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The Cubans don't make a whole lot of sense as a prime suspect. The first issue occurred right as Cuba was having sanctions lifted, tourists started bringing mo

The Cubans don't make a whole lot of sense as a prime suspect. The first issue occurred right as Cuba was having sanctions lifted, tourists started bringing money in, and things were heading in a positive direction. Cuba was damaged by this incident and it pushed back diplomatic relations potentially years. We cannot discount a rogue element within Cuba of course. Or the Russians/Chinese who may feel they could benefit from worse relations between the US and Cuba. It could also be a complete accident (e.g. faulty counterintelligence equipment).

solnet99 8y ago
You are too dismissive of the obvious. The Cubans may want the money and the tourists, but the Cuban Government does not. Capitalism weakens socialist/communist governments. If there were some fundamental flaw with equipment, it would happen in plenty of other places...why hasn't this issue come up in consulates in Germany? Why did it start the instant we send diplomats to Cuba? It only happens in countries where operatives would be free to experiment without fear of reprisals from the local government. The proximity of the Cuban Consulate is NOT a coincidence. Cuba may be trying to deflect attention away from themselves by saying 'see, it happened in China too'.
- freeflight 8y ago
  > Capitalism weakens socialist/communist governments. That's not how any of those work, you are looking at this way too much with an ideological bias.
- Chaebixi 8y ago
  > Capitalism weakens socialist/communist governments. Tell that to China.
  - Markoff 8y ago
    except there is nothing socialist/communist about Chinese government except brand name and it can hardly weaken brand which is just running thw orst version of capitalism, EU is way more socialist/communist than China
    - Chaebixi 8y ago
      > except there is nothing socialist/communist about Chinese government except brand name and it can hardly weaken brand which is just running thw orst version of capitalism, EU is way more socialist/communist than China Tell that to China. Massive parts of their economy are state owned. IIRC, the state also has significant ownership stakes in many of its marquee companies.
- toomanybeersies 8y ago
  The Cuban government negotiated the embargo relief with the USA, not the Cuban people. Regardless, this is a silly theory, because Cuba already has a robust tourist economy from every country that's not the USA. Not to mention its robust exports of rum and cigars. In regards to if it was American equipment, why did it not happen in Germany? Well, the US embassy in Cuba is a brand new embassy, so it makes sense that they'd have brand new equipment. And of course the Cuban and American consulates in Guangzhou are close to each other. Consulates and embassies tend to be clustered near each other. The Belgian embassy in Cuba is just around the corner from the American embassy, and the Belgian consulate general in Guangzhou is just around the corner from the American one. So it could just as well be the Belgians attacking American diplomatic missions.
huhtenberg 8y ago
> tourists started bringing money in To nitpick - Cuba did very well as a tourist destination even without US tourists. It's the US _investments_ in the tourist infrastructure that started to appear and matter.

solnet99 8y ago

You are too dismissive of the obvious. The Cubans may want the money and the tourists, but the Cuban Government does not. Capitalism weakens socialist/communist governments. If there were some fundamental flaw with equipment, it would happen in plenty of other places...why hasn't this issue come up in consulates in Germany? Why did it start the instant we send diplomats to Cuba? It only happens in countries where operatives would be free to experiment without fear of reprisals from the local government. The proximity of the Cuban Consulate is NOT a coincidence. Cuba may be trying to deflect attention away from themselves by saying 'see, it happened in China too'.

freeflight 8y ago
> Capitalism weakens socialist/communist governments. That's not how any of those work, you are looking at this way too much with an ideological bias.
Chaebixi 8y ago
> Capitalism weakens socialist/communist governments. Tell that to China.
- Markoff 8y ago
  except there is nothing socialist/communist about Chinese government except brand name and it can hardly weaken brand which is just running thw orst version of capitalism, EU is way more socialist/communist than China
  - Chaebixi 8y ago
    > except there is nothing socialist/communist about Chinese government except brand name and it can hardly weaken brand which is just running thw orst version of capitalism, EU is way more socialist/communist than China Tell that to China. Massive parts of their economy are state owned. IIRC, the state also has significant ownership stakes in many of its marquee companies.
toomanybeersies 8y ago
The Cuban government negotiated the embargo relief with the USA, not the Cuban people. Regardless, this is a silly theory, because Cuba already has a robust tourist economy from every country that's not the USA. Not to mention its robust exports of rum and cigars. In regards to if it was American equipment, why did it not happen in Germany? Well, the US embassy in Cuba is a brand new embassy, so it makes sense that they'd have brand new equipment. And of course the Cuban and American consulates in Guangzhou are close to each other. Consulates and embassies tend to be clustered near each other. The Belgian embassy in Cuba is just around the corner from the American embassy, and the Belgian consulate general in Guangzhou is just around the corner from the American one. So it could just as well be the Belgians attacking American diplomatic missions.

huhtenberg 8y ago

> tourists started bringing money in To nitpick - Cuba did very well as a tourist destination even without US tourists. It's the US _investments_ in the tourist infrastructure that started to appear and matter.