John Bolton, former National Security Advisor to Donald Trump, accused the governments of Canada and the United States on Friday of failing to adequately investigate whether Russia used directed energy weapons against diplomats from both countries in Havana between 2016 and 2018.
The former official also stated that the Cuban regime would have acted as an accomplice by allowing, according to his hypothesis, Moscow to operate freely on the island.
In an interview with The Globe and Mail, Bolton stated that he suspected Russian involvement from the very first moment he was informed about the mysterious illnesses affecting U.S. diplomatic staff in Cuba, shortly after taking office in 2018.
Cuba, "free territory" for Russian operations
For Bolton, geography and politics combined to make Havana the ideal setting for a covert experiment.
"The reason Havana may have been the first place to test it is that it was a different location from Moscow where the Russians could operate with complete freedom of action. But they also did it in other places. That tells me they were experimenting," stated the former official.
This interpretation becomes relevant in the context of the increasing cooperation between Moscow and Havana.
Cited reports on intelligence activities in Cuba claim that Russia and China have significantly increased their intelligence presence on the island since 2023.
Additionally, Moscow and Havana signed military cooperation agreements in March 2025 which were later ratified by the Russian president, Vladimir Putin.
Bolton also noted that the affected diplomats may have become targets precisely because of their alleged connection to intelligence work.
"It could be that they were involved in espionage, which made them particularly interesting to the Russians and the Cubans as well," he noted.
The former advisor also recalled that Canada is part of the Five Eyes intelligence alliance.
This statement comes a week after The Globe and Mail revealed a secret collaboration between the Canadian embassy and CIA agents in Havana.
According to the aforementioned source, a Canadian diplomat was sharing intelligence directly with U.S. spies, and the U.S. had deployed satellite equipment in Cuba under diplomatic cover.
Global Affairs Canada has denied that its diplomats engaged in espionage.
"To say that it is unlikely is not a sufficient response."
The official conclusions from both governments do not convince Bolton.
A report from the United States Intelligence Community released in 2023 concluded that five of the seven participating agencies considered it "very unlikely" that a foreign adversary was responsible for the symptoms.
Canada also dismissed in 2024 that the cases were the result of a deliberate attack, attributing the health issues of 10 diplomats and their families to "preexisting medical conditions, environmental factors, and conventional illnesses."
«The Canadian government and the U.S. government have both failed in my opinion,» Bolton stated. «Saying that it is unlikely is not a sufficient response».
The Canadian report of 2024 also did not mention that, in the same year, the National Research Council of Canada and Defence Research and Development Canada had published a joint study concluding: "The scientific literature suggests that a directed energy weapon is suspected to be the cause of the Havana syndrome reported by U.S. personnel in Cuba."
A joint journalistic investigation by CBS 60 Minutes, Der Spiegel, and The Insider previously indicated a possible connection between the symptoms and the Russian GRU Unit 29155.
According to that research, members of the unit were reportedly rewarded for work related to "non-lethal acoustic weapons."
“I believe that the bureaucracy does not want to confront the possibility that there were serious risks out there,” Bolton concluded.
Canada has not yet compensated; the U.S. has already made payments
As the political debate intensifies in Ottawa, the disparity in the treatment of victims becomes increasingly evident.
The U.S. made its first payments in July under the HAVANA Act, disbursing nearly three million dollars in compensations to diplomats, intelligence officials, and military personnel affected.
Canada, on the other hand, has not compensated any of its 10 diplomats, who have been suing the government for 28 million dollars since 2019.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Anita Anand, termed the health issues of the diplomats as “a human resources matter” and referred the case to her deputy without committing to reopening the investigation.
The Prime Minister Mark Carney recently acknowledged that "new information has come to light." He promised to wait for a detailed report before making a decision, without announcing an independent commission.
The diplomats' attorney, Paul Miller, summarized the situation sternly: "The diplomats and their families have not been attended to in any way since the attacks in Havana. After years of uncertainty, our clients deserve answers."
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