The ‘Havana Syndrome’ saga has waxed and waned for nearly a decade. It’s the name given to a cluster of mysterious symptoms reported by U.S Embassy staff working in Havana. It began in 2016 when an undercover CIA agent who later became known as ‘patient zero,’ fell ill one night and noticed that his symptoms coincided with a strange sound which he recorded on his phone. He alerted other agents and embassy staff that he believed he was the target with a ‘sonic weapon’ that used sounds waves to incapacitate him. He then tried to convince other agents and diplomats that the eerie sounds others were hearing, may have been responsible for any illnesses they had experienced since arriving in Cuba. He even played them his recording to know what to look for. We know this because a well-known CIA officer in Havana at the time – Fulton Armstrong – later said that ‘patient zero’ was aggressively lobbying other embassy staff and diplomats to report any unusual symptoms that they may have been experiencing.
In fact, of the first 21 victims in Cuba who reported feeling unwell and hearing sounds, eight recorded their ‘attacks’ including the agent. An analysis of these recordings by government scientists concluded they were the mating calls of the Indies short-tailed cricket.[i] This report was conspicuously kept classified until its release in 2021 under a Freedom of Information Act request.[ii] It is also noteworthy that microwaves, which have been suggested for the ‘attacks,’ cannot be recorded. The perception of sound from microwave exposure is from ‘The Frey Effect’ which creates the perception of sound which is caused by a thermal expansion of the inner ear.
Havana Syndrome is almost certainly an example of the Nocebo Effect, the evil twin of the more well-known Placebo Effect. In short, it means if you believe in something strongly enough, you can literally make yourself sick. The problem with the health claims is that the symptoms are so vague as to be experienced by every person who has ever lived in any given week of their lives: headache, nausea, dizziness, balance problems, forgetfulness, confusion, fatigue, difficulty concentrating, head pressure, ear pain, tinnitus, insomnia, depression, nose bleeds. The most severe symptoms – white matter tract changes, brain damage, and hearing loss, were never demonstrated. They were the result of bad science – namely the 2018 and 2019 studies in the Journal of the American Medical Association, and a 2018 study headed by Dr. Michael Hoffer at the University of Miami.[iii] These studies have been thoroughly discredited.[iv]
This is why in 2023, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence concluded that it was “highly unlikely” that the symptoms were from a condition that was caused by covert weapon or foreign adversary. Instead they concluded that ‘Havana Syndrome’ was a catch-all category for an array of pre-existing health conditions and stress reactions that had been lumped under a single label.[v]
Now that the science has spoken, the Trump Administration appears poised to use ‘Havana Syndrome’ as a pretext to intervene in Cuba.
Enter, Stage Right, the Trump Administration
The new reporting from out of the blue, shifts the narrative. After years of Intelligence Community skepticism and National Institutes of Health reports citing “no physical evidence,”[vi] the reported discovery of a backpack-sized pulsed energy device changes everything.[vii] We are moving from ‘medical mystery’ to ‘smoking gun.’ It is difficult to fathom that the Trump Administration has been sitting on this information for over a year.
These revelations could be used as justification to turn the economic screws on Cuba, perhaps even a blockade or direct military intervention. Trump recently warned Cuba to “make a deal” or face the consequences, asserting the “Donroe Doctrine” – a corollary to the Monroe Doctrine, claiming that the U.S. has the right to intervene in its ‘backyard’ to neutralize foreign threats (like alleged Russian-linked devices) and force a regional re-alignment with American interests. Finding ‘proof’ that Cuba used or hosted a Russian-linked device that supposedly injured U.S. diplomats, provides the ultimate justification for direct action.
Since taking office, Trump officials have repeatedly clashed with Intelligence Community leadership. The existence of a new device that the Biden administration supposedly downplayed or missed, is the opening the Administration needs to claim that the previous ‘deep state’ leadership was either covering up Russian/Cuban aggression or they were incompetent. This scenario would also validate Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s long-standing position that ‘Havana Syndrome’ was not a medical mystery but a series of intentional acts of war.
There is a saying among detectives that there are no coincidences. The timing of this story is highly suspicious just as the Trump Administration is ramping up a maximum pressure campaign against Havana. With Marco Rubio in the State Department and Nicolás Maduro behind bars, claims of a smoking gun for Havana Syndrome provide the perfect justification for taking action, all in the name of self-defence.
