel agency. Visitors from other countries also have decreased, but not as much as the U.S. This happened event though Cuba has fixed its tourism facilities over the last several months.[2]

Second, to counter this recent drop in U.S. visitors to the island, on January 29, a score of US companies linked to the tourism sector met in Havana to proclaim that Cuba is a safe destination to which U.S. citizens can still travel legally. The meeting was organized by InsightCuba, a pioneer in organizing and promoting trips to the island.[3]

An executive of American Airlines, which operates nine daily flights to Cuba, said, at the gathering, “We see many opportunities in Cuba, especially on the Havana-Miami route,” and “we have requested permission for 17 additional flights.” The president of the Association of Tour Operators of the United States, Terry Dale, added, “The message is that Cuba is open to business, safe, wonderful and legal for travelers from the United States” Another U.S. businessman said, “The reality is that Americans can continue to travel to Cuba almost as they did before the new regulations.”

Third, also on January 29 the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Western Hemispheric Affairs told the Nuevo Herald of Miami that 19 U.S. citizens who had visited Cuba after September 2017 had reported medical symptoms similar to those of some U.S. diplomats who had been stationed there. [4]

The Department’s spokeswoman did not say whether US citizens reported hearing strange noises – as did some of the 24 diplomatic victims so far confirmed – nor whether they would have stayed at the Nacional or Capri hotels in Havana that previously had been identified as sites of some of the “attacks.” .Nor did it clarify whether U.S. doctors and investigators could have determined whether these travelers would have suffered the same kind of attack as diplomats. It encouraged “those who are concerned to seek medical attention.” For reasons of “privacy”, the Department will not disclose where the alleged attacks occurred or their symptoms or even what cities they had visited.

Conclusion

As explained in a prior post, the U.S. still has 12 general license categories that permit U.S. citizens to travel to Cuba. Thus, it is legal for U.S. citizens to travel to Cuba. In addition, the latest revision of the State Department’s travel advisory system does not advise citizens not to travel to Cuba; rather, it suggests that citizens reconsider plans to travel to the island (Category 3 of the new advisory system) and only tells them to avoid Havana’s Hotel Nacional and Hotel Capri, where some of the alleged “attacks” on diplomats occurred.

The apparent inability of the U.S. Government after 14 months of investigations here and in Cuba to identify the cause or culprit of the so-called “attacks” on U.S. diplomats and now apparently some ordinary U.S. citizens is at best “perplexing” as State Department officials recently testified at a Senate Subcommittee hearing.[5]

We all need to continue to pay close attention to ongoing developments on these issues.

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[1] Rodriguez, Tourism booming in Cuba despite tougher new Trump policy, Wash. Post (Jan. 19, 2018).

[2] Reuters, Cuba Tourism Slides in Wake of Hurricane Irma, Trump, N.Y. Times (Jan. 29, 2018)

[3] Tourism companies in the United States say Cuba is a safe destination, CubaDebate (Jan. 29, 2018).

[4] Torres, 19 visiting Americans report symptoms of attacks in Cuba, Neuvo Herald (Jan. 29, 2018); Valencia, U.S. citizens in Cuba Suffered Similar Symptoms Experienced by Diplomats in Havana, State Department Says, Newsweek (Jan. 29, 2018); Nineteen tourists from the US have reported symptoms of attacks in Cuba, Diario de Cuba (Jan. 30, 2018).

[5] See posts listed in the “U.S. Diplomats Medical Problems in Cuba, 2017” section of List of Posts to dwkcommentaries–Topical: CUBA.

American Teens Hear Strange High-Pitched Sound at Havana Airport

On December 31, 2017, an American father in his 40’s and his son and daughter, ages 15 and 14, were at Havana’s Jose Marti International Airport. Around 2:00 p.m. they were waiting to board their return Delta flight to Atlanta.

The teens asked their father what was making the annoying high-pitched noise. The father, however, heard nothing and asked them if they could tell the direction of this noise. They could and tracked the sound to a green box on a wall near the ceiling of the departure area. The teens also said the device gradually changed the pitch to where it was inaudible and then it gradually came back to the pitch where they could hear it.

Here are the father’s photographs of that device in the upper right of the airport wall and of a closeup of the device showing a label with the words “toscano” and “Zoonic” and images of an insect, reptile, rodent and bird.

A quick Internet search revealed that it is an “ultrasound animal repeller” that “makes the stay of birds, reptiles, and rodents uncomfortable” by emitting “vibrations of high frequency (ultrasounds), alternating between ranges for different animals, so that they will never nest.”

In addition, the device’s Installation and Operating Instructions (in English) state that it has a “micro-switch with two positions, HIGH and LOW. . . . Normally better results are obtained in LOW (frequency) position, but may be bothered [bothersome?] for persons. It is recommended [to] use this position when usually not working [with] any person[s] around.”

The device’s manufacturer apparently is Toscano , which describes itself as an “electronics development & manufacturing” firm in Sevilla, Spain.

By all indications, this device is not manufactured with the intent to cause harm to humans. Some, but not all, of its sounds are audible and annoying to some people, but not others. The audibility of the device is not constant given that it gradually changes pitch to go beyond the hearing range and then it gradually comes back to the range.

This report raises many questions pertaining to the medical problems experienced by some U.S. and Canadian diplomats in Havana that by some accounts are caused by sonic sounds [1] These questions include the following:

How many of the devices have been sold to persons in Cuba?
What persons in Cuba bought the devices?
Where have they been installed in Cuba?
Who installed them?
Who maintains them?
Have any of these devices been installed in or near the U.S. or Canadian embassies or their diplomats’ residences or Hotel Nacional or Hotel Capri?
How difficult would it be for a single device to be obtained by an individual or entity in order to harass American/Canadian diplomats?
Are the devices in need of calibration and recalibration?
If they are not susceptible to malfunction, then why are they audible to only some people and not others?
Are the devices capable of producing health problems? (Either in their normal state or altered?)
Did the U.S., Canadian or Cuban government notice these devices in their investigations? If so, what did they conclude?

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[1] The medical problems of the U.S. diplomats in Havana have been discussed in many previous posts that are listed in the “U.S. Diplomats Medical Problems in Cuba, 2016–” section of List of Posts to dwkcommentaries—Topical: CUBA.

U.S. Embassy in Cuba Issues “Hotel Restrictions in Havana” Security Message

On October 6, the U.S. Embassy in Cuba issued “Security Message for U.S. Citizens: Hotel Restrictions in Havana.”[1] It stated the following:

“Over the past several months, numerous employees at the U.S. Embassy in Havana have been targeted in specific attacks. Affected individuals have exhibited a range of physical symptoms including ear complaints and hearing loss, dizziness, headache, fatigue, cognitive issues, and difficulty sleeping. Attacks have occurred in U.S. diplomatic residences, as well as in two hotels: Hotel Nacional and Hotel Capri.” (Emphasis added.)
“The U.S. government has imposed limitations on lodging at affected hotels.” (Emphasis added,)
“If you believe you have suffered any of these symptoms following stays in Cuba, please consult a medical professional.”

CBS News the same day (but apparently before the issuance of the above “Security Messages”) reported that according to an unnamed State Department official, “Since we issued the September 29 Travel Warning, we have received a handful of reports from U.S. citizens who report they experienced similar symptoms following stays in Cuba. We have no way of verifying whether they were harmed by the same attacks targeting official U.S. employees.” [2]

This blog previously criticized the Department’s September 29 “Cuba Travel Warning” as unjustified and over broad because the “incidents” or “attacks” then had only happened to U.S. diplomatic personnel at their residences or certain hotels in Havana. Since then, there have been reports of non-diplomatic personnel from the U.S. experiencing similar symptoms after traveling to Cuba without specification of where they had stayed.

This unusual, if not unprecedented, “Hotel Restrictions” should have been incorporated in, and thus narrowed, this recent Travel Warning.

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[1] U.S. Embassy in Cuba, Security Message for U.S. Citizens: Hotel Restrictions in Havana (Oct. 6, 2017); US publishes ‘hotel restrictions’ on citizens traveling to Cuba, Diario de Cuba (Oct. 7, 2017).

[2] Dorsey, Some private citizens complain of health symptoms after visiting Cuba, CBS News (Oct. 6, 2017); Assoc. Press, US: A Few Visitors to Cuba Claim Symptoms Similar to Attacks, N.Y. Times (Oct. 6, 2017); Reuters, Some U.S. Visitors to Cuba Complain of Symptoms Similar to Embassy ‘Attacks:’ U.S,., N.Y. Times (Oct. 6, 2017).

GOP Senators Ask Administration To Take Actions Against Cuba Over U.S. Diplomats

On September 15 five Republican Senators asked U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to take certain actions against Cuba as a result of the medical problems being experienced by some of the U.S. diplomats who have been stationed in Cuba.[1] The requested actions are the following:

“Remind the Cuban government of its obligation to protect American diplomats [under Article 29 of the Geneva Convention on Diplomatic Relations].”
“Demand that [the Cuban government] take verifiable action to remove these threats to our personnel and their families.”
“Declare all accredited Cuban diplomats in the [U.S.] persona non grata [and thereby prompt Cuba to have them leave the U.S. under Article 9 of the Geneva Convention on Diplomatic Relations].’”
“If Cuba does not take tangible action, close the U.S. Embassy in Havana.”

The five senators are the leader of this effort, Marco Rubio (FL), plus John Cornyn (TX), Richard Burr (NC), James Lankford (OK) and Tom Cotton (AR), all members of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, which is chaired by Senator Burr.[2]

Separately there were new reports about other details of the problems of U.S. diplomats in Cuba. U.S. diplomats on temporary duty in Havana stay in four hotels near the U.S. embassy, and all four have been sites of “medical attacks.” In addition to Hotel Capri, which was identified in a prior post, they are Hotel Nacional, Hotel Melia Cohiba, and Hotel Melia Habana. (The two “Melia” hotels are owned by a Cuban government agency, Cubanacan.) Rachel Maddow on her September 15^th MSNBC show said that NBC News had learned that President Castro had offered to conduct a joint U.S.-Cuba investigation of this matter and that the U.S. had not responded to this offer.[3]

Meanwhile the U.S. and Cuba on September 15 held a meeting in Washington to discuss bilateral cooperation in law enforcement. According to the U.S. State Department, the discussions covered “national security matters, including fugitives and the return of Cuban nationals with final orders of removal” as well as “the incidents affecting diplomatic personnel at the U.S. Embassy in Havana.” The Cuban statement more generally said the discussions were about such issues as terrorism, illicit trafficking in drugs and persons, and cybercrime. This meeting was the third such meeting; the first two were held during the Obama Administration.[4]

Conclusion

As is well known, Senator Rubio, a Cuban-American citizen, consistently has opposed U.S. efforts to normalize relations with Cuba, and thus it is not surprising to see him apparently initiate the above statement with the support of four of his Republican colleagues.

The good news is that the other 95 senators were not part of this statement, that Cuba by all reports continues to cooperate on investigating the circumstances surrounding these health issues and that the Trump Administration is not jumping to preordained conclusions about these issues.

This statement by Senator Rubio and four others was not justified and should be resisted by all U.S. citizens and their representatives in Washington. Instead allow the U.S. State Department and other agencies with Cuban assistance to continue their investigation in a professional and objective manner.

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[1] Dorsey, Five GOP senators ask Tillerson to close Cuba embassy after attacks on diplomats, CBS News (Sept, 15, 2017).

[2] Rubio Press Release, Rubio, Colleagues Ask Tillerson to Expel Cubans, Close Embassy after Attacks on U.S. Diplomats (Sept. 15, 2017); Cotton Press Release, Senators Ask Secretary of State to Expel Cubans and Close Embassy Over Attacks on U.S. Diplomats (Sept. 15, 2017); Reuters, U.S. Lawmakers Want Retaliation for Sonic Attacks in Cuba, N.Y. Times (Sept. 15, 2017); Assoc. Press, The Latest: GOP senators want US pushback on Cuba, Wash. Post (Sept. 15, 2017).

[3] Rachel Maddow, Mysterious attack on US diplomats in Cuba confounds (Sept. 15, 2017).

[4] State Dep’t, [U.S.] and Cuba Hold Third Law Enforcement Dialogue in Washington, DC (Sept. 15, 2017); Cuba Foreign Ministry, Cuba and [U.S.] Authorities . . . Held Third Round of the Dialogue on Application and Compliance with the Law in Washington (Sept. 15, 2017); The earlier law enforcement dialogues were discussed in these posts to dwkcommentaries.com: U.S. and Cuba Hold Law-Enforcement Dialogue (Nov. 9, 2015)(comment to Developments in U.S.-Cuba Normalization (Nov. 8, 2015); United States and Cuba Hold Second Law Enforcement Dialogue (May 19, 2016).