On a visit to Moscow at the end of November 2021, the director of the CIA, William Burns, had alerted to the ” consequences “ possible involvement of Russia in the “abnormal health incidents”, otherwise known as “Havana syndrome”. But according to the agency’s preliminary conclusions, revealed on January 19 by the New York Times, this mysterious illness is believed to be due to environmental factors, undiagnosed health conditions or stress, rather than an attack by a foreign power. According to the American daily, the CIA is nevertheless continuing its investigation into around twenty cases which remain unexplained.
→ UNDERSTAND. The “Havana Syndrome”, a saga worthy of the Cold War
Those “abnormal health incidents”, as the US government calls them, were seen beginning in 2016, when CIA agents and diplomats serving in Havana, Cuba, began reporting migraine headaches, nausea and dizziness, a strange sensory experience such as excessive heat, ringing in the ears and persistent dizziness. Since then, other cases have been identified in India, Colombia, Vietnam, Serbia and Russia, but also in Austria and China.
In response to the CIA director’s statement in November, President Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, denied any connection between his country and the syndrome. The Deputy Director of the United States in the Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Johana Tablada, had done the same, accusing the United States of using this syndrome to carry out an anti-Cuban policy. “The only winners in this story are the members of a minority and reactionary group of politicians desperate and ready to use all their means to try to impose and perpetuate the confrontation between Washington and the Cuban people”, she said in May 2021 in the Cuban press.
The measures adopted by Washington
To conduct its investigation and identify the disease, the CIA used tests already administered within the United States Air Force and Navy to assess the overall coordination and balance of the military, as well as examinations on the cognitive functions of patients. Following recent findings, a new section of tests might be added to this tool to better understand the causes of stress and depression experienced by victims.
In September 2021, the United States Congress had unanimously passed the Helping American Victims Afflicted by Neurological Attacks (Havana Act), to guarantee financial support for people suffering from neurological symptoms associated with Havana syndrome.
The reaction of the victims
The CIA’s tentative findings leave many victims dissatisfied, especially agency employees who have struggled with chronic illnesses for years without being given a clear explanation. In a statement, a victims’ group said the agency’s interim findings ” cannot and should not be the last word on the matter ».
However, according to testimonies of former American agents granted to the New York Times, their treating physicians believe that the severe sources of stress to which they were subjected during their service would have induced a certain paranoia, which would have manifested itself in health abnormalities such as eye spasms or excessive sensitivity to light. The new lead from the CIA, which relates to a psychosomatic cause of the Havana syndrome, therefore does not appear unreasonable.
