The Real Story Of Killing Fidel Castro, whose head was offered for two cents

The inquiry into the killing of former US President John F. Kennedy was the subject of the release of thousands of "top-secret" papers in 2017.

An intriguing dossier outlining a plot to incentivize the assassination of Cuban political figures in return for a payout was among the long-awaited materials.

The fact that Fidel Castro, perhaps the most consequential political leader of all time, received a meager 2 cents jumps out, however.

The media highlighted the operation as a CIA plot to depose the Cuban government via the payment of ransom for communist and political figures' deaths.

Leaflets sent by the CIA to Cubans were to inform them of the strategy.

The more significant the person, the higher the value of the prize was generally.

Killing a "department chief" would get them $57,500, while killing high-ranking government officials would net them $100,000.

Contrary to their usual practice, the CIA established a reward of two cents for the murder of Castro.

Castro was valuable for entirely psychological reasons. To "send the message" that Castro was substantially less valuable, the CIA established a far greater price for other political figures.

They intended to "denigrate" him in Cuban public opinion in this way.

Nevertheless, the CIA never really implemented its meticulous plan to eliminate the Cuban revolutionaries and Castro.

Moreover, these classified records exposed other CIA plans to have Castro killed. A tainted diving suit was part of one scheme. Still another one required the wiring of explosives inside a seashell, which would explode upon capture.

Castro liked his ice cream almost as much as his cigars, and the CIA even instructed someone to poison it.

Attempts at assassination were not, however, the CIA's exclusive focus. The CIA had other schemes in the works to bring disrepute upon Castro and his image; the two-cent prize was only one of them.

None of the schemes against Castro, whether carried out or just planned, materialized, however.

He passed away in 2016, at the grand old age of 90. According to Cuban Intelligence, he managed to evade more than 600 CIA assassination attempts.

References

https://telegrafi.com/en/the-story-about-the-plot-to-assassinate-Fidel-Castro%2C-for-whose-head-only-2-cents-were-offered/

https://www.reuters.com/article/world/closest-cia-bid-to-kill-castro-was-poisoned-drink-idUSN04279351/