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Cuba to Begin Session to Elect New President a Day Early

April 17, 2018 14:34·
BBC: Canada sends home families of diplomats posted in Cuba

BBC: Canada sends home families of diplomats posted in Cuba

The federal government announced Monday that, because of the mysterious health symptoms suffered by Canadian and American diplomats, family members will no longer be allowed to accompany officials posted to Havana.

An official told reporters that the Canadians affected have suffered concussion-like symptoms that include dizziness, nausea, headaches and trouble concentrating.

Due to the uncertainty, Canada's embassy in Cuba will be designated as an unaccompanied post, meaning diplomats will not be stationed with their families, the government said in a separate statement.

Otherwise, "regular embassy operations will continue", it said, adding that it does not believe there are any risks for Canadian tourists in Cuba. But those are "now considered unlikely", the senior official said.

Canadian medical specialists, working with American counterparts who have been studying USA diplomats who suffered similar health problems are now working on the theory that they have suffered a "new type of possible acquired brain injury".

Canada has accepted that theory. "In some cases the symptoms have appeared to lessen in intensity, before reasserting themselves", the government said.

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An environmental assessment in March of diplomatic staff quarters where the illness appeared to have been centred, including air and water tests, "did not indicate anything that could point to a cause".

While there had been no new cases since the second half of a year ago, diplomatic families returning to Canada had continued to report symptoms including dizziness, headaches and inability to concentrate, Global Affairs Canada said in a statement.

The new president will face major challenges, including that of reviving the economy, which shrank by 0.9 per cent in 2016 and only grew by 1.6 per cent a year ago.

More recent United States media reports suggest that Federal Bureau of Investigation agents dispatched to Havana have not been able to find any evidence to support the acoustic or sonic weapon theory, either.

The Cuban Government has said it does not know what is behind the illness and has been working with USA and Canadian officials to investigate.

Global Affairs also emphasized that it had a "positive and constructive relationship with Cuba and has received close cooperation from the Cuban authorities since health concerns of Canadians serving in Cuba first surfaced in the spring of 2017".

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