Marco Rubio holds first set of hearings on sonic attack in Cuba, suggests local involvement

Sen. Marco Rubio said Tuesday that he doubts 24 American diplomats in Cuba were attacked without the local government’s knowledge.

“If you’re an American government official, you’re so closely monitored when you are in Havana that the idea that someone could attack you in a sophisticated way, or in any way for that matter, and the Cubans not at least know about it, is absurd,” Mr. Rubio, Florida Republican, said on Fox News.

Last summer, the diplomats in Cuba experienced severe vision and hearing impairment and injuries consistent with brain trauma. It is still unclear what caused the injuries, but Mr. Rubio said it was an intentional attack. Initial reports suggested some sort of sonic attack.

“While we can’t deduce how they did it, we know it happened,” he explained.

The Florida senator is set to hold the first public hearing on this issue Tuesday to gather more facts about what happened and what the State Department is doing to prevent similar occurrences.

The State Department has already removed most of its staff from Cuba and also sent back several Cuban diplomats from the U.S. in response.