According to two intelligence officials involved with the review, the “Havana syndrome,” a condition that has plagued American diplomats and intelligence operatives abroad for years, was not caused by the activities of a foreign opponent, the Washington Post reported on Wednesday.
The latest assessment is consistent with an interim analysis from the CIA
According to US intelligence officials familiar with the assessment, the intelligence community cannot connect any cases of the enigmatic illness known as “Havana Syndrome” to a foreign foe, deeming it improbable that the unexplained illness was the result of a deliberate operation by an enemy of the US.
The most recent finding refutes the idea that the so-called illness was the consequence of a deliberate campaign by a US adversary years after it initially surfaced.
The latest assessment is consistent with an interim analysis from the CIA from last year, which concluded that it was unlikely that the so-called “anomalous health episodes” were brought on by “a sustained worldwide campaign” by Russia or any other foreign actor.
Symptoms of Havana Syndrome
The study goes even farther, concluding that there is no convincing proof that a foreign foe is in possession of a weapon or data-gathering tool that might be used to cause the strange episodes, according to the authorities.
A number of ambassadors stationed in the Cuban capital of Havana started to experience symptoms that were consistent with head trauma in late 2016, including acute headaches and dizziness. In the years that followed, occurrences were reported all over the world, including clusters of at least 60 incidents in Vienna, Austria, and Bogota, Colombia.
According to authorities, the evaluation makes use of the vast resources of the US intelligence community and includes an examination of hundreds of instances and a variety of circumstances that may have contributed to them. According to officials, there have been over 1,500 cases documented across the US government in 96 different counties, including some cases reported this year.