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InvestigationHeadaches, dizziness, immense fatigue… Since 2016, mysterious neurological disorders, baptized “Havana syndrome”, have been spreading among diplomats and members of the secret services of the United States and Canada. Despite the lack of public evidence, Ottawa and Washington strongly suspect Russia is at work using a microwave weapon.
Marc Polymeropoulos is not crazy. He says he is certain to have been the victim of a “mysterious attack”. Otherwise, how to explain the loss of his distance vision, which prevents him from driving? Infernal migraines? Dizziness ? In December 2017, he spent ten days in Moscow, on a business trip. A routine trip, in theory. The American forties, deputy head of clandestine operations for the Europe and Eurasia zone of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) for less than a year, must meet his counterparts from the FSB, the federal security service of the Russian Federation. Bilateral discussions in sad offices of the former USSR.
At the start of his journey, the man who has long operated undercover during sensitive and risky missions in the Middle East is awakened in the middle of the night. Unable to get up. To the nausea is added a deafening buzz, never perceived before. Worried, on the verge of feeling unwell, Marc Polymeropoulos first considered food poisoning. Hypothesis quickly dismissed. A few days later, the same violent vertigo seized him again. He remains stuck in his hotel room for nearly thirty-six hours, unable to move.
Back in the United States, the American intelligence agent suffers from “brain fog” and his cognitive abilities gradually decline. An inexplicable state for this man in good physical condition, used to sailing in a war zone. As early as 2018, an idea slowly made its way into his mind, as tenacious as the headache he suffered from when he woke up: “I told myself that I was a victim of the Havana syndrome”, tells us Marc Polymeropoulos via the encrypted application Signal.
An enigma that appeared at the end of 2016
As its name suggests, this medical and diplomatic enigma appeared on the island of Cuba at the end of 2016. It seeped into the peaceful avenues of the west of the Cuban capital, where the neighborhood Secure and affluent Miramar hosts most embassies. All of the victims are diplomats or intelligence agents employed by the United States and, in smaller numbers, by Canada.
These officials suffer the first effects of the disease at home, in their living room or bedroom, often after hearing a noise. Symptoms such as loss of balance or nosebleeds are also spotted in all members of their family – young children and pets included. Unlike Canadians, who were hit only while posted in Cuba, American personnel were gradually hit all over the world. Cases are spotted in China, Colombia and then in Europe, such as in Vienna, Geneva and, most recently, in 2021, in Paris. Cities in which the CIA is very present.
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