The Embassy of the United States of America in Havana ( es, Embajada de los Estados Unidos de América, La Habana) is the
United States of America
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territo ...
's
diplomatic mission
A diplomatic mission or foreign mission is a group of people from a state or organization present in another state to represent the sending state or organization officially in the receiving or host state. In practice, the phrase usually deno ...
in
Cuba
Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...
. On January 3, 1961,
U.S. President
The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States ...
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; ; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was an American military officer and statesman who served as the 34th president of the United States from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, ...
severed relations following the
Cuban Revolution
The Cuban Revolution ( es, Revolución Cubana) was carried out after the 1952 Cuban coup d'état which placed Fulgencio Batista as head of state and the failed mass strike in opposition that followed. After failing to contest Batista in cou ...
of the 1950s. In 1977, U.S. President
Jimmy Carter
James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he previously served as th ...
and Cuban leader
Fidel Castro
Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (; ; 13 August 1926 – 25 November 2016) was a Cuban revolutionary and politician who was the leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008, serving as the prime minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976 and president from 1976 to 200 ...
signed an Interests Sections Agreement that permitted each government to operate from its former
embassy
A diplomatic mission or foreign mission is a group of people from a state or organization present in another state to represent the sending state or organization officially in the receiving or host state. In practice, the phrase usually deno ...
in
Havana
Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center. and
Washington D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, Na ...
, which were called Interests Sections; they were prohibited from flying their respective flags.
Cuban President
The president of Cuba ( es, Presidente de Cuba), officially the president of the Republic of Cuba ( es, Presidente de la República de Cuba), is the head of state of Cuba. The office in its current form was established under the Constitution of ...
Raúl Castro
Raúl Modesto Castro Ruz (; ; born 3 June 1931) is a retired Cuban politician and general who served as the first secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba, the most senior position in the one-party communist state, from 2011 to 2021, succeedi ...
and U.S. President
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...
restored full diplomatic connections on July 20, 2015.
The building housed the
United States Interests Section in Havana
The United States Interests Section of the Embassy of Switzerland in Havana, Cuba or USINT Havana (the State Department telegraphic address) represented United States interests in Cuba from September 1, 1977, to July 20, 2015. It was staffed by ...
between 1977 and 2015, which operated under the auspices of the
Swiss Embassy (acting as
protecting power
A protecting power is a country that represents another sovereign state in a country where it lacks its own diplomatic representation. It is common for protecting powers to be appointed when two countries break off diplomatic relations with e ...
). On July 1, 2015, it was announced that with the resumption of diplomatic ties, the building resumed its role as the U.S. Embassy in Cuba on July 20, 2015.
After the emergence of
Havana syndrome in 2017, the United States withdrew most of the personnel from the embassy, so by July 2018 only 10 American diplomats were left to maintain the diplomatic service. The reduction of staffing also resulted in declining availability of embassy services. The
Biden Administration plans on expanding staff at the embassy to resume full scale processing of immigrant visa services beginning in early 2023. The embassy is led by
Chargé d'Affaires
A ''chargé d'affaires'' (), plural ''chargés d'affaires'', often shortened to ''chargé'' (French) and sometimes in colloquial English to ''charge-D'', is a diplomat who serves as an embassy's chief of mission in the absence of the ambassador ...
Benjamin G. Ziff.
History
![Havanna 1973 buidling of the former US embassy](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bd/Havanna_1973_buidling_of_the_former_US_embassy.jpg)
The current
embassy
A diplomatic mission or foreign mission is a group of people from a state or organization present in another state to represent the sending state or organization officially in the receiving or host state. In practice, the phrase usually deno ...
was designed in the
Modernist
Modernism is both a philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new forms of art, philosophy, an ...
-
Brutalist style by the architectural firm
Harrison & Abramovitz
Harrison & Abramovitz (also known as Harrison, Fouilhoux & Abramovitz; Harrison, Abramovitz, & Abbe; and Harrison, Abramovitz, & Harris) was an American architectural firm based in New York and active from 1941 through 1976. The firm was a partner ...
. The seven-story concrete and glass building was completed in 1953. The gardens were designed by Californian
landscape architect
A landscape architect is a person who is educated in the field of landscape architecture. The practice of landscape architecture includes: site analysis, site inventory, site planning, land planning, planting design, grading, storm water manageme ...
Thomas Dolliver Church
Thomas Dolliver Church (April 27, 1902 – August 30, 1978) was a 20th century landscape architect based in California.[José Martà Anti-Imperialist Platform The José Martà Anti-Imperialist Platform (Spanish ''Tribuna Antiimperialista José MartÃ'') is a public event venue located in the Plaza de la Dignidad, across the street from the Embassy of the United States in Havana. It was opened in April 20 ...]
and in proximity to the
Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
After the U.S. diplomatic mission became defunct in 1961, the building was not used by American personnel until the opening of the interests section on September 1, 1977. In 1963,
Prime Minister of Cuba
The Prime Minister of Cuba ( es, Primer Ministro de Cuba), officially known as the President of the Council of Ministers ( es, Presidente del Consejo de Ministros de Cuba) between 1976 and 2019, is the head of government
The head of gov ...
Fidel Castro
Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (; ; 13 August 1926 – 25 November 2016) was a Cuban revolutionary and politician who was the leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008, serving as the prime minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976 and president from 1976 to 200 ...
ordered the confiscation of the complex, but action was never taken by the
Cuban government
Cuba has had a socialist political system since 1959 based on the "one state – one party" principle. Cuba is constitutionally defined as a Marxist–Leninist state. The present Constitution of Cuba, which was passed in a 2019 referendum, also ...
, though it still claimed right to the property in 2012.
During the period that the complex served as an interests section, the U.S. was represented by
Switzerland
). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
, and the Swiss maintained both the embassy complex and its effects. Renovations were completed on the complex in 1997.
The building was upgraded from an interests section and returned to its original role as the United States Embassy in Cuba, on July 20, 2015.
On August 14, 2015,
U.S. Secretary of State
The United States secretary of state is a member of the executive branch of the federal government of the United States and the head of the U.S. Department of State. The office holder is one of the highest ranking members of the president's Ca ...
John Kerry
John Forbes Kerry (born December 11, 1943) is an American attorney, politician and diplomat who currently serves as the first United States special presidential envoy for climate. A member of the Forbes family and the Democratic Party (Unite ...
officially reopened it; eight
congressional lawmakers involved in the policy change attended, and the three Marines (Larry C. Morris, Mike East and Jim Tracy) who had lowered the
U.S. flag
The national flag of the United States of America, often referred to as the ''American flag'' or the ''U.S. flag'', consists of thirteen equal horizontal stripes of red (top and bottom) alternating with white, with a blue rectangle in the c ...
at the embassy 54 years earlier presented a new flag, which was then raised by Marines assigned to the post.
Health-related incidents
In August 2017, reports began surfacing that Americans posted at the embassy had been subjected to health-related incidents, dating back to late 2016.
Two dozen employees of the State Department reported experiencing what were referred to as "health attacks".
The State Department determined that the health problems may have been the result of an attack or else exposure to an as-yet-unknown device,
and did not believe the Cuban government is responsible.
[U.S. does not believe Cuba is behind sonic attacks on American diplomats]
McClatchy News Service
The McClatchy Company, commonly referred to as simply McClatchy, is an American publishing company incorporated under Delaware's General Corporation Law and based in Sacramento, California. It operates 29 daily newspapers in fourteen states and ...
, 26 September 2017 Affected individuals described mild brain damage similar to a concussion and symptoms such as temporary or permanent hearing loss, memory loss, and nausea.
Speculation has centered around a
sonic or ultrasonic weapon, however the scientific consensus is that the use of a sonic weapon is implausible. Dr.
Timothy Leighton
Timothy Grant Leighton One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from the royalsociety.org website where: (born 16 October 1963) is the Professor of Ultrasonics and Underwater Acoustics at the University of Southampton. He is t ...
has said "If you're talking about a ray-gun rifle knocking out someone with ultrasound they can't hear at a hundred meters — that's not going to happen".
The United States expelled two Cuban diplomats in response to the attacks;
the Cuban government offered to cooperate with the US in an investigation of the incidents. In September, the US State Department stated that it was removing non-emergency staff from the US embassy, and warned US citizens not to travel to Cuba. In October 2017, the ''Associated Press'' released what it claimed was a recording of the sound some embassy workers heard during the attacks. However, senior neurologists consulted by ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' suggested that the health incidents were probably
psychosomatic
A somatic symptom disorder, formerly known as a somatoform disorder,(2013) mass hysteria
Mass psychogenic illness (MPI), also called mass sociogenic illness, mass psychogenic disorder, epidemic hysteria, or mass hysteria, involves the spread of illness symptoms through a population where there is no infectious agent responsible for c ...
. In December 2017, investigators discovered abnormalities in the victims' brains. The white matter of the brains showed physical changes which doctors believe could not have been caused by sound. They are now avoiding the term "sonic" to describe the attacks and there is growing skepticism it was caused by a sonic device; rather, it's possible that the sound heard by victims was a by-product of the brain damage. In a 2018 paper published in
JAMA
''The Journal of the American Medical Association'' (''JAMA'') is a peer-reviewed medical journal published 48 times a year by the American Medical Association. It publishes original research, reviews, and editorials covering all aspects of biom ...
, a team of medical researchers at the
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...
all but ruled out a sonic weapon and said they could not find the source of the ailments experienced by the embassy staff. They said that the report by the Associated Press claiming researchers had found damage to white matter in the brains of the patients was wrong and that there was no such damage. In January 2019 a study of a recording of the sound heard by embassy staff was released by Alexander Stubbs, a graduate student at the
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...
, and Fernando Montealegre-Zapata, a professor of sensory biology at the
University of Lincoln
, mottoeng = Freedom through wisdom
, established = 1861 – Hull School of Art1905 – Endsleigh College1976 – Hull College1992 – University of Humberside1996 – University of Lincolnshire and Humberside2001 †...
. The study found that the sound matched the mating song of the
Indies short-tailed cricket found around the Caribbean. The researchers did not examine the cause of the diplomats' ailments and did not rule out a sonic attack "at another point".
James Lewis, a former State Department official and intelligence expert, stated: "We know with 100% certainly that the embassies are under surveillance, and the technology being used could just be crude and over-powered"; he noted that health problems at the
US embassy in Moscow in the 1970s were thought to be linked to the use of
microwave surveillance devices.
See also
*
Embassy of Cuba in Washington, D.C.
The Cuban Embassy in Washington, D.C. is the diplomatic mission of Cuba to the United States of America. It is located at 2630 16th Street Northwest, in the Adams Morgan neighborhood. The building was originally constructed in 1917 as the Cuba ...
*
Cuban Thaw
The Cuban thaw ( es, Deshielo cubano) was the normalization of Cuba–United States relations that began in December 2014 ending a 54-year stretch of hostility between the nations. In March 2016, Barack Obama became the first U.S. president ...
*
Havana syndrome
*
Moscow Signal
The Moscow Signal was a reported microwave transmission varying between 2.5 and 4 gigahertz, directed at the Embassy of the United States, Moscow from 1953 to 1976, resulting in an international incident. The US government eventually determined i ...
*
Yellow rain
Yellow rain was a 1981 political incident in which the United States Secretary of State Alexander Haig accused the Soviet Union of supplying T-2 mycotoxin to the Communist states in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia for use in counterinsurgency warfare. ...
Notes
References
External links
*
*
United States Department of State: CubaEmbassy of the United States in Cuba (Havana)
{{Authority control
Cuba–United States relations
Buildings and structures in Havana
Havana
Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
1953 establishments in Cuba
1961 disestablishments in Cuba
2015 establishments in Cuba
Brutalist architecture