WASHINGTON. Six years ago, CIA agents stationed in Havana, Cuba began experiencing strange brain symptoms. The term “Havana Syndrome” has become firmly established in expert reports and in the press, although in subsequent years American officials and their families have experienced similar symptoms in China, Serbia, Austria and other parts of the world.

It seems that the time has come for compensation to the victims. As several US media reported yesterday, the CIA has begun paying compensation to former and current employees who received head injuries under unclear circumstances. T

The way for such a development was opened by the passage of a law by Congress last year that provides for the possibility of compensation of up to $187,300 for each victim. The law provides the same opportunity to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which has not yet begun paying compensation.

According to State Department and CIA rules, compensation is available to those who can prove they suffered brain damage in “war, insurrection, hostile act, terrorist act, or other similar circumstances.”

The victims of the Havana Syndrome and their lawyers experienced chills earlier this year when the CIA released its first preliminary assessment of the mysterious case.

The document states that the symptoms of neurological problems and mental retardation reported by many of the victims did not come from a hostile country that could launch an international campaign against the Americans.

The CIA began paying them to its employees who developed mysterious brain symptoms.

The same report claimed that in most of the approximately 1,000 cases studied, underlying diseases that had not yet been diagnosed or environmental factors were to blame.

However, another panel report commissioned by the Biden administration said that the brain damage and other debilitating symptoms reported by the victims may have been caused by the radiation of radio wave energy.

Sources: CNN, New York Times.