Secretary of State Antony Blinken was pressured by several United States diplomats who are suffering from the mysterious "Havana Syndrome" during a meeting this month over their growing concerns over the effects of stigma and disbelief in relation to their conditions.
The officials expressed their dismay about how they are seen within the U.S. government regarding the legitimacy of their injuries. The unexplained incidents began four years prior quite suddenly and mysteriously.
Mysterious Havana Syndrome
Blinken used up more than one hour of his time during his first meeting with the cohort of State Department staffers affected in Cuba and China to offer assurances. He made sure to answer questions from the most affected staffers who were only joining the meeting remotely by phone. Blinken told them that those suffering from the condition must be believed and was working to investigate the incident and provide necessary care.
However, Blinken's promises show a stark contrast compared to the challenges and struggles that affected diplomats experience in trying to get proper medical care, evaluation, and benefits for their conditions. The skepticism surrounding their illness and injuries have been pervasive, even among high-level government officials, they said, NBC News reported.
One of the diplomats called the situation "incredibly sad" and noted that the worst part of it was the bureaucracy. He compared the call to so many other phone calls that have been made before. Previously, affected staffers were told that there were protocols implemented to ensure that they receive proper treatment. However, he noted that there were no protocols in place, more specifically, not in how they think they were.
During the Sept. 10 call more than a dozen affected individuals described a difference between the government's public, official message, and the actual situation. They said that the federal government refused to describe the incidents as "attacks" that are fueling the flames of skepticism surrounding the conditions.
Latest Cases of the Unexplained Illness
It was also discovered that one of CIA Director Bill Burns' team members, who went to India earlier this month, reported symptoms consistent with Havana Syndrome. Authorities said the individual was given medical attention immediately, CNN reported.
The recent incident has sparked panic within the U.S. government and left Burns with anger, one source said. A few CIA officials believe that the recent observation of symptoms was a message to Burns that no one was safe from the condition.
The mysterious illness has symptoms such as vertigo, nausea, headaches, and piercing noises that were observed in 2017. However, the earliest cases date back to 2016 as many people reported symptoms similar to those of the Havana Syndrome.
Many experts have theorized the origin of the illness to be mass hallucination or microwave or sonic attacks. The majority of the affected individuals were United States government personnel who were in foreign countries. This has caused some to speculate that the condition was a result of a human-made weapon.
"We don't comment on specific incidents or officers. We have protocols in place for when individuals report possible anomalous health incidents that include receiving appropriate medical treatment. We will keep doing everything we can to protect our officers," a spokesperson for the CIA said, Yahoo News reported.
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