After endless assassination attempts, US empire's desire to see Fidel Castro dead remained strong up until his final days

globinfo freexchange

Newly declassified documents on JFK assassination shed more light on various issues, among them, the multiple ways through which the US empire attempted to assassinate former Cuban leader Fidel Castro.

As the Daily News reports:

Once-secret government files on the assassination of President John F. Kennedy revealed what many had long suspected -- that Castro was in our country’s crosshairs.

In a file labeled “Top Secret” but now available for the world to see, a memo lays out in explicit details an American plot to kill the Communist leader.

As set forth in detail elsewhere, the Central Intelligence Agency was involved in assassination plots against Fidel Castro beginning as early as late 1959 or 1960, the declassified document said.

“These plans arose at approximately the same time as preparations were underway for the Bay of Pigs. The plans involved a number of bizarre schemes, and, in at least one instance, involved some contact with organized crime elements...”

While the plot, dubbed Operation Mongoose, had been public knowledge, the means discussed to carry it out had been secret for decades.

Among the methods considered to whack the Cuban leader, who died in 2016, were poison, botulism pills and the use of Cuban exile groups, according to the memo.

One top official called the collusion with mob boss Sam Giancana “dirty business.”

The file also reveals that there is evidence to indicate that the then head of CIA, Allen Dulles, was aware and authorized plans for the assassination of Fidel Castro. Recall that Dulles “oversaw the 1954 Guatemalan coup d'état, Operation Ajax (the overthrow of Iran's elected government), the Lockheed U-2 aircraft program and the Bay of Pigs Invasion.”

 

Yet, there is more evidence that US empire's desire to see the Cuban leader dead, remained strong even up until his final days.

A cable from the WIKILEAKS Public Library of US Diplomacy (PlusD), reveals that the US officials were monitoring closely the health condition of Fidel Castro, even as far as almost ten years before his death.

An impressive info from the cable, that appears to be coming from the former service of the United States Interests Section in Havana, shows that the opposition leader Martha Beatriz Roquewith had provided to the US officials a document that was describing Fidel Castro's declining health.

Other interesting parts:

- Media have reported increased activity on the part of Fidel Castro this past week: Speaking on the phone to Hugo Chavez during the Venezuelan's visit to Haiti; and receiving Colombian author and long-time sympathizer Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Both Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque (in Europe) and Parliamentary Speaker Ricardo Alarcon stated publicly that Fidel Castro was making a comeback and would return to the GOC's helm.

- Dr. Mercedes Bartules explains that at his (Castro's) age this illness is not curable, and will not, in her opinion, allow him to return to leading Cuba. He won't die immediately, but he will progressively lose his faculties and become ever more debilitated until he dies.

- This report is consistent with our reporting that Fidel Castro probably came close to death in July, 2006, and then again around October. Since then, as we have seen in video and audio broadcasts, Castro has been able to engage with Hugo Chavez and others for limited periods of conversation and other forms of carefully controlled activity. He has not appeared live on TV or in any other public context during the entire period of his critical illness, which caused him to miss the September, 2006 Non-Aligned summit and a large-scale celebration of his birthday and armed forces day in December, 2006.

Another impressive feature is that the US hawks were calling Castro "dictator"(!!!), in their comments:

- We are missing too many variables to be able to predict accurately how many more months Fidel Castro will live. Frankly, we don't believe anyone, including Castro himself, can state that with certainty. However, while he is still alive, even in a reduced capacity, his presence has a chilling and retardant effect on Cuban society. The high expectations for change are still out there, but are mostly associated with the idea that the dictator has to die first before anything substantial will happen.

So, it is more than obvious that the US hawks couldn't wait to see Fidel Castro dead, probably because during his latest years in power it appears that he was ready to build strong alliances with Hugo Chavez and others who, were exhibiting strong resistance against the US imperialism.