Assassination attempts on Fidel Castro complete list. Fidel Castro assassination attempts

August 13 marks the 87th birthday of Fidel Castro. To date, 638 attempts on the life of the commander of red Cuba are known. We remembered the 6 most insidious and seemingly irresistible, but nevertheless did not reach the goal.

1. The US Central Intelligence Agency made countless assassination attempts on Fidel. One of the first plans was to be carried out by his former lover Marita Lorenz, on whose feelings the Tseraushniks decided to play, persuading her to avenge the break. Lorenz was supposed to poison her ex-lover with poisonous capsules. However, according to one version, the poison dissolved in a tube of cream, where the woman hid the ampoules, and according to another, she simply changed her mind at the last moment.

2. A whole series of assassination attempts was planned during Castro's visit to Chile in 1971. An automatic rifle was mounted in the TV camera, with the help of which two CIA agents intended to "click" the Cuban leader during his speech at a press conference. However, an hour before the start of the operation, one of the killers had an attack of appendicitis, and the second did not dare to act alone. A truck filled with four tons of dynamite was installed on the route of the Cuban leader's motorcade, but the mechanism of the time bomb was rusted and out of order. On the way back from Chile to Havana, Castro's plane was supposed to make a transit stop in Lima. A detachment of armed mercenaries was already waiting for him at the airport. However, incredible as it may seem, at the last moment the Comandante decided to land at another airfield. So the operation "Chilean pursuit" failed.

3. The next attempt at poisoning is considered to be in a restaurant where Castro usually dined. The waiter was supposed to put poison in Castro's plate, but was unexpectedly fired from the restaurant. This crime was planned by American mafiosi, who lost their income from the operation of gambling and other entertainment establishments in Cuba, monopolized by the revolutionary government. The elimination of Castro was entrusted to the gangster Santos Trafficante, who delivered the deadly poison to Havana.

4. In April 1961, five machine gunners unexpectedly attacked Castro's car in one of the narrow streets of Havana. The car was riddled with bullets, but Castro miraculously remained intact.

5. Cuban official Rolando Cubelo, recruited by US intelligence agencies, was supposed to kill Castro with a poisoned automatic pen with a built-in microsyringe, the injection of which is insensitive to humans. As a reward, he was promised political asylum in the USA. Cubelo was exposed by Cuban counterintelligence and went to jail.

6. In 1963, American lawyer James Donovan went to Cuba to negotiate with Castro on the release of a group of US citizens from a Cuban prison. The gift that Donovan was going to give to the Cuban leader - scuba gear - turned out, according to the lawyer, to be too cheap, and he bought a more expensive one for Castro, and kept the cheap one for himself. Of course, he could not know that the scuba cylinders were obviously infected with a tubercle bacillus, and this was done by the efforts of the same CIA. After some time, Donovan passed away.

Of all American presidents, only Jimmy Carter did not attempt to assassinate Castro. CIA covert operations cost US taxpayers $120 million. As for Fidel's longevity, they say that he was given a Galapagos tortoise to Fidel, he asked how long she lived. “400 years,” they answered him. Comandante joked: “This is how it is always with pets - you just get used to them, they die in your arms.”

Therefore, no matter who and whatever keeps Castro, "Sobesednik.ru" can only say: Viva Cuba, Viva Fidel!

If you believe the biographers of Fidel Castro, then the Cuban leader, for his long and eventful life, was attacked 637 times. It is known that all these attempts failed and the Comandante died in bed from old age, surrounded by family and friends. At the same time, Fidel survived several American presidents and countless other serious enemies. Let's remember the strangest ways that the enemy intelligence agencies resorted to in order to deprive the Cuban people of their permanent leader.

Before delving into the history of assassination attempts, it is worth mentioning the person who owns the most unusual ideas for eliminating Castro. US Strategic Services Officer Edward Lansdale led Operation Mongoose, the goal of which was to change the state system in Cuba in any way possible, from an economic blockade to the physical elimination of the country's leader and his inner circle.

Lansdale was an extraordinary person - extremely purposeful and possessing an incredible imagination. It is to him that we owe the fact that we can enjoy a real bondian around the Cuban leader. Some of the methods of murder invented by the American intelligence officer cause laughter today, but do not forget that behind them, in fact, was the serious work of dozens, or even hundreds of professionals, a solid investment of money, time and effort.

Unlucky Poisoner

The Americans, not yet taught by bitter experience, organized the first attempt using the classic method - the femme fatale. To do this, CIA agents recruited in 1960 the lovely brunette Marita Lorenz, who had had a fleeting but passionate affair with a Cuban revolutionary the year before.

The plan was simple - Marita, who was given a potent, tasteless poison in pills, was to go to Havana, seduce Castro again and, during a romantic dinner, put the poison in her food. Initially, everything went like clockwork - Lorenz managed to arrange a meeting with Fidel, and he was glad to have the opportunity to remember the past at dinner with a former mistress.

But already in the bedroom of the Comandante, Marita saw with horror that the poisonous pills hidden in a jar of face cream had become unusable, having lost their gelatinous shell. This unsettled the fatal beauty so much that she did not notice how Castro approached.

This was followed by a female hysteria, during which the potential victim of the assassination even gave the unlucky killer a gun so that she would complete her mission or finally calm down. As a result, Lorenz confessed her love to the commandant, was graciously forgiven and immediately expelled from the island of Liberty. This is where it all ended - without casualties and tragedies.

poisoned cigars

In the same 1960, another attempt was made to kill Castro, which, only by a lucky chance, did not end successfully. In 1975, in one of the memos of the CIA Medical Division, information appeared that in February 1960, a box of poisoned Cohiba cigars, which was beloved by Fidel, was made to assassinate the commander.

The cigars were treated with botulinum and it was enough to put one of them in your mouth to get a lethal dose of the toxin. The fate of this product is unknown, but there are memories of Fabian Escalante, who headed the Cuban intelligence services. The officer wrote in his memoirs that one poisoned Cohiba cigar was found on Castro's desk during his speech to the UN Assembly. Despite all efforts, it was not possible to find out who planted her policy.

unusual shell

Realizing that Castro was protected not only by his environment, but also by fate itself, Edward Lansdale decided to switch to more extravagant methods of murder. He developed a unique plan to undermine the commandant in the sea while scuba diving. It is known that the Cuban leader was an avid diver and the CIA decided to use this passion to the maximum.

Fidel Castro liked to dive in the same picturesque bay, enthusiastically exploring the bottom and its colorful inhabitants. Lansdale decided to fill one of the shells with powerful explosives and provide a remotely controlled detonator. It was decided to use a bright and unusual shell, which the diver will certainly want to take a closer look at. The undermining was supposed to be carried out by CIA agents, located on board a submarine lurking nearby.

This idea failed at the design stage. Lansdale, choosing a shell typical of the Caribbean, realized with chagrin that the mollusks common in the area were too tiny to fit enough explosives in their shell to sabotage.

"Lazar" with a rifle

The charismatic and principled Cuban leader simply generated enemies and ill-wishers. One of these dangerous enemies was Felix Rodriguez, whose father held a high government post under the overthrown dictator Batista Castro. After fleeing Cuba at the age of 17, the guy came to the attention of CIA agents and did not have to be persuaded to take part in the assassination attempt on Fidel.

In 1961, before the invasion of the Bay of Pigs, Felix arrived in Cuba as part of a secret mission, the purpose of which was to prepare a counter-revolutionary uprising. On one of the difficult days for the detachment, Rodriguez, tired of hiding in the wooded mountains, picked up a sniper rifle and told his colleagues that he would immediately go to Fidel and finish him off, completing the operation.

It will sound strange, but the assassination attempt failed due to the vanity of Felix's associates, who said they wanted to take part in the coup and personally avenge the commander for numerous insults. The attempt did not take place, the uprising failed, and most of its participants died. Rodriguez was miraculously among the few who survived and received the nickname "Lazarus" for the miraculous rescue.

Diving suit

Fidel's passion for diving obviously haunted Lansdale and he made another "sea" attempt to fulfill his deadly mission. In 1962, American lawyers, headed by James Donovan, managed to achieve some success in negotiations with the Cuban authorities.

The Americans returned 1113 hostages who ended up in Cuban prisons after the failure of the operation in the Bay of Pigs. To thank the Cubans for such an act of loyalty, the US government sent a shipment of humanitarian aid to Liberty Island, for a huge sum of $53 million at the time.

Donovan himself planned to present Fidel Castro with a new model diving suit, knowing for sure that the gift would be to the comandante's taste. The CIA treated the gift with strains of two deadly bacteria at once - a tubercle bacillus was placed in the respiratory filters, and the lower part of the suit was treated with a drug from a rare disease called "Madure's foot".

And this time, Lansdale and his team were in for a failure. Specialists from the Medical Division were busy too long and did not have time to deliver the deadly gift in time. When the hour "H" came, Donovan, in order not to arouse suspicion, was forced to present Castro with an ordinary diving suit, which Fidel was delighted like a child.

poisoned pen

In 1963, one of the close associates in the guerrilla war, Raul Castro, the brother of the Cuban leader, contacted CIA agents. The man's name was Rolando Cubela and he claimed to have a personal score with the Comandante. According to the traitor, it will not be difficult for him to kill Fidel, since he is a member of the closest circle of the Cuban leader and even owns a beach house next to Castro by the sea.

For the assassination attempt, the Lansdale team designed and manufactured a syringe disguised as a fountain pen. A capsule with the strongest poison was hidden inside the product, and the retractable needle was so thin that its injection could not be felt. And once again, Providence took up the rescue of Castro - at the moment when the CIA agent instructed Kubela how to use spy weapons, his phone rang.

The call brought bad news - US President John F. Kennedy was shot dead in Dallas and a temporary all-out was given for all special operations. Therefore, the deadly pen never fell into the hands of a traitor patriot, who had good potential.

frivolous mafia

In 2007, documents were declassified that contained information that not only the dreamer Lansdale, but also more respectable people were involved in the organization of assassination attempts on Fidel Castro. One of the organizers was the notorious Allen Dulles, the sworn enemy of all communist regimes on the planet.

Dulles decided that if the CIA agents could not cope with the task, then it was better to involve people who made death their profession. At the end of 1960, contact was made with the Chicago mob through agent Robert Mahew. On behalf of some "international companies" Robert offered the gangsters 150 thousand dollars for the murder of the Cuban leader in any way convenient for them.

The mafia also had its own interest in this enterprise - with the coming to power of the communists, numerous casinos, clubs and brothels, owned by the bosses of mafia families, disappeared from the island of Freedom. To implement the plan, the mafiosi brought in a retired Cuban official who was supposed to put one of the 6 poison pills in Castro's food.

This plan failed, as the performer unexpectedly refused to carry out the task, citing the fact that Castro was too well guarded. The mafia did not have a second chance, as the fighting began in the Bay of Pigs. After a while, already in 1963, Dulles returned to the plan with the involvement of criminal elements.

Another former Cuban official dissatisfied with Fidel was found, who was given poison pills through Chicago mafiosi. At the last moment, the performer also demanded small arms with a solid ammunition load. Having received what he wanted, this man disappeared without a trace, leaving the American intelligence “with a nose”, and the mafiosi at a loss.

Narcotic nonsense on the air

American intelligence agencies also made attempts to discredit Castro in front of his people. In 1961, the CIA's Technical Division was seriously developing a plan to spray an LSD-like drug into a radio studio where Castro liked to address Cubans.

Comandante was a born orator and could speak passionately for several hours. At the Third Congress of the Communist Party of Cuba in 1986, Fidel Castro "pushed" a speech for 7 hours and 10 minutes, and his speech at the UN, lasting more than 4 hours, remained in the history of the organization as the longest.

The CIA hoped that inhaling drug fumes, Castro would start to stray or talk nonsense. According to the Americans, this should have caused irreparable damage to the image of the head of Cuba. The LSD project remained on paper, as the technical specialists of the intelligence department were unable to create an effective narcotic aerosol.

Handkerchief

It just so happened that 1960 was the most fruitful year for Castro for assassination attempts. Another secret development designed to bring the invulnerable Fidel to the grave was a handkerchief infected with deadly bacteria. They planned to throw the accessory to the Cuban leader in the office or on the podium, and the result would not be long in coming.

It is not known for sure whether there was an attempt to slip the handkerchief to the Comandante, but it is obvious that if there was, then it was not successful. Like the second attempt to eliminate the objectionable politician - the same handkerchief, decorated with spectacular embroidery, was sent as a gift to Iraqi Prime Minister Abdel Kerim Kasem. Oddly enough, at that time the package simply did not reach the addressee.

In addition to these cases, there were many other attempts to eliminate Castro, such as toxic thallium in shoes, a botulinum milkshake, and a booby-trapped podium. As you can see, luck did not accompany the CIA and the commandant never became a victim of a political assassination.

One of the most prominent personalities in history is Cuban leader Fidel Castro. On this person, just think about it, 638 attempts were made. Most of them are US intelligence agencies. We will try to talk about the most famous and insidious plans to assassinate the Cuban commander.

Two snipers

Fidel Castro actively made visits to various countries. In 1971, on one of his trips to Chile, an assassination attempt was being prepared on him, in which 2 killers were supposed to be involved, to be sure. But this did not help the instigators: a few days before the murder, one of the snipers was hit by a car, and the second was struck down by an attack of appendicitis.

Insidious women

Comandante loved female attention very much, and the special services could not help but take advantage of this. So one of Fidel's former mistresses was recruited, who was instructed to poison the Cuban leader by slipping poisonous pills on him. The woman arranged a meeting with Castro, and did not think of anything better than to hide the pills in a tube of cream, where they simply dissolved. Nevertheless, Castro exposed the lady, after which he handed her a gun so that she would shoot him if she so desired. According to eyewitnesses, the lady could not do this and begged the commandant for forgiveness.

Cigars for Comandante

Fidel Castro is a heavy smoker, like a real Cuban he smoked only cigars. Through nominees, the CIA secret services handed him cigars with explosives as a present. By the will of fate, the security service of the leader of Cuba suspected something was wrong and saved the life of their leader.

Dangerous Tribune

Cigarettes are not the only attempt on Fidel related to explosives. In 2000, when Castro made an official visit to Panama, about 90 kilograms of explosives were hidden under the podium, from where the leader of the revolution was supposed to make a fiery speech. During the inspection of the territory, the guards did not reveal explosive elements, but again a miracle saved the commandant, the explosives simply did not detonate. If luck had not smiled at Fidel again, there would have been no chance of surviving after the explosion of so many explosives.

fatal clams

More insidious assassination attempts were made on Castro. Since he was a great diving enthusiast, the intelligence officers reconnoitered the place where the Comandante would dive. They planned to hide a large amount of explosives under water, while in order to attract the attention of Castro, the killers planned to paint the clams in bright colors. The assassination attempt was planned to the smallest detail, and when the entire mechanism of the assassination was planned and ready for implementation, a storm began at sea.

lawyer gift

Another failed CIA scheming was the covert use of the famous lawyer Donovan. An unsuspecting lawyer was supposed to give Castro a scuba gear, inside of which a tuberculosis bacillus was brought. The lawyer appreciated the gift and considered it not very worthy for the Cuban leader and decided to buy him a more expensive and high-quality model. And so it happened: the lawyer presented a new, expensive model of scuba gear to the commandant, and kept “scuba gear from the CIA” for himself. Fidel survived, but the lawyer, alas...

Even the pen

During the meeting between Kennedy and Castro, a CIA officer was supposed to hand over a poisoned pen to a Cuban, whose task was to plant it on the commandant. For unknown reasons, the attempt failed.

Favorite restaurant

Castro had a favorite restaurant, he visited it regularly. The CIA made an assassination attempt on the commander in this restaurant. It consisted in the fact that a gangster from Chicago receives capsules with deadly poison, which should be thrown at Fidel. When the assassination attempt was planned and prepared, the Comandante suddenly stopped going to this restaurant.

Fidel Castro will soon be 90 years old, he is alive in spite of his enemies, and with a high degree of probability it can be argued that he survived them.

Comandante survived the largest number of attempts on his life. We have selected the most incredible attempts to kill Castro and invite you to pay tribute to them over a glass of Cuba Libre.

Ekaterina Chekushina

Since 2006, when Fidel Castro's deteriorating health first appeared in the press and he formally stepped down from power, we have been accustomed to regarding Cuba as a retiring kind. Fidel dies - and an amazing country where poverty, freedom, beautiful women ready for anything, antique city landscapes not stained by industrialization - this tropical paradise from the dreams of our fathers will disappear instantly, like a mirage. Almost ten years have passed since then, but Fidel still shows a figure to the old woman with a scythe. And you know, this is not surprising, because the Comandante went down in history as the main expert in this matter: he survived the largest number of attempts on his life*.

* - Note Phacochoerus "a Funtik: « There is even an anecdote on this subject. Castro is given a Galapagos tortoise. The Cuban leader asks how long they live, and, learning that they are about 150 years old, refuses to accept the gift. “I don't like all these domestic animals,” grumbles the Comandante. “As soon as you become attached to them, it’s already time to bury!” By the way, you might think that someone asked the turtle if she likes bearded Cuban revolutionaries ... »

At one time, the assassination attempt on the Cuban leader became a real fix idea for the United States. In 1961, immediately after the failure of the American counter-revolutionary landing in the Bay of Pigs (Bay of Pigs), the CIA initiated a special operation "Mongoose", the purpose of which was to change the government in Cuba. A total of 33 projects were developed (according to the number of mongoose species) - from the destruction of the sugar cane crop and the mining of the main Cuban ports, and ending, of course, with the murder of the commandant. Everything could be methodical, bloody and sad. However, history made an amazing trick that provided bread for more than a dozen journalists of the future, because Edward Lansdale, a man with a truly irrepressible imagination, a very specific sense of humor and inescapable enthusiasm, who turned a serious operation into an endless a series of amazing projects, worthy of the pen of Bond writers.

1 Fatal woman, 1960

Her name was Marita Lorenz. She was the daughter of a German captain and an American actress, a black-haired beauty and a desperate adventurer. In 1959, just after the overthrow of Batista and the coming to power of Fidel, Father Marita's ship, on which the young lady traveled around the world, landed in the port of Havana. Fidel paid a visit to the ship and was so impressed by the brown eyes of the 19-year-old captain's daughter that he invited her to stay on Freedom Island. Marita could not resist the revolutionary charm and went ashore.

Several months passed in a blur, then followed by an abortion (it is not clear who initiated it) and emigration to the United States. In Florida, Marita hooked up with a group of Cuban exiles who denounced the "bloody communist regime" and was recruited by CIA agent Frank Sturgis. This was before the start of Operation Mongoose, but the American intelligence agency was already probing all possible ways to resolve the "Cuban crisis". A plan was devised: Marita takes tasteless pills with a strong poison, travels to Havana, seduces the Comandante again, and adds poison to the food at a romantic dinner.

At first, the plan worked like clockwork. Castro greeted his former mistress with tenderness and agreed to "remember past nights." Marita put the pills in a jar of her night cream and even carried them into Fidel's bedroom, where she was horrified to find that the gelatin shell had dissolved and the pills had become useless.

Then everything was even worse: turning around, the unlucky poisoner realized that the commandant himself was standing behind her and watching her pick out the remnants of the pills from the cream. Marita had no choice but to arrange a repentant hysteria, during which the compassionate Fidel even gave her a gun so that the girl would calm down and get what she wanted. It was a strong psychological move: Marita completely shied away and said that she would never shoot, because she still loved him.

After this episode, Marita was finally expelled from the Island of Freedom. However, soon she found herself an overwhelmed Venezuelan dictator and even gave birth to a child from him.

In 1981, as part of a film crew that filmed a biopic about her, Marita visited Havana again. Fidel refused to meet her.

2 Poisoned cigars, 1960

As part of the post-Watergate campaign to release classified CIA documents related to assassination attempts on international leaders, a memo from the Medical Division was released in November 1975. According to the document, in February 1960, this division produced a box of cigars treated with botulinum, Fidel's favorite variety - Cohiba. This toxin is so powerful that it would take one poisoned cigar in your mouth for a second to get a lethal dose. Unfortunately, the fate of the box is not clear from the note. However, Cuban intelligence chief Fabian Escalante recalls how, during Fidel Castro's speech to the UN in 1960, his service discovered a poisoned Cohiba cigar lying on the table next to the commandant. Its origin remains unknown. This case was perhaps the most serious threat to the life of the Cuban leader.

3 Seashell, 1963

This wonderful idea by Edward Lansdale was as beautiful as the underwater world of the Caribbean. Literally. One of Fidel's passions (besides fatal brunettes, good cigars and public speaking) was scuba diving. It was on this passion that the head of Operation Mongoose decided to play. In the bay where the Comandante usually dived, Lansdale conceived the idea of ​​placing a shell filled with explosives and painted in unusual colors to attract attention. Somewhere nearby, an American submarine was to be placed completely unnoticed, from which it would be possible to observe the curious Cuban leader and activate the bomb at the right moment. The project got to the point where Lansdale personally bought two reference books describing Caribbean mollusks and stopped right there, as it turned out that not a single shell, sadly, was the right size to accommodate in the slightest degree suitable bomb.

4 Sniper rifle, 1961

One of Fidel's main and sworn enemies was Felix Rodriguez, the son of a party official in the Batista government. After the coup, he emigrated from Cuba to the United States and was recruited by the secret services at the age of 17 as an ideological fighter with the Castro regime. It was he who later became the man who caught and last interrogated Che Guevara, he also led the insurgent war in Vietnam and supplied weapons to the Nicaraguan Contras. In general, the man led a busy life.

In 1961, shortly before the Bay of Pigs invasion, Rodriguez was sent to Cuba with a group of intelligence officers whose purpose was to collect data for a counter-revolutionary attack. It was at this moment that Felix, armed with a telescopic rifle, vowed to personally shoot Fidel and thus end the entire operation. However, colleagues cooled the ardor of the young hero, convincing him to let other Cuban exiles take part in the coup. On their part, this was an obvious mistake, probably orchestrated by Fidel's permanent guardian angels. However, Rodriguez also had his own connections in this unit: he turned out to be one of ten rebels who escaped from the Bay of Pigs and received after that the nickname Lazarus.

5 Diving suit, 1962

On Christmas Day 1962, during lengthy negotiations with the government of Fidel Castro, American lawyer James Donovan achieved unprecedented diplomatic success: he managed to agree on the release of 1,113 prisoners taken hostage after the Bay of Pigs attack. In exchange, the United States sent humanitarian aid in the amount of $53 million. On the occasion of a very significant event, supported by a wonderful holiday, Donovan planned to present the Cuban leader with a memorable gift - a diving suit of the latest modification.

As you know, the Cuban leader was very fond of diving. The CIA could not miss such an opportunity not to add something of its own under the Christmas tree to Fidel: the lower part of the suit was to be treated with bacteria that causes a rare disease called “Madura foot”, and respiratory filters with tuberculosis pathogens. However, the surprise suit was delivered too late: Donovan had shown remarkable diplomatic caution and had already sent the usual version of the gift.

6 Fountain pen, 1963

Rolando Cubela, an associate of Raul Castro in the guerrilla war, himself contacted the CIA agents in Paris. He stated that he had personal scores with the Comandante and was ready to take on "really serious work." Cubela fit all the criteria: he was closely acquainted with Castro and even had a beach house next to Fidel in Cuba. The only thing he asked for was a suitable murder weapon that would allow him to do the job without unnecessary risk and noise. A month after the appeal, the CIA agent met with the initiative partisan to hand over such a weapon to him. It was a wonderful tool for an agent from a spy movie of the future: a gold-plated fountain pen, from the shaft of which, when pressed, a super-thin syringe with poison was extended - so thin that the victim did not even feel his prick. Here Fidel's guardian angels tensed up and gave an amazing coincidence. While the CIA agent was explaining the features of the pen to Rolando, his phone rang. Washington reported an emergency and the need to curtail all operations: President John F. Kennedy had just been shot dead in the United States. Kubela was never able to hold the miracle pen in his hands. After the assassination attempt on the American president, all American plots against foreign leaders were curtailed for a long time.

7 Mafia, 1960-63

In 2007, documents were declassified, according to which not only the especially gifted leaders of Operation Mongoose, but also the highest heads of the CIA, including the head of department Allen Dulles, participated in the planning of the assassinations. It was from his filing that the Chicago mafia was connected to the case.

The plan was really elegant. Robert Maheu, a former CIA officer, in order not to leave any traces of the involvement of state structures, contacted the mafia bosses and stated that there were some "international companies" that were offended by the current communist system and were interested in returning Cuba's life to its former capitalist course. For the help of the Chicago thugs, the "companies" are ready to pay 150 thousand dollars. The mafia, in general, was itself interested in seeing the former famous nightlife return to Cuba with casinos, brothels and other delights. As a result, at least two defendants from the list of the ten most wanted criminals in the United States were connected to the case. They formed a connection with a retired official from Havana, who at one time collected kickbacks from the gambling business, recalled it with nostalgia and was still a member of Cuba's power structures. He was given six poison pills. However, already on the third attempt, the official said that he was washing his hands: he could not outplay the guards of Fidel and realized that he was about to be exposed. Just then, fighting broke out in the Bay of Pigs, and for some time the plan was withdrawn. In 1963, the CIA returned to Dulles' idea again. Another plan was developed - with the participation of a former member of the Cuban government in exile. This time, the executor of the order demanded to provide him not only with pills, but also with "weapons and ammunition in sufficient quantities." Having received what was required, the exile disappeared in an unknown direction. Subsequently, contacts with the mafia were lost, and this plan was never returned to.

8 LSD, 1961

During 1961, the CIA developed a plan to discredit Castro. According to a 1967 report, the CIA's Technical Branch was considering spraying a substance similar to the hallucinogen LSD in the radio studio from which Castro used to address the public. Fidel was very proud of his oratory. His speech at the UN was one of the longest in the organization's history, lasting four and a half hours. But the longest speech was delivered at the Third Congress of the Communist Party of Cuba in 1986 and lasted 7 hours and 10 minutes, while Cuban agencies believe that the historic speech lasted no less than 27 hours.

The implication was that the hallucinogens would cause Fidel to stumble during the conversion, causing irreparable damage to his image. Alas, the world did not know what Fidel Castro would tell him under the influence of LSD: the plan remained on paper, since the Technical Division could not develop a sufficiently effective hallucinogenic aerosol.

9 Handkerchief, 1960

The year leading up to the armed invasion of Cuba was fruitful for the crazy ideas of the CIA. In particular, the unit, which the agents themselves called the “Health Committee”, proposed using a handkerchief contaminated with deadly bacteria to assassinate Fidel. In the case of the Comandante, the idea was never implemented, but in the depths of the intelligence department, nothing goes to waste. It is known that a similar handkerchief, decorated with elegantly embroidered initials, was sent to another objectionable foreign leader - Iraqi Prime Minister Abdel Kerim Kasem. However, either due to the carelessness of the postal services, or due to the sloppiness of the agents, the cute gift never reached the addressee.

10 Exploding cigar, 1960-62

In 1963, this story became the subject of a humorous cover of MAD magazine, and it will forever be remembered as a symbol of the assassination attempts on Fidel Castro. It can be said that this was the first officially exposed unsuccessful attempt to assassinate a Cuban leader.

The Saturday Evening Post reported that the police were seriously considering a plan to make a compact exploding cigar that could cause fatal injuries. It was planned to slip the insidious bomb on the commander during his speech at the UN (it seems that this was one of Castro's most dangerous foreign trips). However, it was not possible to make a suitable cigar. Subsequently, the CIA stated that this "stupid story" was put into the media on purpose to divert public attention from the real control plans, which, to their credit, were in some cases much more idiotic.

11 Boots, 1961

Simultaneously with the pollination of the commandante LSD, another insidious plan was considered - to pour thallium salt into Castro's shoes. Popularized in Agatha Christie's White Horse Villa, this slow poison, apart from nausea, tremors, aching joints and other cute symptoms that doctors usually attribute to a variety of diseases, has a curious side effect: hair comes out of it. It was this aspect of the CIA that was considered as the main one: first of all, thallium was supposed to deprive the commandant of his famous beard! According to the plan, they planned to pour thallium into shoes during Fidel's next foreign visit, when he put the shoes outside the hotel room door for cleaning. However, the Cuban leader seemed to sense something was wrong and put off visit after visit. Then the US military operation broke out in the Bay of Pigs, and the shoe plot was completely forgotten.

12 Milkshake, 1963

Fidel's chief of security, Fabian Escalante, says the CIA came closest to its target in 1963 at the Havana Hilton. Management was able to obtain reliable information, according to which the Comandante sometimes visited the hotel bar to drink a milkshake. The agents managed to bribe a local waiter, who was given a special botulinum pill. Its action did not begin immediately, so it was possible to hide the source of poisoning. However, Castro's guardian angels came to the rescue here too. The waiter put the pill into the freezer of the refrigerator, where it froze to the wall. When trying to separate her, the capsule burst, and the ingenious plan failed. A little later, the waiter paid the price for his cooperation with imperialist agents: he was caught trying to get rid of a poisoned refrigerator.

13 Jesus Christ, 1963

Perhaps the most incredible plan of the head of Operation Mongoose, Edward Lansdale, was the Antichrist project. The idea was really big. To begin with, agents-preachers were to be sent to the territory of Cuba, who would carry out propaganda work among the Catholic population, predicting the imminent end of the world, the second coming, and similar religious joys. Fidel Castro at the same time, of course, proclaimed the Antichrist. By the time the population had been sufficiently processed, the CIA planned to strike the final blow: an American submarine was supposed to appear from the waters off the coast of Havana, on the bow of which, in a suitable lighting design (let's say these are two more submarines with searchlights), Jesus Christ would appear in white clothes. After the performance of the aria "Repent, for it is coming!" (however, we admit, this was already added by the author of this article from his generosity) the underwater Jesus was supposed to call on the inhabitants of Cuba to finish off the Antichrist. The plan, of course, was impressive, but, alas, the Central Headquarters still considered it too eccentric, and the matter did not go further than the presentation at the meeting. It's a pity. This would be a worthy historical fact to complete this article.

Fidel's ways to avoid assassination attempts

Doubles

Throughout his life, the Comandante had several doppelgangers who instead of him made minor official visits where it was not required to speak or make decisions - for example, to factories and schools. Doubles were supposed to have reinforced rations - condensed milk and fresh beef so that they could maintain their proper shape.

24/7 security guards

Before coming to power, Fidel loved to wander around the city alone. In the early years, he continued to appear on the streets easily, but after meeting with a couple of snipers, this habit disappeared.

Change of address

Fidel changed his place of residence in Havana at least 20 times. He has no official residence. Its location is always strictly classified, in the documents it is listed as "point zero".

Mobile toxicological laboratory

Wherever Fidel traveled, he always had a special team of doctors with him, who checked all food and drinks for the presence of poison just before serving him. Also, Fidel never ate at the restaurant of the hotel where he stayed. He sent for food to neighboring establishments, and each time he named a new number of restaurants that must be counted from the hotel before entering and buying food.

Sapper team

Castro's entourage invariably included experts in explosives. It was they who in 2000 prevented the last assassination attempt on the commander - they got 90 kilograms of explosives from under Fidel's podium when he came to visit Panama.

It is known that Fidel Castro survived more than 600 assassination attempts by the United States during his entire term as Prime Minister and then Head of Cuba. Many of the assassination attempts were well-thought-out operations, and some were so ridiculous you'd think a child made them up.

Wetsuit


Many of the CIA plots against Castro revolved around his hobbies, including scuba diving, which he did extensively. Documents released at the behest of President Donald Trump revealed that the CIA had made a wetsuit riddled with a debilitating fungal disease known as Madura's foot, along with a tube purged with tuberculosis bacteria. The plan was to give it to Castro in the hope that he would use it and get sick. However, for some reason, the diplomat responsible gave Castro a completely different suit.

Mistress' Conspiracy


Almost everyone in the Castro area knew that he was good with ladies, and it is estimated that he slept with over 35,000 women in his lifetime. Even if this figure is somewhat exaggerated due to propaganda from all sides, true reports of the time show that this is not so far from the truth. The CIA decided to take advantage of this. They convinced one of Castro's former lovers, Marita Lorenz, to travel to Havana, meet him again, and plant poison pills in his food. When she was alone with Castro, he casually asked her if she wanted to kill him. She replied, “Yes.” He then gave her his loaded pistol and said, “You cannot kill me. No one can kill me." The CIA didn't realize how good Castro was with women. Lorenz didn't kill him. Instead, she continued to have sex with him that night (as she did several times in later years).

Mafia


The CIA decided to use the services of the Sicilian mafia to assassinate Castro.
According to declassified 1960 documents, the CIA contacted Momo Salvatore Giancana, the leader of the Sicilian mafia, and worked with him to come up with ways to kill Castro. Many potential methods were discussed, including the involvement of another mafia member shooting Castro at a rally or giving him lethal pills. Unfortunately for them, the plan failed.

Beard


Even if Castro was hated by many around the world, there is no doubt that he was very popular in Cuba. His rallies drew unprecedented crowds even before the Revolution, and much of this has been attributed to his oratorical skills.
One of the most ridiculous plots involved sprinkling thallium salts in his shoes, as he used to leave them outside a hotel room while traveling abroad. Thallium is a powerful depilatory agent and can completely remove body hair.
Why would the CIA want to do something like that? They decided that Castro's rating was more due to his majestic beard, and getting rid of it would lead to a decrease in popularity among people. They even tested thallium salts on animals in the lab. However, due to Castro's erratic travel schedule, this plan never came to fruition.

shells


If you thought the contaminated wetsuit was the only ridiculous plot against Castro based on his love of diving, you really don't know how staunch the CIA is. This time, however, they aimed to kill him, not just make him sick. According to declassified reports of the JFK assassination, the CIA wanted to plant explosives in eye-catching seashells at Castro's favorite diving spot. The idea was that Castro would not be able to resist picking up the delicate shell, which would instantly explode and kill him. It is not clear why this plan was never carried out, although some reports suggest that it would have been too obvious. Our guess? Perhaps they realized how stupid it was.

cigars

Castro could be seen with a cigar in his hands in almost all his photographs in the public domain. It's not because the photographers asked him to do it. He genuinely loved Cuban cigars. In fact, some of his closest aides claimed to have never seen him without a cigar at all. The head of the CIA's Office of Medical Services, Dr. Edward Gunn, wanted to use a toxin known as botulinum to kill Castro, as it left no trace.
When Gunn realized that the toxin could not easily dissolve in water and could not be added to Castro's drinks, Gunn personally hemmed a box of Castro's favorite botulinum cigars. Gunn rewound them for hours, making sure there were no signs of falsification. The cigars never made it to Castro, although Gunn kept them ready in the safe.

Milk shake


Even if all the ridiculous conspiracies on this list were carefully thought out and planned, none of them harmed Castro. Well, except for one, when the CIA came very close to killing the Cuban leader.
The plan involved colluding with American gangsters who controlled gambling establishments in Cuba. They were supposed to add a powerful poison to Castro's milkshake that would instantly kill him, leaving no evidence. They almost succeeded, as the poison got into the freezer of the hotel where Castro was staying at the time. Unfortunately for them, the tablet stuck to the sides of the freezer and fell apart when they tried to pick it up.

Tribune


You would think that the CIA, having made several unsuccessful attempts to kill Castro, left him alone.
In fact, they never gave up and tried to kill him until the year 2000. In 2000, Castro was scheduled to give a speech in Panama. It was the perfect scheme, as no one would suspect the US government because it was foreign territory. Cuban terrorist (and, not surprisingly, former CIA agent) Luis Posada Carriles was hired to work for the CIA. He was instructed to equip the podium where Castro was to speak with explosives.
Although Carriles did this, he grossly underestimated the competence of the Cuban security forces. They easily found the explosives and thwarted another CIA attempt to assassinate Castro.

Fake Second Coming of Christ


It is clear that the CIA used its imagination in an attempt to kill Castro. As we all know, none of their schemes were successful as Castro died of natural causes at the age of 90. However, one agency plot was more ridiculous than all the others.
According to testimony from CIA veterans to a Senate church committee (which was set up to investigate intelligence abuse), the agency was involved in a particularly bizarre conspiracy to fake the Second Coming of Christ in Cuba. The idea was that Cubans were deeply religious people and would rebel if there was a divine sign against Castro's rule. The CIA even planned to fire shells from a submarine to "divinely" light up the sky, because just telling people that Christ has returned would be a little silly. Although the person responsible vehemently denied the existence of any such plan, contemporary documents prove otherwise.