No Wonder Castro is Still in Power
Commentary: Recently declassified documents show America's cock-eyed schemes to topple Castro -- including a phony attack on U.S. forces, by U.S. forces.
October 13, 1998
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Two weeks ago, the Assassination Records Review Board assigned to look into President Kennedy's assassination finished its work declassifying documents. Not all the documents dealt with the death of Kennedy. For your enjoyment, the MoJo Wire is posting an original memo that details a number of plans to topple the government of Cuban president Fidel Castro.
The 1962 memo, which reads like a bad brainstorming session between two over-zealous College Republicans, was sent by Brigadier General William Craig, a "Department of Defense Representative." Whether or not Craig was an important figure isn't clear. (A Nexis search doesn't turn up any mentions of his name.) But the memo's recipient, Air Force Brigadier General Edward Lansdale, definitely wasn't just shuffling papers. Lansdale is considered one of the fathers of "psychological operations" and orchestrated U.S.-friendly coups in both the Philippines and South Vietnam.
It's unclear whether any of these anti-Castro operations were ever attempted. Here are a few of our favorites, complete with juvenile names like:
Operation NO LOVE LOST
Operation FREE RIDE
Operation DIRTY TRICK
Operation BINGO (Most boring name. Also most disturbing plan.)
Operation GOOD TIMES (No relation to the sitcom.)
View the full memorandum.
