WASHINGTON -- The United States expelled 15 of Cuba's diplomats Tuesday to protest Cuba's failure to protect American envoys from invisible, unexplained attacks in Havana.
Only days ago, the U.S. and Cuba had dozens of diplomats in newly reopened embassies in Havana and Washington, signs of a warming relationship between longtime foes. Now both countries are poised to cut their embassy staffs by more than half.
The State Department gave Cuba's ambassador a list Tuesday of 15 names of people it wants out within a week, officials said, calling it a move that aims to "ensure equity" in each nation's embassy staff.
Last week, the U.S. announced that it was withdrawing 60 percent of its diplomats from Havana because they might be attacked and harmed if they stayed.
The staffing cuts marked an escalation in the U.S. response to unexplained attacks that began nearly a year ago and have harmed at least 22 Americans -- including one identified this week.
U.S. officials emphasized that they were not accusing Cuba of either culpability or complicity in the attacks but of failing to stop whatever is happening to Americans working in the U.S. Embassy in Havana.
"We continue to maintain diplomatic relations with Cuba and will continue to cooperate with Cuba as we pursue the investigation into these attacks," Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said.
Investigators have explored the possibility of a "sonic attack" harming diplomats through sound waves but have discovered no device that could cause it and have identified no culprit.
"It appears that this plays right into the hands of a potential rogue actor -- Russia perhaps -- that is trying to create a further wedge between our two countries and other nations in the hemisphere," said Rep. Eliot Engel, D-N.Y. The top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee was referring to another theory for the attacks, which officials have said also is being explored.
Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., scoffed at the notion that Cuba is not responsible.
"No one should be fooled by the Castro regime's claim it knows nothing about how these harmful attacks are occurring or who perpetrated them," he said. He called for the U.S. Embassy in Havana to be downgraded to an interests section.
Cuban officials last week expressed disappointment with the U.S. reaction. Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla flew to Washington in a futile attempt to dissuade Tillerson from withdrawing U.S. diplomats. But the Cubans have said they will continue to cooperate in what is already an atypical willingness to allow FBI agents into Cuba to investigate.
Havana blasted the U.S. order, calling it "reckless" and "hasty." Rodriguez called a news conference in the Cuban capital to again deny his country's involvement and defend it efforts to assist in the U.S. investigation.
"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs strongly protests and condemns this unfounded and unacceptable decision as well as the pretext used to justify it," Rodriguez said.
He did not announce any retaliatory measures.
"If the U.S. government is serious about solving this mystery, they shouldn't make it more difficult to cooperate with the Cuban government during this critical time of the investigation," said James Williams, president of Engage Cuba, a group that aims to strengthen U.S.-Cuba ties.
The scope of the attacks has continued to grow. The U.S. disclosed Tuesday that a 22nd victim was confirmed on Monday. In recent weeks the State Department had said there were 21 individuals "medically confirmed" to be affected by attacks that harmed their hearing, cognition, balance and vision, some with diagnoses as serious as brain injury.
The additional victim was attacked in January but wasn't confirmed to have been affected until symptoms prompted a new medical re-evaluation, said State Department officials who briefed reporters in a conference call on condition of anonymity.
MOVE APPLAUDED
Before full diplomatic relations were restored in 2015, Cuba had about two-dozen accredited staff members at what was then the Cuban interests section in Washington, according to a State Department list. That number at times climbed to more than 50, and the latest edition of the U.S. "Diplomatic List" identifies 26 accredited Cubans at the embassy, almost all accompanied by spouses.
The removal of 15 will reduce the Cuban staff to roughly a dozen accredited diplomats.
In Havana, the U.S. had roughly 54 diplomats in its embassy until deciding Friday to pull out more than half of them and leave only "essential personnel." The departing Americans are expected to have all left Cuba by week's end, officials said.
The Cuban diplomats being expelled will not be deemed "persona non grata," officials said, a designation that would prevent them from ever returning to U.S. soil. The government often uses that designation to expel suspected foreign spies and ensure that they can't come back.
Lawmakers who had called on the Trump administration to expel all of Cuba's diplomats applauded the move Tuesday. Rubio called it "the right decision" in a Twitter post.
U.S. officials insisted that the goal was to ensure that both countries have a similar number of diplomats in each other's capitals.
Tensions between the two neighbors have been escalating over U.S. concerns about the unexplained attacks.
On Monday, The Associated Press reported that U.S. spies were among the first and most severely affected victims. Though bona fide diplomats have also been affected, it wasn't until intelligence operatives, working under diplomatic cover, reported bizarre sounds and even stranger physical effects that the United States realized something was wrong.
Two years ago, Cuban leader Raul Castro and former President Barack Obama restored diplomatic ties, ordered embassies reopened, and eased travel and commerce restrictions. President Donald Trump has reversed some changes but has broadly left the rapprochement in place.
The health attacks started within days of Trump's election in November.
To medical investigators' dismay, symptoms have varied widely. In addition to hearing loss and concussions, some people have experienced nausea, headaches and ear-ringing. Some now suffer from problems with concentration and common word recall.
The incidents stopped for a time but recurred as recently as late August.
In addition to recalling diplomats, the U.S. last week warned Americans to stay away from Cuba. The U.S. said that since some workers had been attacked in Havana hotels, it couldn't assure Americans who visit Cuba that they wouldn't suffer attacks.
"Because our personnel's safety is at risk, and we are unable to identify the source of the attacks, we believe U.S. citizens may also be at risk and warn them not to travel to Cuba," the U.S. said in a formal travel warning.
Information for this article was contributed by Josh Lederman, Matthew Lee and Andrea Rodriguez of The Associated Press; and by Carol Morello of The Washington Post.
A Section on 10/04/2017