The closest attempt by the CIA to murder Castro was a poisoned beverage.
VENEZUELA (Reuters) - A failed 1963 effort to poison a chocolate milkshake by American mobsters, including a former Cuban intelligence agent, was the closest the CIA ever came to killing Cuba's Fidel Castro. Said the sex chief.
On July 3, 2007, retired State Security General and former head of Cuban intelligence Fabian Escalante spoke with Reuters in Havana. The closest the CIA came to killing Fidel Castro was when American mobsters attempted to poison him with a poison pill that was meant to be administered in 1963. A chocolate milkshake was available.
But when the murderous waiter went to fetch the poison, the capsule, which had been stashed in the freezer of the Havana Libre (formerly Hilton) hotel cafeteria, became stuck and burst.
According to retired State Security General Fabian Escalante, "it was the closest the CIA got to killing Fidel."
Castro has endured assaults from his adversaries, ranging from automobile ambushes to grenade explosions at baseball stadiums, since he gained power in a 1959 revolution that transformed Cuba into a communist state 90 miles from the United States. Numerous attempts were successful.
He claimed that the Central Intelligence Agency was behind some of the most fantastical hide and dagger schemes.
Toxic wet suits for scuba diving, poisoned cigarettes, and an explosive shell that was supposed to be hidden at his preferred place for underwater fishing were among them.
When Castro visited New York in 1960 to give a speech at the UN, the CIA tried to discredit him by placing a chemical powder on his shoes that would make his beard come out. I was
When that failed, according to Escalante, author of a book detailing 167 plots against Castro, the CIA intended to smuggle him a box of cigars laced with LSD so he might chuckle during a televised interview. burst out
However, the CIA's botulinum toxin assassination attempt on Castro in the early 1960s came the closest to being successful.
When that failed, according to Escalante, author of a book detailing 167 plots against Castro, the CIA intended to smuggle him a box of cigars laced with LSD so he might chuckle during a televised interview. broke out
However, the CIA's botulinum toxin assassination attempt on Castro in the early 1960s came the closest to being successful.
Last Monday, the organisation finally admitted that Alan Dulles, the CIA director during the Kennedy administration, personally approved the assassination operation against Castro.
The family jewels
After 25 years of domestic and international espionage, the CIA has declassified roughly 700 pages of documents describing some of its illegal activities.
The so-called "Family Jewels" of the agency detailed the early attempts to kill Castro by persuading two prominent libertarians, Salvatore Giancana and Santos Trafficante, to do so. Gyankana proposed to poison him.
Six potent pills were sent to Juan Orta in 1961 because he was still close to Castro and was struggling financially. Juan Orta was a Cuban official who had been exposed as receiving bribes from gambling companies. But Orta changed his mind.
Escalante claimed that the Mafia sent additional poison tablets, a shipment disguised as a Bayer Aspirin bottle, to a rival organisation that came dangerously close to success in March 1963 when Castro went to get milk.
The CIA revealed a lot of information that was already made public in congressional hearings.
The agency was attempting to "purify" itself, according to Escalante, who described the poison pill plot in his 2005 book "The Secret War," but continued to examine itself in the present. has occurred
Escalante attempted to use the CIA for the Gulf but was unsuccessful because there is been no proof that the agency conspired to kill Castro since the Ford administration outlawed assassination attempts against foreign leaders in 1976. The CIA has recently been involved in efforts to train anti-Castro activists.
Despite antagonism from the United States, Castro is still in charge of Cuba at the age of 80, but intestinal surgery compelled him to formally cede control to his brother Ral in July of last year.
Castro's sharp "nose" for danger, according to Escalante, and Cuba's strong security measures around him have kept him safe.
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