美國考慮關閉駐古巴大使館
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Sunday that the United States is considering closing its embassy in Cuba following a number of "health attacks" on American diplomats there.
"We have it under evaluation. It's a very serious issue with respect to the harm that certain individuals have suffered. We've brought some of those people home. It's under review.'' Tillerson said on the CBS television show Face the Nation.
At least 21 Americans have suffered what the State Department calls "incidents" that have led to a variety of symptoms, including hearing loss, concussions, headaches, ear-ringing, and even problems with concentration and common word recall. Some Canadian diplomats and their families have also been affected.
Some felt vibrations or heard loud sounds mysteriously audible in only parts of rooms, leading investigators to consider a potential "sonic attack." Others heard nothing but later developed symptoms.
Though investigators have explored the possibility of sonic waves or an electromagnetic weapon, no culprit or device has yet been identified, the Associated Press reports. The incidents began late last year and the most recent was reported in August.
Lawmakers in Washington have raised alarm over the incidents. On Friday, five Republican senators wrote Tillerson to call for both closing the Havana embassy and expelling all Cuban diplomats from the United States.
"Cuba's neglect of its duty to protect our diplomats and their families cannot go unchallenged,'' said the lawmakers, who included Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas, who led the effort, and Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, a prominent Cuban-American and critic of the U.S. détente with Cuba.
Cuba has denied involvement and has said it is cooperating in the investigation into the attacks. The United States has not blamed Cuba directly for the attacks, but asked two Cuban diplomats to leave Washington earlier this year.
Former President Barack Obama re-established ties with the Caribbean island nation two years ago, a move that has been criticized and threatened by his successor Donald Trump.美國國務卿蒂勒森星期天表示，由於在古巴的美國外交官出現多起健康問題，美國正考慮關閉其駐古巴的大使館。
蒂勒森在CBS的《面對國家》節目中表示“我們正在評估中，對於一些個人所遭受的傷害來說，這是一個非常嚴重的問題。我們已經讓一些人回國。我們正在評估情況。”
至少有21名美國外交人員遭受了美國國務院所說的導致各種症狀的事件，包括聽力損失，腦震盪，頭痛，耳鳴，甚至有注意力不集中和忘記普通詞語的問題。部分加拿大外交官和他們的家人也受到影響。
一些人感到振動或只在部分房間聽到巨大響聲。調查人員認爲，這可能是聲波襲擊所致。還有人沒有聽到聲響，但後來也出現了症狀。
美聯社報道說，雖然調查人員已經探索了聲波或電磁武器的可能性，但沒有發現兇手或裝置。這些情況最初發生在去年年末，最近發生的時間是今年8月。
華盛頓的國會議員對這些事件表示擔憂。上週五，五名共和黨參議員給蒂勒森聯名寫信，要求美國關閉駐古巴大使館同時驅逐古巴全部駐美國外交人員。
這些參議員在信中說，“古巴忽視保護我們外交官職責的做法不能置之不理。”這些參議員包括阿肯色州聯邦參議員湯姆·科頓和佛羅里達州聯邦參議員魯比奧。魯比奧是知名古巴裔美國人，他對美國緩和與古巴關係的政策持批判態度。
古巴否認與這些事件有關，但表示正配合調查。美國沒有就這些事件直接指責古巴，但今年早些時候要求兩名古巴外交官離開華盛頓。
美國前總統巴拉克·奧巴馬兩年前與加勒比島國古巴恢復邦交，這一舉動受到他的繼任者唐納德·川普的批評和威脅。
