Most US intelligence agencies see no link between foreign adversaries and 'Havana Syndrome'

WASHINGTON

The US intelligence community failed to reach a consensus on determining whether a foreign adversary was responsible for a spate of health attacks known as "Havana Syndrome" that has afflicted US personnel around the world, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence said on Friday.

Most of the US intelligence agencies believe that no such link exists, determining it is “very unlikely” that a foreign power is responsible for the anomalous health incidents, which were first reported at the US Embassy in Cuba in 2016 before spreading to nations around the world.

In all, five spy agencies came to that conclusion, while two others said there was about a 50-50 chance that a foreign adversary developed or deployed a new type of weapon to carry out attacks that resulted in the spate of illness and injuries reported by US diplomats and government officials abroad, as well as their family members.

Reported symptoms have been widespread but include difficulties with balance, dizziness, hearing loss, as well as cognitive issues and difficulties sleeping. The timespan that the individuals reported suffering ailments also varied greatly, with some reporting suffering problems for months.

The report does not specify which intelligence came to which conclusions. It noted, however, that all intelligence agencies acknowledge that they "cannot rule out the possibility that a small number of events reported as possible AHIs were caused by a foreign actor" because they were not able to examine all locations where incidents were reported.

"No IC component calls into question the experiences or suffering of USG personnel and dependents. All components recognize that USG personnel and dependents experienced genuine, sometimes painful and traumatic, physical symptoms and sensory phenomena and honestly and sincerely reported those events as possible AHIs," the report said.

It was using multiple acronyms to refer to the intelligence community, US government, and anonymous health incidents, respectively.