WORLD / America
CIA roped in mafia to kill Castro
(The Guardian)
Updated: 2007-06-28 06:56
WASHINGTON: The CIA conspired with a Chicago gangster described as "the
chieftain of the Cosa Nostra and the successor to Al Capone" in a bungled
1960 attempt to assassinate Fidel Castro, according to declassified
documents published by the agency yesterday.
The disclosure is contained in a 702-page CIA dossier known as the
"Family Jewels" compiled at the behest of then agency director James
Schlesinger in 1973.
According to a memo written at the time, the purpose of the dossier was
to identify all current and past CIA activities that "conflict with the
provisions of the National Security Act of 1947" - and were, in other
words, illegal.
The dossier covers operations including domestic surveillance,
kidnapping, infiltration of anti-war movements, and the bugging of
leading journalists.
But its detailed information on assassination attempts against foreign
leaders is likely to attract most attention.
The plot to kill Castro, whom the US government at the time considered a
threat to national security and a stooge of the Soviet Union, begins
quietly and sinisterly in August 1960.
The documents released yesterday describe how a CIA officer, Richard
Bissell, approached the CIA's Office of Security to establish whether it
had "assets that may assist in a sensitive mission requiring
gangster-type action. The mission target was Fidel Castro".
Following the meeting, Bissell employed a go-between, Robert Maheu, and
asked him to make contact with "gangster elements". Maheu subsequently
reported an approach to Johnny Roselli in Las Vegas. Roselli is described
as "a high-ranking member of the 'syndicate'."
The CIA was careful to cover its tracks. According to the dossier, Maheu
told Roselli that he (Maheu) had been retained by international
businesses suffering "heavy financial losses in Cuba as a result of
Castro's action. They were convinced that Castro's removal was the answer
to their problem and were willing to pay the price of $150,000 for its
successful accomplishment".
Roselli in turn led the CIA to a friend, known as Sam Gold. In September
1960, Maheu was introduced to Gold and his associate, known as Joe.
Gold was in fact Momo Salvatore Giancana, "the chieftain of Cosa Nostra
(the mafia) and the successor to Al Capone". Joe was actually Santos
Trafficante, the mafia boss of Cuban operations.
At a meeting at the Fontainebleau Hotel in Miami Beach, Gold suggested
that rather than try to shoot or blow up Castro, "some type of potent
pill that could be placed in Castro's food or drink would be much more
effective".
He said a corrupt Cuban official, named Juan Orta, who was in debt to the
syndicate, would carry out the poisoning. The CIA supplied "six pills of
high lethal content" to Orta but after several weeks of abortive
attempts, Orta demanded "out" of the operation.
"The project was cancelled shortly after the Bay of Pigs episode" in
1961, the dossier says.
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