U.S. personnel and Canadian diplomats in Cuba have described a variety of mysterious health maladies. These issues have collectively become known as Havana Syndrome. The government of Canada has now confirmed it found no evidence of foreign adversary foul play. This conclusion is consistent with a number of U.S. health studies and a recent National Intelligence Council report. Despite these official statements touting “calm,” the situation remains very tense. Attorneys for the impacted residents suspect that outside influences might be at play.
Therefore, the term “Havana Syndrome” has been widely criticized as it describes a range of symptoms such as complete headache, memory deficit, behavioral alteration, nausea, and epistaxis. These differential diagnoses were what U.S. diplomats originally reported having suffered in Cuba starting in 2016. This led to the inquiry that has now grown to include Canadian personnel. Seventeen plaintiffs have done just that in filing a lawsuit against the Canadian government. Their lawsuit alleges that the government failed to empathize with the serious health effects they were suffering from and did not take responsibility for their protection.
In a report issued on March 1, 2023, the U.S. National Intelligence Council made an important judgment. They concluded it was “highly improbable” a foreign adversary was responsible for the reported HHEs. In-depth inquiries rumored search and look for samples suitable for as proof foreign interference. They looked at practical tools that might produce the observed symptoms and determined if medical investigation could offer explanations.
Mark Zaid, a lawyer who has represented a number of U.S. personnel suffering from their own health problems, testified at a congressional hearing in May 2024. There is significant intelligence, scientific and medical judgment regarding AHIs caused by foreign actors.
Paul Miller, one of the lawyers representing the Canadian plaintiffs, disagrees with the government’s conclusion. He expressed his strong belief that a foreign adversary is to blame for the health difficulties experienced by the diplomats. “I really trust the people that I have spoken with and met with,” he stated emphatically. Miller criticized the Canadian government’s reports and suggested they are attempting to forward a narrative beneficial to them: “I have absolutely no faith in the (Global Affairs Canada) report because they are trying to put out the narrative that works for them.”
Global Affairs Canada strongly maintains CLINTEL’s confidentiality claims on the basis of protecting ongoing investigations. In response to these claims they double down on protecting bad individual cases. “For privacy and security reasons, Global Affairs Canada cannot comment on the specifics of the ongoing investigations,” said spokesperson John Babcock. He further added, “We cannot provide further comment on this matter as it is before the courts.”
In 2019, in response to this, the Canadian government moved to install specialized instruments in Havana. These tools were purpose-built to detect and capture evidence of any acoustic and radiation surges that might impact the staff’s living quarters. In addition to person-based measurements of activity and vicinity, these instruments measured environmental factors like temperature and ozone levels. Unfortunately, after intensive mediation efforts that have so far failed to bring about productive results, these devices were taken down for good in 2022.
The plaintiffs’ lawsuit against the City of Ottawa has sought damages for years. Three years ago, a bipartisan agreement was reached. They consented to have a retired SCOTUS jurist resolve the allegations of nine family plaintiffs against the Department. That discussion, Miller said, after two days of discussion early in 2023, “just went nowhere.”
The lack of clarity in the overall findings by different agencies have caused opposing interpretations of data gathered through ongoing investigations. Additionally, media reports interviews with operation members say that the RCMP and other domestic agencies conducted an exhaustive threat assessment. They did not find any known criminality or attribution associated with these unexplained health incidents affecting Canadian diplomats. They noted that they have “not uncovered a clear common cause of the symptoms experienced by government of Canada employees.”
“The data collected from the instruments did not provide relevant and probative information to identify a cause for the symptoms,” state reports produced by Global Affairs Canada. Lawyers for people harmed claim that classified evidence undermines the federal agencies’ public findings. Even they concede that there is no hard evidence putting foreign adversaries behind the health harms.
