US secretary of state testified that Barack Obama’s reforms effectively removed pressure from Raúl Castro’s regime to alter its behaviour 
 
 Cuba must end human rights violations if it wants the US to continue normalising relations, secretary of state Rex Tillerson has warned. 
 
 Donald Trump is expected to travel to Miami on Friday to announce reversals to elements of Barack Obama’s Cuba policy, which saw embassies reopen, direct flights resume and companies do business after half a century of cold war hostility. 
 
 Addressing the Senate foreign relations committee in Washington on Tuesday, Tillerson testified that Obama’s reforms effectively removed pressure on Raúl Castro’s regime to alter its behaviour. 
 
 “Cuba has failed to improve its own human rights record, political opponents continue to be imprisoned, dissidents continue to be jailed, women continue to be harassed. 
 
 
 
 “So what we have to achieve in approaching Cuba is, if we’re going to sustain the sunny side of this relationship, Cuba must – absolutely must – begin to address its human rights challenges.” 
 
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 An interagency review of Cuba policy was still under way on Tuesday but Tillerson’s remarks gave the strongest clue yet as to the intentions of Trump, who has the power to undo Obama’s executive actions. 
 
 On Friday the president is likely to rally hardline members of Miami’s Cuban exile community while potentially delivering a setback to the activities of Airbnb, Google and other companies doing business on the island. 
 
 Fifty-five Cuban female entrepreneurs have sent joint a letter to the president’s daughter, Ivanka Trump, asking for her support for policies they say have empowered Cuban women and their families across the island. 
 
 But Tillerson said the Trump administration believes that the new US approach is directly supporting the Cuban government in violation of American law. “We would love to keep the sunny side, we’d love to keep it in compliance with existing statues that doesn’t lead to financial support for what we can only describe continues to be a very oppressive regime.” 
 
 The administration wants to restore the intent of legislation designed to put pressure on the regime to change, he added. “That pressure’s been, in our view, largely removed now.” 
 
 Trump is expected to retain some reforms and shelve others. The US embassy in Havana will remain open but trade with any Cuban entity linked to the military will be banned, according to a White House official who spoke to the Associated Press. There will also be a cut in the number of categories for which Americans do not need US government licenses to go to Cuba, the Associated Press reported, and the US will demand greater internet access and the release of prisoners and return of American fugitives in Cuba. 
 
 Obama’s repeal of the special Cuban immigration privileges, known as “wet foot, dry foot”, is not expected to change. 
 
 At Tuesday’s Senate hearing, Tillerson also testified that the US relationship with Russia is at “an all-time low” and deteriorating further, but he warned against closing off promising avenues of communication. 
 
 He told the committee that he is still reviewing a new package of Russia sanctions the Senate is considering in retaliation for Moscow’s interference in the 2016 presidential election and its aggression in other parts of the world, including Syria and Ukraine. 
 
 At what was ostensibly a budget hearing, the secretary of state was also forced to defend the Trump administration’s plans for cuts of nearly $19bn, or 32%, in the diplomatic and foreign aid allocations. He expected to have a plan for reorganising the state department at the end of the year. The former ExxonMobil chief executive said: “Our budget will never determine our ability to be effective. Our people will.” 
 
 But Ben Cardin, the top Democrat on the committee, launched a withering assault on the Trump presidency as a threat to American leadership in the world. “My concern today, quite frankly, is that your administration will go down in the history books as being ‘present at the destruction’ of that order we have worked so hard to support – and that has so benefitted our security and prosperity and ideals,” he said. ||||| SHARE THIS ARTICLE Share Tweet Post Email 
 
 Photographer: Dado Galdieri/Bloomberg Photographer: Dado Galdieri/Bloomberg 
 
 New York (AP) -- The Trump administration is considering closing down the recently reopened U.S. Embassy in Havana following a string of unexplained incidents harming the health of American diplomats in Cuba, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Sunday. 
 
 Tillerson's comments were the strongest indication to date that the United States might mount a major diplomatic response, potentially jeopardizing the historic restart of relations between the U.S. and Cuba. The two former foes reopened embassies in Washington and Havana in 2015 after a half-century of estrangement. 
 
 "We have it under evaluation," Tillerson said of a possible embassy closure. "It's a very serious issue with respect to the harm that certain individuals have suffered. We've brought some of those people home. It's under review." 
 
 Of the 21 medically confirmed U.S. victims — diplomats and their families — some have permanent hearing loss or concussions, while others suffered nausea, headaches and ear-ringing. Some are struggling with concentration or common word recall, The Associated Press has reported . 
 
 Some victims felt vibrations or heard loud sounds mysteriously audible in only parts of rooms, leading investigators to consider a potential "sonic attack." Others heard nothing but later developed symptoms. 
 
 Tillerson once called the events "health attacks," but the State Department has since used the term "incidents" while emphasizing the U.S. still doesn't know what has occurred. Cuba has denied any involvement or responsibility but stressed it's eager to help the U.S. resolve the matter. 
 
 The U.S. has said the tally of Americans affected could grow as more cases are potentially detected. 
 
 The last reported incident was on Aug. 21, according to a U.S. official briefed on the matter. The official wasn't authorized to discuss the matter publicly and requested anonymity. 
 
 A decision to shutter the embassy, even temporarily, would deal a demoralizing blow to the delicate detente that President Barack Obama and Cuban leader Raul Castro announced in late 
 
 2014. The next year, embassies were reopened and restrictions on travel and commerce eased — signs of a warming relationship that displeased some hard-liners in Cuba's government. President Donald Trump has reversed some of the changes, but left many in place. 
 
 Tillerson spoke on CBS' "Face the Nation" as world leaders and top diplomats descended on New York for annual U.N. General Assembly meetings. President Donald Trump will give his first speech on the major global platform this week. 
 
 Cuba is also represented at the U.N., but it's not expected Trump will meet with any Cuban leaders or officials during his visit. 
 
 The U.S. hasn't identified either a culprit or a device. Investigators have explored the possibility of sonic waves, an electromagnetic weapon, or an advanced spying operation gone awry, U.S. officials briefed on the probe told the AP. The U.S. hasn't ruled out that a third country or a rogue faction of Cuba's security services might be involved. 
 
 In Washington, lawmakers in Congress have been raising alarm over the incidents, with some calling for the embassy to be closed. On Friday, five Republican senators wrote Tillerson urging him to not only shutter the embassy, but also kick all Cuban diplomats out of the United States — a move with dramatic diplomatic implications 
 
 "Cuba's neglect of its duty to protect our diplomats and their families cannot go unchallenged," said the lawmakers, who included Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas, who led the effort, and Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, a prominent Cuban-American and critic of the U.S. detente. 
 
 The incidents have frightened Havana's tight-knit diplomatic community, raising concerns about the potential scope. At least one other country, France, has tested embassy staff for potential sonic-induced injuries, the AP has reported. 
 
 ___ 
 
 Reach Josh Lederman on Twitter at http://twitter.com/joshledermanAP ||||| Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Sunday that the United States is considering closing the U.S. Embassy in Havana in response to mysterious hearing problems that have left at least 21 employees with serious health issues. 
 
 "We have it under evaluation," Tillerson said on CBS's "Face the Nation" when asked about calls by some senators to shutter the diplomatic mission. "It's a very serious issue, with respect to the harm that certain individuals have suffered, and we've brought some of those people home. It's under review." 
 
 Closing the embassy would be a serious setback to relations between the United States and Cuba, two Cold War adversaries whose enmity stretched more than half a century before they restored diplomatic relations and upgraded their missions into embassies in 2015. 
 
 But at least 21 Americans who worked in the U.S. Embassy in Cuba have reported medical problems since late last year, when percussive attacks on their residences began. The incidents apparently continued into 2017. Two Cuban diplomats have been expelled from the embassy in Washington in response. 
 
 The State Department did not talk publicly about the incident until August, months after the problems were uncovered. 
 
 [Trump’s Cuba policy tries to redefine ‘good’ U.S. tourism.] 
 
 
 
 The FBI is investigating what the union representing Foreign Service officers calls “sonic harassment attacks” on the diplomats at the U.S. Embassy in Havana. (Desmond Boylan/AP) 
 
 Some of the victims suffered mild traumatic brain injuries, hearing loss and other neurological and physical ailments, said the union representing Foreign Service officers. The FBI is investigating what the union calls "sonic harassment attacks" on the diplomats. A Canadian diplomat also reported similar problems. 
 
 Cuba has denied any responsibility for the attacks. 
 
 Cuban President Raúl Castro called in the then-head of the U.S. mission, Jeffrey DeLaurentis, to express concern. 
 
 Five Republican senators wrote Tillerson last week asking him to close the embassy and expel Cuba's diplomats from the United States. 
 
 "We ask that you immediately declare all accredited Cuban diplomats in the United States persona non grata and, if Cuba does not take tangible action, close the U.S. Embassy in Havana," the senators wrote. "Cuba's neglect of its duty to protect our diplomats and their families cannot go unchallenged."
– The upside to former President Obama's landmark deal to normalize relations with Cuba is that the Cuban people have benefited, says Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. The downside, he says, is that they haven't benefited enough. While commending the increased commercial activity in Cuba, Tillerson told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Tuesday that "we have achieved very little" in regards to how the Cuban government treats its people, per the Wall Street Journal. To fix that, President Trump is expected to unveil an updated Cuba policy Friday that will "allow as much of this continued commercial and engagement activity to go on as possible" but also encourage Cuba to end human rights violations, Tillerson says, per the Guardian. An anonymous White House official tells the AP that the US embassy in Havana will remain open but that trade with Cuban companies with ties to the military will be outlawed. The Journal also reports on a possible tightening of travel restrictions since much of Cuba's tourism industry is controlled by its military. In this way, the US is "inadvertently or directly providing financial support to the regime," Tillerson says. At the same time, "political opponents continue to be imprisoned, dissidents continue to be jailed, women continue to be harassed." The US is also expected to request the release of prisoners and the return of US fugitives from Cuba. Numerous groups have penned letters in an attempt to sway policy, reports the Miami Herald.