Latinnews Daily - 15 January 2018

Cuba: In a 9 January press briefing US Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs Steven Goldstein said that the US government still does not have definitive answers on the source or cause of a mysterious affliction (including ear complaints, hearing loss, dizziness, headache, fatigue, cognitive issues, and difficulty sleeping) reported by US embassy officials stationed in Cuba since December 2016. This led the US government to order the departure in October 2017 of 15 of its officials from its embassy in Havana, pointing to a worsening of bilateral relations. According to Goldstein “The investigation is ongoing. The most recent medically confirmed attack occurred [on] August 21st, 2017. We believe that the Cuban government has the answer to this and they should be doing more to assist us in bringing this to resolution”. Meanwhile in its new travel advisory warning system for US nationals, presented on 10 January, the US Department of State ranked Cuba as Level 3 - ‘reconsider travel’. This is just one level above the highest warning level - Level 4 ‘do not travel’- in the new system, which also includes Level 1 ‘exercise normal precautions’ and Level 2 - ‘exercise increased precaution’. 

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