02-21-2008, 10:39 AM
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#50 (permalink)
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Senior Contributor
Join Date: 12-19-07
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The Castropedia: Fidel's Cuba in facts and figures - Americas, World - Independent.co.uk
Quote:
The beard, the cigars, the fatigues, the interminable speeches - not to mention the plucky defiance in the face of the big bad bully from just across the water. There's so much about Fidel Castro that we're going to miss when he's gone, and that moment, it seems, is not far off. As Cuba braces itself for its first leadership change for nearly 50 years, Simon Usborne presents the armchair guide to the man and his nation
Wednesday, 17 January 2007
ASSASSINATION PLOTS
Attempts made on Castro's life since he came to power in 1959: 638 (according to Fabian Escalante, former Cuban security chief).
Quote attributed to Castro: "If surviving assassination attempts were an Olympic event, I would win the gold medal."
Selected CIA plots:
* The exploding cigar. Scientist contaminated Fidel's favourite brand with botulinum toxin, but the cigars were never delivered.
* The exploding conch. Exploiting Castro's love of scuba diving, the CIA planned to pack a mollusc with explosives and paint it in bright colours to attract Castro's attention.
* The poison wetsuit. Plans to send Castro scuba-diving equipment contaminated with deadly fungi were never followed through.
* The LSD. Agents planned to spray Castro's TV studio with the drug in an attempt to induce a humiliating psychedelic episode live on air.
* The lover. The CIA recruited a woman who was in a relationship with Castro. Agents gave her poison pills, which she hid in a jar of cream. She aborted the mission when they dissolved, but Castro, who was aware of the plot, handed her his gun. "I can't do it, Fidel," she told him.
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