Havana Syndrome victims get first US payments

The US government has made its first compensation payments to personnel affected by so-called Havana Syndrome, the Department of Defense said Friday.

The department said it had disbursed nearly $3 million in compensation, describing the payments as the first made under the HAVANA Act by any presidential administration.

Havana Syndrome was first publicly reported in 2016, when US diplomats in Havana reported becoming ill and hearing piercing sounds at night. Other symptoms later reported by embassy staff in China, Europe and Washington included nose bleeds, headaches and vision problems.

The United States withdrew non-essential employees from its recently reopened embassy in Havana in 2017 and expelled Cuban diplomats over the illnesses. In 2023, the Biden administration reopened the US immigration office in Havana that had been closed during the scare.

A US intelligence assessment in early 2025 said it was “very unlikely” that a foreign adversary was behind the symptoms.