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The United States' Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) made numerous unsuccessful attempts to assassinate Cuban leader Fidel Castro. There were also attempts by Cuban exiles, sometimes in cooperation with the CIA. The 1975 Church Committee claimed eight proven CIA assassination attempts between 1960 and 1965. In 1976, President Gerald Ford issued ...
- Senior Reporter
- The Exploding Cigar. Perhaps the most famous attempt to kill Castro came in 1960 when the CIA poisoned a box of his favorite cigars. Just a year after Castro seized power, the agency spiked the cigars with a botulinum toxin strong enough to kill anybody who put one in their mouth.
- The Reluctant Cuban. Months earlier, at the end of President Dwight Eisenhower's term, the CIA used a series of middlemen to enlist two gangsters to help with Castro's removal.
- The Painted Seashell. Undeterred, the CIA tried an even more elaborate plan in 1963. Intelligence officials thought they could use Castro's love of scuba-diving to topple him.
- The Contaminated Diving Suit. The same year, the CIA planned to contaminate one of Castro's diving suits with a fungus that would produce a chronic and debilitating skin disease.
- Exploding Cigar. Where: New York. When: 1966. Who: Police officer. How: A newspaper reported in 1967 that a year earlier the CIA had approached a New York City police officer with the idea of slipping Castro a cigar packed with enough explosives to take his head off.
- Mafia ice cream surprise. Where: Havana. When: 1961. Who: Waiter. How: Castro loved ice cream as he loved cigars, and the CIA hit upon a plan to poison his dessert.
- Exploding seashell. Where: Under the sea. When: 1963. Who: A Commie-hating mollusc. How: Castro loved diving as he loved cigars and ice cream, and the CIA looked into the idea of luring him to his doom with a large, brightly painted sea shell packed with explosives.
- Flesh-eating wetsuit. Where: Under the sea, slowly. When: 1961. Who: Lawyer. How: This plan got quite far. The gadgets arm of the CIA dusted the inside of a diving suit with fungus that caused a chronic skin disease, and put tuberculosis in the breathing apparatus.
Channel 4. Release. 28 November 2006. (2006-11-28) 638 Ways to Kill Castro is a Channel 4 documentary film, broadcast in the United Kingdom on 28 November 2006, which tells the story of some of the numerous attempts of the Central Intelligence Agency to kill Cuba 's leader Fidel Castro. It was directed by Dollan Cannell.
Oct 17, 2022 · Fidel Castro’s last public appearance was on the 19th of April 2016 during the closure of the 7th Cuban Communist party congress where he gave his last speech at the age of 89. Castro managed to survive all of those assassination attempts and die of old age on the 25th of November 2016. Andrei Tapalaga. Avid Writer with invaluable knowledge ...
Aug 12, 2016 · Havana, Cuba CNN —. Former Cuban leader Fidel Castro was a legendary survivor – besting what Cuban officials say were more than 600 attempts to kill him. He lived much of his long life in the ...
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Nov 9, 2009 · Castro’s Revolution Begins. In July 1953, Castro led about 120 men in an attack on the Moncada army barracks in Santiago de Cuba. The assault failed, Castro was captured and sentenced to 15 ...
