Havana Syndrome Strangely Neglected by State Leadership

Wasn't there an Accountability Review Board convened back in 2018 to look into unexplained medical injuries that occurred in Havana? 

There was, but evidently it failed to resolve much and there has been a lack of continuing attention to the problem. 

This past week several State Department employees sent a letter to Department leaders to say that "Havana Syndrome" sufferers are not getting proper care. You can read the letter here courtesy of NBC News.

A group of U.S. diplomats and other government staffers suffering from symptoms consistent with "Havana Syndrome" are voicing frustration with the Biden administration's early response, and warning that injured workers are still being denied proper care.

The letter included this digression into the signers' failed expectations: "After four years of challenges [Biden arrived, but] ... Unfortunately, our experience thus far has fallen short of our renewed expectations." 

I understand that to say: 'we spent the whole last administration expressing our distain and obstructing its policies as best we could, and this is the thanks we get? We're still waiting in line outside the 7th Floor and so far leadership has refused to hear directly from us. C'mon Man!© Stop the malarkey and do something.' 

The letter writers named several practical measures that the Department could, indeed, take to help its injured personnel, even if the exact cause of their injuries remains unknown.

The staffers are also urging the administration to increase diagnostic and treatment options for children affected by Havana Syndrome, ensure long-term monitoring of injured workers for 10 to 20 years, and conduct baseline testing on diplomats before they're sent abroad — something Canada's government is now doing in the wake of the unexplained incidents.

It sounds like the Canadian government is taking the lead on this matter. What exactly is the problem on the 7th Floor? 

U.S. Dials Down the Public Messages in Havana

Reuters is running a story on an interesting development at the U.S. Interest Section in Havana, Cuba: U.S. turns off news ticker that angered Havana.

A few quotes from the story.

HAVANA (Reuters) - The United States has turned off a news ticker at its diplomatic mission in Havana that had long irritated the Cuban government, in another sign of efforts to improve relations with Havana, western diplomats said.

The ticker, which streamed news, political statements and messages blaming Cuba's problems on the country's communist system and socialist economy, had infuriated former President Fidel Castro when it was turned on in January 2006 at a moment of high political tension with Washington. President Raul Castro took over from ailing elder brother Fidel last year.

Throughout most of July, the five-foot-high (1.5-meter high) news streamer which ran across 25 windows on the fifth floor of the U.S. Interests Section, has been turned off.

Western diplomats in Havana, who asked not to be identified, said there were no plans for its crimson letters to be switched on again any time soon.

Neither U.S. diplomats nor Cuban officials were immediately available for comment. U.S. diplomats had told visitors there were "technical difficulties" with the electronic messenger, which in June appeared to sputter at times.

When the news ticker was started in 2006, the Cuban regime was sufficiently agitated by it that they dug up the parking lot in front of the building and built an "Anti-imperialism Park" there with a phalanx of 100-foot high flagpoles and anti-U.S. themed billboards to block public views of the Interest Section.

The Financial Times also ran a story on this today, and quoted a "western diplomat" who pointed out that the billboard shut-down signals a likely U.S.-Cuba rapprochement:

“That they turned off the ticker is important – and that nobody has noticed is significant, too,” a western diplomat said.

“The Cubans could have howled victory – but [they] said nothing, indicating they are serious about improving relations.”