Tag: cuba

FOIA Request Sheds Light on DIA’s Records Pertaining to ‘Havana Syndrome’

On February 22, 2024, The Black Vault received a long-awaited response from the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request filed on August 25, 2021. The request sought all records related to the “Havana Syndrome,” a mysterious condition that has affected U.S. diplomats and intelligence officers since 2016.

Havana Syndrome first came to light when U.S. Embassy staff in Havana, Cuba, reported experiencing unexplained health issues, including headaches, dizziness, and hearing loss. Similar incidents have since been reported by American personnel in various countries, leading to speculation about the cause, ranging from sonic attacks to microwave weapons.

The Black Vault’s request aimed to uncover DIA reports, memos, assessments, and intelligence records pertaining to Havana Syndrome from 2016 to the date of processing. After a lengthy delay, the DIA located one document, consisting of six pages, responsive to the request. However, portions of the document were withheld under FOIA Exemptions 1, 3, and 6, citing reasons related to national security, protection of intelligence sources and methods, and privacy concerns.

Keep reading

Former U.S. diplomat arrested in FBI spying probe

Former Ambassador and diplomat Manuel Rocha was arrested in Miami after a long-running counterintelligence investigation.

According to the Associated Press, Rocha is being accused of working as an agent of Cuba’s government.

While more details are expected in court on Monday, those who spoke to reporters said that Rocha was working with the Cuban government to promote its interests within the United States.

Over the past several years, the Justice Department has cracked down on individuals who have neglected to register as a foreign agent, as required by law.

Keep reading

Terror attacks on Cuba’s embassy fueled by aggressive US policy

Cuba’s embassy in Washington, DC was attacked with two Molotov cocktails on the night of September 24. This was the second terrorist attack against the embassy in the past three years.

The US Secret Service responded at around 8pm, but did not apprehend any perpetrators.

The explosives hit the front side of the embassy, which is already scarred with AK-47 bullet holes from a shooting attack in April 2020 — an emblem of the deadly risk it takes to be a Cuban diplomat in the United States, and of the long history of US-backed terrorism against the country.

The Molotov cocktail attack occurred the same day that a Cuban delegation led by President Miguel Díaz-Canel returned to Havana, after participating in the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA). It also came soon after Cuba chaired a historic summit of the G77+China.

The attack was clearly an act of violent intimidation against Cuban diplomats, and a reaction to the powerful show of solidarity by hundreds of people in the US throughout President Díaz-Canel’s visit to New York.

Keep reading

‘It was only under democracy that black people had leadership roles.’ Cuban exile leader says 1619 Project founder ‘needs to read some Cuban history’ after she the claimed communist country has the ‘least racial inequality’ in the world

The leader of a US Cuban exile group has slammed 1619 Project founder Nikole Hannah-Jones after she claimed Cuba had the ‘least inequality between black and white people’ thanks to its socialist government.

Orlando Gutierrez-Boronat spoke out against the New York Times journalist Tuesday after a 2019 podcast where she called the communist country one of the most ‘equal’ in the world, resurfaced online.

The Havana-born scholar, who is based in Miami, said Hannah-Jones’s remarks do not ‘reflect the reality of Cuban history’, noting there has actually been a lack of black leadership on the island since the 1959 revolution – which saw dictator Fidel Castro ascend to power.

‘There is a very simple comparison you can make that shows how wrong this statement by Nikole Hannah-Jones is,’ Gutierrez-Boronat told DailyMail.com. 

‘Look at the central committee of the Communist Party for the past 62 years and tell me how many prominent black Cubans have been in that central committee.

‘And then look at the republic that existed between 1902 and 1959. You couldn’t write the history of the republic without mentioning all the prominent black Cubans who were there. 

Keep reading

Feds Threaten 10 Years in Prison for Americans Planning Thursday Flotilla to Cuba

The Department of Homeland Security reminded Floridians ahead of a flotilla scheduled to travel near Cuba on Thursday that it was “illegal” to travel to the island nation without permission from the federal government.

“It is illegal for boaters to depart with the intent to travel to Cuba for any purpose without a permit,” the department said in an advisory, noting that penalties could include fines of $25,000 per day and up to 10 years in prison.

If at least 100 boaters show up, Cuban South Florida residents are planning to sail from the United States’ southernmost point in Key West on Thursday to within 12 miles of Cuba’s border — technically in international waters — to show support for the country’s protesters.

“We are trying to show a peaceful protest against this regime. To show the people that we are with them, that we want to help them, that we have seen what is happening with the protests and we support the movement,” a coordinator for the flotilla, 24-year-old Osdany Veloz, told The Daily Mail. However, he said, “If Cuban authorities open up and let us through, then we will definitely go in and hand over anything useful that we have on board.

Keep reading