Several Canadian diplomats who became mysteriously ill while serving in Cuba are suing the government for allegedly ignoring or attempting to conceal information about their ailments and subsequently taking too long to remove them from the country.
In the lawsuit, the five diplomats and their families – 14 total, including several children – say the government knowingly exposed them to "extremely serious and debilitating attacks" that have resulted in brain injuries from what the suit refers to as Havana Syndrome. They are seeking $28 million — about $21 million U.S. – in damages.
The claim argues Canada badly mishandled the crisis when it became clear that American diplomats were not the only targets of the attacks in early 2017.
"Canada downplayed the seriousness of the situation, hoarded and concealed critical health and safety information, and gave false, misleading and incomplete information to diplomatic staff," the lawsuit says. Apparently, the government went so far as to suggest that the physical ailments people were experiencing were psychosomatic, according to the documents.
Additionally, the lawsuit contends the government put a greater number of its citizens in harm's way by continuing to send new families to Havana after several people began exhibiting symptoms consistent with what U.S. personnel had suffered.
"When the U.S. was withdrawing its diplomats Canada knew there was a problem and we didn't pull our people out," John Phillips, a lawyer representing the group, told the Canadian Broadcasting Company.
While some affected families were moved out of Havana following initial reports of illness, it wasn't until April 2018, that the Canadian government stopped posting new families in Cuba. In contrast, the U.S. withdrew most non-essential personnel from the country in September 2017.
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