From the U.S. Government Accountability Office, www.gao.gov

Transcript for: Reported Injuries to U.S. Personnel in Cuba

Description: Hear about a GAO report on Department of State’s response 
to a series of incidents in Cuba which left some U.S. diplomats and 
their families experiencing injuries including hearing loss and brain 
damage.

Related GAO Work: GAO-18-615: Reported Injuries to U.S. Personnel in 
Cuba: State Should Revise Policies to Ensure Appropriate Internal 
Communication of Relevant Incidents

Released: September 2018


[ Background Music ]

[ Brian Mazanec: ] It's important that State learn from those, then 
make other changes as appropriate at posts around the globe to ensure 
that our diplomats are safe.

[ Matt Oldham: ] Welcome to GAO's Watchdog Report, your source for news 
and information from the U.S. Government Accountability Office. I'm 
Matt Oldham. From late 2016 into May of this year, U.S. diplomats and 
their families in Havana were affected by incidents associated with 
injuries, including hearing loss and brain damage. I'm here with Brian 
Mazanec, he's a director in our International Affairs and Trade team 
and he's here to talk about a GAO report that reviewed Department of 
State's response to the incidents in Cuba. Thank you for taking the 
time to speak with me Brian.

[ Brian Mazanec: ] Happy to be here.

[ Matt Oldham: ] So, tell me, what were the report’s findings?

[ Brian Mazanec: ] So, our finding was that the offices within State 
weren't communicating the way they should have. When these incidents 
were occurring, several State offices were responding but the office 
responsible for initiating the process to consider whether or not to 
convene an Accountability Review Board, was not aware of the incidents. 
And that's important, because the Accountability Review Board is the 
process by which the State Department's legally required to convene, 
but it's also the process- the important process by which the State 
Department learns valuable lessons to improve the security at posts 
across the globe. In fact, the way that this office found out about the 
incidents was ultimately a former employee in that office who saw media 
reports of the incidents and called the office and notified them. So, 
it wasn't any of the other State Office's that were actively responding 
to the incidents that made them aware.

[ Matt Oldham: ] So, there's still a lot that we don't know about these 
incidents, why is it important for GAO to focus on State's policies and 
responses?

[ Brian Mazanec: ] Just to be clear, we didn't look at the nature of 
the incidents themselves, and in fact, just last month the Secretary of 
State noted that the precise nature of the injuries and the incidents 
was still uncertain. What we focused on was, as you note, the State 
Department's response to the incidents, particularly as it pertains to 
convening an Accountability Review Board, that's critically important 
because the Accountability Review Board is a mechanism by which the 
State Department learns from these incidents in order to help improve 
the security of posts elsewhere. So, we found, we identified a gap in 
state's policies that left this office out of the loop, so while they 
have policies that identify this particular office as responsible for 
initiating that process to convene an Accountability Review Board, 
their policies don't identify how that office should be made aware.

[ Background Music ]

[ Matt Oldham: ] So, it sounds like there are some communication issues 
at the very beginning within State, once incidents like these happen. 
This could result in the Department of State being less able to improve 
security programs and practices at other diplomatic posts or their 
ability to respond to similar incidents at other diplomatic posts. So, 
Brian what recommendations did your team have?

[ Brian Mazanec: ] So we recommended that the State Department revise 
its policies to ensure that the office responsible for considering 
whether or not an Accountability Review Board is necessary and 
convening one as appropriate or beginning that process, is made aware 
of potential incidents. So, we basically recommended that the State 
Department update its policy to address that gap that we found, that 
led to the delay in this instance and that office being made aware.

[ Matt Oldham: ] Finally, what do you believe is the bottom line of 
your report?

[ Brian Mazanec: ] So I think our bottom line was that State needs to 
update its policies to better communicate so as to ensure that it 
captures these opportunities to learn from these type of experiences. 
When there are serious incidents that affect the security of posts 
overseas, it's important that State learn from those and update its 
policies, procedures, and make other changes as appropriate at posts 
around the globe to ensure that our diplomats are safe.

[ Matt Oldham: ] Brian's a director in our International Affairs and 
Trade team and he was talking about a GAO report that looked at 
Department of State policy and response to the reported injuries to 
U.S. personnel in Cuba. Thank you for your time Brian.

[ Brian Mazanec: ] Great, thank you.

[ Background Music ]

[ Matt Oldham: ] And thank you for listening to the Watchdog Report. To 
hear more podcasts, subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts. 

[ Background Music ]

[ Matt Oldham: ] For more from the congressional watchdog, the U.S. 
Government Accountability Office, visit us at gao.gov.