Listen to Marc Polymeropoulos' True Spies podcast: Havana Syndrome Special.

Unlike many of the Havana Syndrome cases now diagnosed, Marc Polymeropoulos’ story began in Moscow in 2017 when he awoke in a five-star hotel near the US Embassy. He was supposed to be meeting the ambassador and Russian officials but could barely stand up.

He described the devastating symptoms to SPYSCAPE's True Spies podcast: "The room is literally spinning. I'm about to be sick. Ears were ringing, headache... And so I just stumbled around the room, ended up making it back to the bed. And then hoping that by morning, this would wear off, but unfortunately, it did not."

Polymeropoulos, the author of Clarity in Crisis, was diagnosed with a traumatic brain injury, a condition with debilitating symptoms attributed to a medical condition named after the city in Cuba where the side effects first surfaced in 2016. Polymeropoulos has described Havana Syndrome as ‘an act of war’, but who or what is the enemy?
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Havana Syndrome is spreading

Polymeropoulos isn’t alone in his suffering. Other US Embassy staff - both diplomats and intelligence officers - describe similar symptoms in Cuba. By 2019, complaints about the syndrome had spread to staff in China, then to American soldiers in Syria, and later even the White House. Canadian diplomats in Havana have also made similar complaints.

Was it a sonic attack? Or were the CIA being targeted by directed, pulsed radiofrequency energy? The theory that gained credence with a 2020 US study. The FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit initially decided it was a mass psychogenic illness - basically a psychological condition where a group of people think they’re suffering from a dangerous exposure at the same time - but the FBI hadn’t spoken directly to any of the victims.

No one really knows exactly what’s causing the invisible wounds.

“Many of us have said, subsequent to being injured, we wish we’d been shot. We wish there was a gunshot wound to show people,” Polymeropoulos has said.
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Havana Syndrome: ‘It is a real syndrome.’

Former US State Department Psychiatrist Dr. Kenneth Dekleva was posted in Moscow for five years - one of his many overseas assignments - and had a leadership role as director of the State Department’s worldwide diplomatic mental health program: “It is a real syndrome. The burden of suffering on these patients is very real.”

Dr. Dekleva knows a fair bit about the syndrome having read the literature and treated more than 200 patients in his Dallas clinic since 2020 who have symptoms very similar to many of the diplomats with Havana Syndrome.

“It’s a ‘neurovestibular condition’ - what that means is there's an insult or injury to the inner ear that disrupts hearing and balance.”

Patients can experience chronic dizziness, headaches, imbalance, vestibular migraines - as well as what some sufferers call ‘brain fog’ - and trouble with concentration, anxiety, and even in many cases secondary depression. “So these are complex patients to treat,” Dr. Dekleva added.

The 2020 National Sciences Academy panel, led by esteemed scholar Dr. David Relman of Stanford University, suggested the diplomats’ symptoms could be due to a microwave radiofrequency attack although there’s no smoking gun or proof yet.

“The other important factor in terms of that is the Russians have published - in English, open-source biophysics journals - articles about this over the last decade saying that a neuro weapon or a device like this could be used to cause central nervous system dysfunction. So the fact that their researchers are working on these types of problems even in animal models is another - it’s not a smoking gun proof, but it is evidence that they are interested in this.”
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Havana Syndrome: who or what is to blame? 

Polymeropoulos has fought to be taken seriously since 2017 when the number of complainants was much smaller: “I did a lot of unusual things for the CIA but I always knew that the leadership should have my back if I got jammed up, if something bad happened to me. And that just didn’t happen.”

The tide turned with the appointment of CIA Director William J. Burns in March 2021, however. Burns promised to make Havana Syndrome a priority under his watch. Yet it is still unclear who or what is causing the symptoms.

There’s a speculative case to be made against Russia - although Moscow denies any involvement - but given the number of countries involved, it might also be a coordinated effort. Or, as some medical experts have suggested, there may be a common denominator among the victims such as exposure to a neurotoxin, or another explanation entirely.
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Havana Syndrome: the effect on the next generation

Polymeropoulos and John Sipher, an ex-CIA officer and former Moscow Chief of Station, told the SPYSCAPE True Spies podcast they believe Havana Syndrome is the result of targeted attacks most likely coming from some form of microwave energy device.

While a new generation of CIA officers investigates, Polymeropoulos will be looking for a way to relieve the headache he’s had for years, a ‘vice clamp’ with pressure coming over the top of his head.

He’ll also keep pushing for answers to the Havana Syndrome: “Who feels safe to serve now overseas with this happening?”

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Marc Polymeropoulos worked for 26 years at the CIA before retiring at the Senior Intelligence Service level. He was one of the CIA’s most highly decorated operations officers who served in multiple field assignments for the U.S. government. He specialized in counterterrorism, the Middle East and South Asia, including extensive time in Iraq and Afghanistan. He can be contacted via SPYEX.com to appear at events or consult on leadership, counterterrorism, or other topics.

Dr. Kenneth Dekleva served as a senior US diplomat and regional medical officer/psychiatrist with the US Department of State from 2002 to 2016, mostly overseas but also in a leadership role. He can be contacted via SPYEX.com to appear at events or consult on speaking engagements and other projects.