Listen to Marc Polymeropoulos and John Sipher on True Spies' podcast: Havana Syndrome Special.

The US House Intelligence Committee is examining how the CIA and other American spy agencies dealt with cases of Havana Syndrome, reopening discussion about the mysterious illnesses that have affected an estimated 1,000 diplomats and spies worldwide since 2016.

The New York Times sees the investigation as a potential Congressional challenge to the intelligence community’s official findings. In 2023, seven US agencies wrapped up a multi-year investigation into Havana Syndrome with most deciding it was ‘very unlikely’ caused by a foreign adversary.

Representative Rick Crawford, an Arkansas Republican and member of the US House Intelligence Committee, announced the 2024 inquiry in a letter to National Intelligence Director Avril D. Haines. According to the New York Times, Crawford referred to information provided by whistle-blowers and said the inquiry would examine ‘allegations of improper suppression’ of information related to the incidents between intelligence agencies and between the executive branch and Congress.
‍

‍

Havana and Beyond

The syndrome doesn’t just involve Cuban postings; US operatives have reported similar experiences as far away as China and Syria. Former CIA officer Marc Polymeropoulos, a 26-year CIA veteran, awoke in a Moscow hotel in 2017 with the room spinning. Since then, he’s suffered a series of vice-like headaches: “I'm concerned about the adversaries behind this because, ultimately, I believe it's an act of war,” he told the True Spies podcast.

There’s no consensus about the cause of Havana Syndrome. Some experts suggest the condition could be a psychosomatic reaction to stress, while the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine has said the most probable cause was radiofrequency energy, a type of radiation that includes microwaves.

‍

What is Havana Syndrome?

Patients can experience chronic dizziness, headaches, imbalance, vestibular migraines, trouble with concentration, anxiety, and secondary depression.

“On the objective side, what we're talking about are neurological symptoms,” Dr. James Giordano, a professor of neurology and biochemistry and executive director of the Institute for Bio-Defense Research told True Spies. “These are individuals who suffer from profound vertigo. They have a difficult time with short-term memory, intermediate-term memory, processing multiple forms of information at the same time, which is called cognitive overload.”

US diplomats began complaining about the symptoms in 2016, less than two years after diplomatic ties were reinstated between Washington and Havana. Some reported being disturbed by a grinding noise. Others described the experience as a ‘sonic attack’. 
‍