In Friday’s travel warning, the State Department said some of the unexplained physical effects have occurred in Cuban hotels, and that while American tourists aren’t known to have been hurt they could be exposed if they travel to Cuba.
The United States on Friday abruptly warned Americans not to visit Cuba and ordered more than half its Havana embassy personnel to leave the island in a dramatic response to mysterious recent “specific attacks” harming the health of U.S. diplomats.
The actions deal a blow to already delicate ties between the U.S. and Cuba, longtime adversaries who only recently began putting their hostility behind them. The embassy in Havana will lose roughly 60 percent of its U.S. staff, and will stop processing visas in Cuba indefinitely, officials said. Roughly 50 Americans are currently working at the embassy in Havana.
“Until the government of Cuba can ensure the safety of our diplomats in Cuba, our embassy will be reduced to emergency personnel in order to minimize the number of diplomats at risk of exposure to harm,” Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said in a statement announcing the step.
He and President Donald Trump reviewed the options in a White House meeting this week, officials said.
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