“Havana syndrome” would be Russian

WASHINGTON (EFE).— A former United States military investigator believes that health incidents known as “Havana syndrome” have been the result of attacks by Russia, according to the results of an investigation broadcast by the “60 Minutes” program. ”.

The report is the result of a joint investigation by the CBS television network, the Russian media “The Insider”, and the German magazine “Der Spiegel”.

Retired Army Lt. Col. Greg Edgreen, who handled the Pentagon investigation into what the United States officially describes as “anomalous health incidents,” said on “60 Minutes” that the affected officials were targeted by Russia.

More than 200 American diplomats and family members assigned to different countries have suffered symptoms of the so-called “Havana syndrome,” which was detected for the first time in the Cuban capital in 2016 and would manifest itself with dizziness, nausea, hearing problems or migraines.

A little over a year ago, United States intelligence concluded that it was “very unlikely” that a foreign adversary would cause the so-called “Havana syndrome.”

Edgreen told CBS that, in the investigation, the criteria for validating the tests was very strict because the government does not want to accept realities such as the possible failure in its duty to protect Americans.

“Unfortunately, I cannot give the details, due to the classification,” he added. “But I can tell you that from very early on (in the investigation) I began to focus on Moscow.”

Edgreen stated that the affected officials have excelled in their performance and “there was consistently a Russian nexus.”

According to the former military man, “they worked once morest Russia, focused on Russia, and they did it extremely well.”

The then President Donald Trump (2017-2021) decided as a result of the detection of these health incidents to suspend consular services in Havana in 2017 and reduce diplomatic personnel on the island to a minimum.

Havana has denied any responsibility and launched a commission of experts that found no scientific or criminal evidence linking the symptoms to possible sonic attacks, microwaves or other deliberate action.

“The Insider”, for its part, published the testimony of Mar Polymeropoulos, identified as a former operations officer in the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), with assignments in places such as Baghdad and Kabul, and who suffered symptoms related to the “syndrome.” from Havana” following a trip to Moscow in 2017.

The symptoms, according to this report, corresponded to “Havana syndrome,” and for years Polymeropoulos had to struggle with his employer to access the medical care that his condition demanded.

60 Minutes noted that, according to several of its informants last year, when President Joe Biden attended a North Atlantic Treaty Organization summit in Lithuania, a senior official at the Pentagon became ill.

Edgreen said that, in his opinion, “that indicates that there are no barriers to what Moscow will do, or who it will attack, and that if we do not face this head-on, the problem will get worse.”