10 Creepiest Government Secrets

5. Attempts To Kill Castro

Fidel Castro
Wikimedia Commons

In direct violation of the UN character, following the second World War the United States became involved in assassinations and attempted assassinations of foreign political leaders. First and foremost on their list: Fidel Castro, leader of communist Cuba - who they failed to eliminate, time and again, to a point where it almost became comical (and Castro, legendary).

A committee formed to look into these actions, the Church Committee, found that the CIA had made at least eight attempts between 1960 and 1965 to murder the Cuban leader. These plots included an exploding cigar, a booby-trapped conch placed at the bottom of the ocean along with a contaminated wet suit, poisoned cigars, and poison pills carried by an ex-lover of Castro, Marita Lorenz.

When Castro uncovered the plot involving Lorenz, he handed her a gun and told her to shoot him. She lost her nerve, and Castro proved himself tougher than anything the CIA could throw at him. Castro is famous for stating later that "If surviving assassination attempts were an Olympic event, I would win the gold medal."

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Contributor

Primarily covering the sport of MMA from Ontario, Canada, Jay Anderson has been writing for various publications covering sports, technology, and pop culture since 2001. Jay holds an Honours Bachelor of Arts degree in English from the University of Guelph, and a Certificate in Leadership Skills from Humber College.