Disease in the Embassy: The Mystery of the Havana Syndrome
Dizziness. Nausea. Memory loss. These mysterious symptoms were some of the first reported in late 2016 by members of the American embassy in Cuba. Described as a piercing, high-pitched noise, one foreign-service officer recounted its’ paralysing effect to the point that, “when the sound occurred, I could not move. I couldn’t get up until it stopped”. A few months later, once rumours of the strange affliction began circulating the other consulates stationed in Havana, twelve more ambassadors tested positive for the symptoms-this time reported by the Canadian staff. The puzzling stories baffled scientists and government bodies alike, some simplifying it to loud crickets and others to mosquito fumigation.
In 2018, similar reports began surfacing again. This medical mystery took its next victims across the world in the city of Guangzhao, China, where government officials recorded occurrences of grating noises followed by nausea and head pain. Soon coined the ‘Havana Syndrome’, the phenomena raised serious questions about the immediate safety of diplomatic officials worldwide. But perhaps more implicitly, the series of events worried many as they positioned the issue in the language of national security, cyberterrorism and espionage.
In December of last year, a report was published which confirmed many of these fears. The report, conducted by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine and commissioned by the US State Department, found neither pesticidal fumigation nor chemical exposure a likely cause, but strangely the involvement of radio frequency energy. Despite taking into account psychological and social conditions, the research concluded that,
“Overall, directed pulsed RF energy, especially in those with distinct early manifestations, appears to be the most plausible mechanism in explaining these cases”.
The report repeatedly assigns the illnesses to a ‘directed’ and ‘pulsed’ energy, rather than a ‘continuous’ source i.e. a cellphone. Carefully selected, this language reflects a shared sentiment that such symptoms were not produced innocently. On the contrary, it is strongly implied that the affair in Havana was the result of a hostile and ill-natured attack.
In what appears to be a politically charged observation, the publication then goes on to compare the symptoms of the Havana fiasco to those which surfaced back in the 1970s and 80s in Moscow. Avoiding any direct accusation, the report instead mentions “significant research in Russia/U.S.S.R.” on the pulsed radiofrequency technology and stories of exposed military personnel in the former communist bloc. Evoking memories of US-USSR relations at the height of the Cold War, the discussion makes a pointed note of the Soviet Union’s historical practice to target the American Embassy with microwave beams. Russian complicity in the matter has certainly been a circulating theory in the intelligence field, images of Novichok poisonings and Taliban-linked bounties smearing Moscow’s style of espionage.
More telling than the scientific reports and data was the immediate political response by the American government. Initially, members of the embassy were withdrawn, a travel warning exercised and an expulsion of several Cuban diplomats from the State Capitol ordered. However, the administration’s policy has been inconsistent at best, the entrance of China and Russia severely complicating the narrative. In an effort to maintain, if not strengthen, political and commercial relations with Russia and China, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was quick to downplay the health concerns displayed by their employees. For the Trump administration, admitting foreign intrusion in the health incidents could mean withdrawing American operations in China- a major disruption to an economic relationship. In a policy which clearly favoured passivity and appeasement, the State Department simply advised those with concerns to consult a local doctor. Beyond that, guidance has been limited. The delay in scientific publications by the administration, considering their modus operandum of secrecy and inaction, is not surprising; ahead of election season, the Havana syndrome became another security nuisance kicked down the road.
The proliferation of cases not just in Cuba, but across China and Russia and other countries, raises questions about the severity of this medical puzzle. If there was a weapon of any kind involved, who operated it? And for what gain? The mere consideration of malevolence opens an entire pandora’s box of unknown threats and players, reconfiguring the very terrain of radiological warfare and techno-terrorism as we know it.
Almost five years since the first reported symptom in Havana, the investigation remains at a standstill. Mark Lenzi, a former diplomatic security officer stationed in China at the time, recalled the initial distress and disorder when he too became afflicted by symptoms. Inferior testing equipment, letters of admonishment and methods of gaslighting all coloured his experiences. For Lenzi, like so many others, “they didn’t find anything, because they didn’t want to find anything”.
