The Strange Case of the Havana ‘Sonic Attacks’

• DOI: https://doi.org/10.13169/intejcubastud.11.1.0024
• Published date: 01 July 2019
• Date: 01 July 2019
• Pages: 24-42
• Author: John M. Kirk
• Subject Matter: Cuba–US relations,Cuba-acoustic attacks,Cuba-fake news

InternatIonal Journal of Cuban StudIeS 11.1 Summer 2019

THE STRANGE CASE OF THE HAVANA

‘SONIC ATTACKS’

John M. Kirk1

Dalhousie University, Canada

Abstract

This article analyses the saga of the alleged ‘sonic attacks’ directed against US

diplomats between 2016 and 2018. It summarises the key developments, and

examines the various theories put forward to explain the phenomenon. Analyses

by major science- and medicine-based journals are evaluated, and inconsistencies

highlighted. The background of troubled US–Cuba relations during the Trump

administration is also assessed as a contributing factor to the widespread attention.

Finally, some general thoughts on lessons learned from the ‘sonic attacks’ incidents

are offered.

Keywords: Cuba–US relations, Cuba-acoustic attacks, Cuba-fake news

There should be no doubt that these attacks against foreign diplomats on Cuban

soil are not simply accidents and the US should look at additional policy options

to hold the Cuban regime accountable for the ongoing harm being done to foreign

diplomats and their families.

– Marco Rubio, Senator for Florida

ACADEMIC ARTICLE

1 John M. Kirk teaches languages and Latin American Studies at Dalhousie

University, Nova Scotia. He is one of Canada’s foremost experts on Cuba and has

published numerous books on Cuban medical care, international relations, history

and culture.

THE STRANGE CASE OF THE HAVANA ‘SONIC ATTACKS’ 25

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The US has no evidence whatsoever to affirm that there have been attacks against

its diplomats in Havana, nor that Cuba may be responsible or have knowledge of

third-party actions.

– Josefina Vidal, then-director of US Affairs at the Cuban Foreign Ministry

Lovelorn crickets or a new weapon? ‘Concussion without the symptoms of con-

cussion’ or mass hysteria? Perhaps mysterious viruses or chemical agents? Rogue

sectors of Cuban intelligence or Russian spies keen to disrupt the Obama–Castro

fence-mending initiatives? There has certainly been a plethora of symptoms,

explanations and theories about events affecting American (and to a lesser extent

Canadian) diplomats and family members based in Havana in 2016–18. Despite

the best efforts of the FBI (who made at least six visits to examine the alleged

crime scenes), the RCMP, as well as scientists and medical experts in several

specialised US medical centres who have examined the patients, no sound expla-

nation has yet been provided for the mysterious events of this period.

This article tries to both summarise the events and developments surrounding

the mystery, and to offer some thoughts on the principal theories offered to

explain this startling phenomenon. It starts from a basis of accepting that the

affected diplomats and family members do have valid medical conditions, as yet

undetermined. And it also seeks to assess the causes suggested, and to place the

events described within a broader political context. Perhaps most important of

all, it seeks to offer some general thoughts on lessons learned from the attention

paid to these events over the past two years.

The Background

Starting in late 2016, and lasting until the fall of 2017, 26 American diplomats

and family members (and later 14 Canadians) complained of a variety of medi-

cal symptoms. The most common complaints were dizziness, headaches, cogni-

tive difficulties, difficulties in balance, intense brain pressure and hearing

difficulties.

These diverse medical symptoms and growing concerns that ‘something’ was

wrong developed at a time of enormous political significance in relations between

the US and Cuba. As with everything else related to this case, this fact is of signifi-

cance for, after more than five decades of barely concealed hostility, the govern-

ments of Barack Obama and Raúl Castro decided to reopen diplomatic relations.

Months of negotiation, involving secret meetings in Canada and even the support

of the Vatican, resulted in both presidents announcing simultaneously in