thursdaysd

Seems that the peculiar health incidents were not confined to the embassy. Bizarre!

http://www.newsobserver.com/news/pol...ing_Newsletter

https://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2017...cuba.html?_r=0

SambaChula

No, these incidents were not confined to the US embassy.
They occurred also at ONE HOTEL (the Capri) right next to the embassy and apparently inside some diplomats' homes.

All the more reason to stay in a casa particular, at home with a Cuban family who will keep you safe.

SambaChula

Here's a link to an online travel forum discussion which includes links to yet others:
https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopi...Cuba-Cuba.html

SambaChula

And another:
https://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntr...#post_22639940

janisj

That Lonely Planet link is a joke - How is reacting to essentially the torture of US personnel 'hysteria'?

What happened to them is not just 'annoying noises' . . .

And the TA discussion is simply political silliness - not any sort of serious discussion.


Neither is helpful for anyone deciding whether to visit Cuba or not.

SambaChula

@janisj, you just end up feeding the "panic" that might be felt by naive US potential tourists, of whom there are plenty online.

They may be some of the same people who have been discouraged from traveling to Cuba simply by a announcement of guidelines for changes largely of unknown content to be published at some unspecified future date.
Perhaps this is the same demographic that hasn't sorted out that the visa/tourist card is Cuban and the reason for travel is a US thing, and keep asking if they can get a visa for their trip if the US embassy in Havana is closed.

Of course it's a joke, because the warning is such a joke in regards to tourists.
btw, The thread you refer to was written by people who've been going to Cuba since long before the Obama-led opening, are considered some of the online experts on the country, and have perspective as well as knowledge. Obviously it was written out of frustration with how overblown the warning is.

It is not yet known exactly what the cause of the diplomats' problems is, or who caused them, but the US has stated that they DO NOT suspect Cuba of being behind the incidents.

The warning by the US government to potential US tourists to stay out of Cuba, because of something that happened specifically and exclusively to a few diplomats in their residences, is taking things to the extreme, under the circumstances currently known.
Canadian diplomats were effected too, but the Canadian government has given no such warning to its tourists to Cuba.
Of course, the political situation between Canada and Cuba is different from that of the grudge-holding US. Canadians have been enjoying Cuba for decades and continue to do so.

SambaChula

And once again........

All the more reason to stay in a casa particular, at home with a Cuban family who will keep you safe.

janisj

I'm not 'feeding' anything. I simply noted that neither of your links are at all helpful for actual visitors, nor are they serious discussions. But pontificate all you want . . .

SambaChula

SO instead of simply criticizing, as is the wont here whenever I post, I challenge you to find an article to post that is more to your liking and treats the whole situation in a rational manner, not one that incites panic in many, maybe even one that actually explains logically why, "While American tourists aren't known to have been hurt," there is a travel warning and how exactly they would be "exposed" and to exactly what installed by whom, when "the agency said they could be exposed if they travel to the island."
To go by that, we US tourists should all retreat to under our own beds and stay there.

SambaChula

FYI Here's the long-time Cuba travelers' views:
https://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntr...#post_22639949

thursdaysd

http://www.apnewsarchive.com/2017/Th...3aa2bdef0f1a84

Note: "State Department confirmed earlier reporting by The Associated Press that U.S. personnel first encountered unexplained physical effects <b>in Cuban hotels</b>." (Emphasis added.)

"Canada, which also has reported diplomats with unexplained health problems, said it had no plans to change its diplomatic posture in Cuba."

SambaChula

""State Department confirmed earlier reporting by The Associated Press that U.S. personnel first encountered unexplained physical effects in Cuban hotels."

Well, that is just an example of how inaccurate the reporting is or how the sources gave incorrect info.
It was ONE HOTEL, the Hotel Capri, which is conveniently located near the US embassy .
And there are reports of only one diplomat effected there.

Making it "hotels" plural is not accurate. It also encourages naive people thinking whatever it was could happen to them at any hotel in Cuba, i.e. inciting panic where it is not warranted.

And the article you link to has the exact same wording as the one in the original post. So the news agencies are just copying from one another, like a bad game of telephone.

SambaChula

And an important point (from my last-cited link):

"the most concerning part is the suspension of all visas to Cubans. And with Wet-Foot/Dry-Foot no longer in play the doors for Cubans who don’t already have a visa are basically shut."

This may include 'endangered' Cubans who have voiced their support politically for the US, as well as students, artists/musicians, relatives of US citizens, and other travelers (including similar cases to one elderly gentleman I know who had planned to meet his son, who is working in Spain, in Miami, a cheaper flight).

thursdaysd

"It was ONE HOTEL, the Hotel Capri, which is conveniently located near the US embassy ."

Citation please.

"the most concerning part is the suspension of all visas to Cubans. "

They are hardly the only nationality suffering in this way.

SambaChula

Here's only one example:

"And one incident reportedly occurred at the Hotel Capri in Havana."

https://gizmodo.com/the-case-of-a-br...-on-1809501927

SambaChula

Here's another example:

"incidents were confined to specific rooms or even parts of rooms at the Hotel Capri"

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...y-deepens.html

SambaChula

Same quote here:
https://apnews.com/697536f065e6470eaa5ccfc35061e7ce

SambaChula

and here"
http://nbc4i.com/2017/09/14/us-diplo...nvisible-wall/

SambaChula

Looks like all the news services including those above and the Denver Post, the NY Daily News, the Daily Herald, and more, all picked up on or re-printed the AP News article.


Still can't find a mention of another hotel.
Can you thursdaysd? Please give citation.
Or concede my point made.

thursdaysd

"But they are the only ones that had the "wet foot/dry foot" policy, which granted them automatic citizenship if they could reach US soil."

Which never made any sense to me.

"Burden is on YOU to disprove if you don't believe."

Nonsense. The burden of proof is on the person making the assertion.

Are you Cuban? Of Cuban parentage? You seem awfully exercised about Cubans. Personally I'm more worried about Puerto Ricans right now. Who are US citizens.