Was Venezuela Payback For Havana Syndrome?
Maduro capture operation reportedly used the same Soviet-era weapon
Early on the morning of 3 January 2026, at least 32 Cuban guards around Nicolás Maduro were reportedly incapacitated by a weapon that American forces were using for the very first time.
According to an alleged surviving Venezuelan security guard, there was an “intense sound wave” or energy pulse that cause an internal head-exploding sensation, nosebleeds, vomiting of blood, disorientation, and collapse, leaving the guards unable to resist the Americans.
In interviews, President Trump called it “the discombobulator” and a “sonic weapon”. “I’m not allowed to talk about it”, he said, though he added that it was critical to mission success. “Nobody else has it. We have weapons no one knows about... we have some incredible weapons.”
The account of the alleged security guard originated on TikTok and was promoted on X by White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt. Venezuela’s defense minister accused the US of using Venezuela as a “weapons laboratory” for advanced AI-linked technology.
In fact, the “discombobulator” is decades old. So is the debate over it. American electronic warfare firms have produced a new generation of these weapons, yes, but the technology has Cold War roots.
One historical lens of understanding the capture of Maduru, and the ensuing dominance of American refineries in processing Venezuelan crude oil, is typical military imperialism of the capitalist variety (yawn).
Another, far more interesting lens is the secret history of microwave weapons, their effects on the human body, and their use by Russians against Americans. It is a contentious history, always denied in whole by some who say the discombobulator does not exist, or else its effects are imaginary. Those people are very, very wrong.
I must be frank: it is an actual crime against my intelligence to deny the existence of microwave weapons. High-power microwave (HPM) weapons are already a billion-dollar trade on the global counter-drone market and anti-personnel versions have existed in the open for decades.
Before leaving the office of Director of National Intelligence to care for a cancer-stricken husband, Tulsi Gabbard criticized two Biden administration reports on so-called anomalous health incidents (AHS) linked to a ‘sonic’ microwave weapon. She also promised a full review of ‘Havana Syndrome’. Pending a declassified history, here is a brief on the secret history of the discombobulator.
Its use against the Cuban guards can be seen as American revenge on Russia for decades of deniable attacks on Americans. The secret history of payback for decades of passive-aggressive violence against Americans, by Russians, deserves to be fully told, one day.
