Cuban dictator Raul Castro’s regime is “responsible” for a mysterious series of attacks on American diplomats, according to President Trump.
“I do believe Cuba is responsible,” Trump told reporters Monday.
That’s the most direct assessment of culpability that the Trump administration has made about the attacks, which caused almost two dozen U.S. officials to suffer “cognitive issues” in Havana. The State Department withdrew most U.S. personnel from the embassy in Cuba and expelled 15 Cuban diplomats in response, but declined to blame the regime directly for the attacks while an investigation continues.
“It’s a very unusual attack, as you know, but I do believe Cuba is responsible,” Trump said.
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson’s team has declined to blame Cuba, beyond observing that the regime has a duty to secure the safety of diplomats working in the country.
“The decision was made due to Cuba’s failure to take appropriate steps to protect our diplomats in accordance with its obligations under the Vienna Convention,” Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said to explain the expulsion of Cuban officials.
The State Department also issued a travel warning for Americans, announcing that the attacks took place in hotels that tourists frequent. “We have no way of advising American citizens on how they could mitigate such attacks, [and so] we felt that we must warn them not to travel to Cuba,” a State Department official said at the time.
Cuba has denied any involvement in the attacks and pledged to help investigate the incidents. Trump’s team and lawmakers in both parties have grown increasingly comfortable casting doubt on those statements, given the “excellent intelligence services” available to the regime.
“There’s such an awareness of Cuba’s awareness of all that happens on that island,” Senate Foreign Relations Chairman Bob Corker, R-Tenn., told the Washington Examiner following a classified briefing from the administration. “They own the island. They know what’s going on there.”
