According to Fidel Castro's former secret
service chief, the now-deceased dictator survived no less than 634 attempts on his life, many
by the American Central Intelligence Agency. From exploding cigars to exploding sea shells,
what were some of the most... creative.... ways the US tried to kill Castro? Hello, and welcome to another episode of The
Infographics Show- today we're taking a look at the US's most insane attempts to kill Fidel
Castro. As ruler of Cuba from 1961 until 2011, Fidel
Castro came to power riding a wave of revolutionary zeal. But while having his roots as an anti-imperialistic
revolutionary that fought for the people, upon assuming power Castro very quickly became
as ruthless and authoritarian as any dictator. From stripping away the freedom of the press,
to bragging about jailing tens of thousands of political opponents, Castro became one
of the most notorious leaders of the 20thcentury. Yet it wasn't until Castro began cozying up
to the US's archenemy- the Soviet Union- that he wandered into the crosshairs of the US's
Central Intelligence Agency. Fearful of a global domino effect where one
nation falling to communism would lead to another and so on, the US was also deeply
disturbed by the presence of a strong Soviet ally less than a hundred miles from its shores. Foreseeing a Cuban Crisis scenario- which
ironically would come to pass anyways- the US intelligence committee made the recommendation
that Castro be removed from power by any means necessary. For a decade and a half US Presidents would
agree, until the signing of Executive Order 11905 by President Gerald R. Ford in 1976
banned US intelligence agencies from committing political assassinations. Yet for 15 long years prior to executive order
11905, it was open season on Castro as far as the US was concerned- even going so far
as to enlist the aid of American mafia leaders. So what were some of the craziest ways the
CIA tried to kill Castro? Perhaps the most famous plots against Castro
was the exploding cigar. Known for his love of cigars, the CIA brainstormed
a way to get Castro a case of cigars loaded with small amounts of explosives. Allegedly during a trip to the United Nations
in 1966, a CIA agent was enroute to swap a case of explosive cigars with real cigars
when at the last minute the operation was cancelled for fear of the political fallout
from Castro's assassination taking place during a visit to the UN. Yet some sources suggest that the exploding
cigar ploy was a complete fabrication, purposefully silly and meant to hide more serious attempts
on Castro's life. Whatever the case, Castro's security team
took the threat extremely seriously, eventually leading them to create the Cohiba cigar brand
in order to guarantee the safety of Castro's supply of cigars. When Castro threw out the Batista regime in
1959 and took over the extremely lucrative casinos and hotels he made more than a few
enemies among international mobsters- enemies the CIA was happy to cooperate with against
their shared enemy. Shortly after Castro came to power a CIA agent
met with Las Vegas mobster Johnny Roselli, who introduced him to members of the Las Vegas
Syndicate- of Bugsy Siegel fame. Offering the mobsters $150,000- $1.2 million
in today's dollars- to kill Castro in whatever way they thought best, Roselli declined the
money and said he'd do the job for free. Contacting mob operatives in Cuba, the Vegas
mob attempted to poison Castro with cyanide pills loaded into his drinks, yet the mob
assassin failed several times throughout 1960 to get close enough to Castro to succeed. After the multiple failures the CIA ran out
of patience and turned the job over to a doctor named Anthony Verona, who due to professional
connections had a much better chance of getting close to the ever-more wary dictator. Yet even after being paid $11,000- $93,000
in today's dollars- Verona quit after the disastrous Bay of Pigs invasion. Poison pills seemed like a good idea to the
CIA though, and shortly after the mob failed, the CIA launched Operation Mongoose with the
goal of recruiting and training Cuban exiles to become secret agents inside Cuba. In what would have seemed to be the absolute
jackpot for the CIA, agents managed to recruit one of Castro's former girlfriends, a woman
named Marita Lorenz. With overnight access to his home Marita seemed
like a sure bet, and the CIA quickly began training her in the use of cyanide tablets. Lethal within 30 seconds of ingestion, Marita
returned to Cuba and reconnected with Castro, staying the night in his home. Yet as she went for the pills she realized
that they had dissolved into the jar of cold cream she stored them in and were completely
unusable. Suffering a crisis of conscience, or perhaps
afraid because of Castro's suspicions, Marita confessed the plot to Castro, who immediately
began to rage- yet not against Marita, but against the US. Per a 1993 interview with Vanity Fair, Castro
then grabbed a .45 pistol and put it in her hands, telling her that she couldn't kill
him. He was right. Marita dropped the gun and stayed the night
with Castro, leaving in the morning and never returning. Despite repeated failures, the CIA is nothing
if not persistent. Once more going back to the drawing board
they struck upon another of Castro's weaknesses- his love of taking frequent morning ocean
swims. Well known for attending a private beach for
his swims, the CIA came upon the idea of infiltrating that beach with US special forces the night
before and placing sabotaged sea shells along the sand. Each seashell would conceal a small amount
of explosives, and exploding them all together would hopefully neutralize the dictator no
matter where he chose to sunbathe. The idea garnered enough serious attention
that tests were conducted on a Virginia beach, but lacking in explosive power the entire
idea was deemed completely impractical. Yet undeterred, the CIA came upon another
seashell idea- what if instead of numerous seashells, just one big one? With Castro's known love of scuba diving,
the CIA proposed painting one large sea shell in exotic colors and hiding explosives within. Luring Castro's attention, the sea shell could
then be remotely detonated when he came close enough. Ultimately this idea was also regarded as
impractical, with no guarantee Castro would notice this particular sea shell amongst the
thousands littering Cuba's beaches. They say the pen is mightier than the sword-
but could it potentially be lethal? American novelist Ernest Hemingway had owned
property in Cuba since 1940, and spent most of his time there until his death in 1961. Shortly after Hemingway's suicide, his widow
floated the idea of using the farm as a staging ground to kill Castro. As a huge fan of Hemingway's work, Castro
had already visited what had become a shrine to the late author, with his widow noting
that Castro seemed to have little security with him when he visited. The CIA carefully considered the offer, and
despite the apparent advantages it offered ultimately rejected the idea. While no official reason was ever given, perhaps
the CIA feared (rightfully so) the backlash from using the home of one of the most acclaimed
novelists of the 20thcentury to commit an assassination. From exploding cigars and sea shells, to poisoned
pills and former lovers- the CIA clearly has no shortage of imagination when it comes to
nefarious plots. Yet Castro would go on to defy every attempt
made on his life and ultimately pass away of old age, in a way defeating his former
rivals at the most powerful intelligence agency in the world. Have you heard any other crazy assassination
plots on Castro or any other leader's lives? Want to hear more about crazy plots that actually
worked? Let us know in the comments . Also, be sure
to watch our other video called – What Are The Weirdest Unsolved Internet Mysteries? Thanks for watching, and as always, don't
forget to like, share and subscribe, and as ever, see you next time.
According to a declassified psychological assessment of Castro [ https://catalog.archives.gov/id/7065385 ], CIA determined he was "quite vulnerable" to various forms of psychological manipulation. His paranoia, neuroticism, and narcissism were well documented. Their assessment believed by exploiting these vulnerabilities, he would lose contact with reality in some degree, and even stated specifically "an increase in suspicion to the point of complete withdrawal from reality" was possible.
It also noted he was paradoxically a passive individual, and that he overcompensated for this by reacting in aggressive, harsh and even sadistic ways to his own perceived weakness.
The so-called "botched" assassination attempts may have been an effort by CIA to exploit Castro's psychology and foment a deep paranoia/suspicion that would in turn cause Castro to lash out violently at those around him, the people of Cuba and make serious mistakes/miscalculations as a result. Ultimately, this could lead to a successful U.S. backed (or even completely organic) revolution.
Look at it another way, had CIA successfully "taken out" Castro, a loyalist would quickly fill his shoes. This would likely fail to yield any meaningful, long term change in the island nation. It would most likely backfire on the U.S. if our involvement were to be suspected, cementing rule by his acolytes.
An organic/covert U.S. backed revolution - caused by endless sadism and blatant crimes by the regime - would be more likely to produce the change desired by U.S. decision makers, and by fostering his paranoia/suspicious tendencies and forcing him to lose touch with reality this outcome was made more likely. What better way to exploit such a weakness than make Castro believe that death is lurking around every corner?
Just a theory, of course. You can always chose to believe the World's premier and highest funded intelligence service really was just that incompetent.