International Scientists Reject Alleged Acoustic Attacks. (Photo: bbci.co.uk)
The thesis put forward by the US government of sonic attacks against its diplomats here lacks scientific arguments and remains unproven, warns Cuban specialist Nelson Gómez.
The Doctor of Medical Sciences published today an article in the digital portal Cubadebate, in which he insists that the White House appeals to that justification to sow fear in tourists who decide to choose the largest of the Antilles as a destination.
‘We have offered many scientific arguments that show that there was no attack or something that has hurt US diplomats,’ he said.
The United States used the issue of the alleged damage to its officials in the embassy reopened in July 2015 to remove most of its personnel, expel several Cuban diplomats from Washington and issue a travel alert on the island, decisions that marked the setback in bilateral relations advanced by President Donald Trump.
Gómez denounces that in spite of the lack of evidence, the argument of the injuries of the cerebral white matter of the North American officials continues.
‘Initially reference was made to the possibility of a concussion in some of those affected. When it was demonstrated that this light brain trauma was impossible, they state that the symptoms and signs presented by the patients are similar to those seen in a concussion’, he says.
According to Gómez, in the white matter lesions could forge the new justification of the United States government to try to show that structural damage has occurred in the brain of officials and family members.
It should be noted the requirements to establish the causal diagnosis of a lesion of the cerebral white matter. It is necessary to take into account the age of the patient, the age of onset of the symptoms, the personal and family pathological background, the evolutionary profile of the disease, the symptoms and signs, and magnetic resonance images, says the Cuban expert.
The scientist assures that to clarify the diagnosis it is essential to be able to interrogate and examine the affected cases, as well as to have access to the investigations carried out, an opportunity that has been denied to Cuban medical personnel who participate in the investigation of the alleged sonic attacks.
Cuba insists that there were no such attacks and its willingness to work with the United States in the search for the truth, without politicization or preconceived conditions to affect relations between Havana and Washington, deteriorated since the arrival of Trump to the Office Oval, in January 2017.
The director general of the United States of the Cuban chancellery, Carlos Fernández de Cossío, told Prensa Latina in March that from the first day the island has been willing to cooperate with the investigations to clarify this issue.
We have made invitations, showing willingness to collaborate, shared information and claimed that it be shared with our authorities and with the multidisciplinary team that has worked on the issue, he said during a meeting with journalists.
Fernández de Cossío explained that Cuba has also asked for the possibility of meeting with people who have reported symptoms and effects on their health, and asked for the possibility of interacting with the doctors who attended them in the United States.
Despite these efforts, ‘collaboration has been insufficient on the part of the United States. What has allowed the limited collaboration on the part of the United States is to confirm that there is no evidence whatsoever that in Cuba there were attacks or a deliberate act against these personnel could have been committed, ‘he said.
