To promote a peaceful transition to a Cuba that respects human rights
and political and economic freedoms
Washington Post editorial references "Havana Syndrome" and public's right to know about invisible attacks on Americans. Treasury sanctions Cuban military
The U.S. Treasury Department today announced that military-run institutions such as FINCIMEX that take advantage of ordinary Cubans who rely on remittances, extracting fees for the Castro regime's military’s own benefit will no longer be able to do so. Currently the Cuban military, in addition to being a repressive actor in Cuba, has thousands of troops in Venezuela propping up the Maduro dictatorship. Reducing hard currency sources for the Castro regime's military apparatus is a positive step that supports both Cubans and Venezuelans striving to live in freedom.
However, this action of curtailing hard currency to the Castro regime's military should be placed in the context of attacks on U.S. personnel serving in Cuba who were the subject of attacks that caused neurological damage beginning in November 2016. The editorial board of The Washington Post published an editorial on October 25, 2020 that highlighted what has come to be known as the "Havana Syndrome" declaring that the "public needs to know about the invisible attacks on Americans abroad."
Since the beginning, voices have tried to diminish the harm done to over 24 American diplomats, and overlook the responsibility of the Castro regime to protect American diplomatic personnel stationed in Cuba. Now these "Havana Syndrome" has spread to China, Russia and elsewhere. The pretense by some that the Castro regime, its military and intelligence services do not know what is going on strains credulity, and ignores the history of the Cuban dictatorship.
Tania Bruguera: Cuban victim of sonic attack on October 18, 2020
Worse yet, it ignores the harm continuing to be done in Cuba to Cubans today, subjected to the same kind of attack, as was the case on October 18, 2020 of the sonic attack experienced by Cuban artist Tania Bruguera.
The desire to portray the Castro regime in a positive light for the sake of maintaining normal relations is not unique to the United States, but is also an emerging scandal in Canada. Fifteen Canadian diplomats are suing their government that argues that "the plaintiffs have made 'exaggerated' claims."
Meanwhile on October 25, 2020 the Canadian publication Global News reported that "Canadian officials warned staff bound for Cuba to stay silent on ‘Havana syndrome’" claiming that it was to "avoid mass hysteria."
The Castro regime does not merit the benefit of the doubt and has a well established track record of harassing U.S. diplomats. As The Washington Post observed in another editorial on August 24, 2017:
"In fact, the sonic attacks would be in keeping with, if an escalation of, harassment that U.S. diplomats have long suffered in Havana, including constant surveillance and home and vehicle break-ins. Instead of easing this abuse, the reopening of the embassy may have intensified it. And no, the Trump administration, which has largely preserved Mr. Obama’s opening, is not to blame: State says the attacks began in November 2016. Rather than seize on them, the State Department under Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has played them down; the Cubans were expelled in May, but no announcement was made until this month. The administration appears to be giving the Castro regime the benefit of the doubt — which, considering its overall record since the restoration of relations, may be more than it deserves."
On November 17, 2017 at an event on Capitol Hill former Cuban political prisoners testified about abuses suffered in the Castro regime's prisons. The Daily Caller highlighted the testimony of two political prisoners.
Ernesto Diaz Rodriguez and Luis Zuniga, anti-Castro dissidents who were sent to hideous regime prisons, said they were repeatedly subjected to “ultrasonic” torture over more than 20 years in confinement. “The methodology consisted of placing large loudspeakers around 4 feet high each … at both ends of the hallway of cells,” Zuniga recalled of his experience in 1979. “Then, they were connected to some sort of electronic device that produced high-pitched sounds.” “The sounds oscillated from high pitch to very high pitch that almost pieced the eardrums,” he added. Zuniga went on to describe symptoms from the torture sessions, saying that he began to feel “increasingly uneasy” and “unable to think.” Other prisoners suffered debilitating headaches. The brutal punishment lasted for days, he recalled, leading to the suicide of a fellow inmate. “This torture was kept [up] for days and nights without a respite,” Zuniga said. “It ended when one of the prisoners … hung himself. He died from the torture.”
Before assuming that the Russians or the Chinese are behind this, perhaps investigators should take another closer look at the Castro regime, and also look at other ways to cut off hard currency going to the military and secret police of the dictatorship in Havana.
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