WEBVTT - Smoking Out Castro

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<v Speaker 1>We've reached the halfway point in the series, and we'll

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<v Speaker 1>be back with a new episode next Wednesday. Today, we

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<v Speaker 1>wanted to share a bonus mini episode, Smoking Out Castro

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<v Speaker 1>for I Heart Radio. This is Operation Midnight Climax. I'm

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<v Speaker 1>your host, Noel Brown. George White's adventures and LSD experimentation

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<v Speaker 1>had serious consequences for national security. If he was successful

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<v Speaker 1>in proving LSD could be used as a bioweapon, it

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<v Speaker 1>could change the intelligence game forever. The end goal was

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<v Speaker 1>always to be one step ahead of the nation's enemies,

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<v Speaker 1>and for a time it seemed like LSD would be

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<v Speaker 1>the solution to America's problem with Fidel Castro. But White

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<v Speaker 1>was occupied with espionage of his own, which will hear

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<v Speaker 1>about an upcoming episodes, and so Sidney Gottlieb and the

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<v Speaker 1>CIA mounted a campaign involving acid and other drugs designed

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<v Speaker 1>to topple the Castro regime. Actually killing Castro, however, was

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<v Speaker 1>another matter. Entirely to do it, Gottlieb would think about

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<v Speaker 1>poison cigars, homicidal mistresses, and exploding seashells. If you don't

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<v Speaker 1>know a lot about Cuban revolutionary Fidel Castro, you probably

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<v Speaker 1>know his iconography, green fatigues, a forest of a beard,

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<v Speaker 1>an ever present cigar clamped between his teeth. From the

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<v Speaker 1>time he seized power in nineteen fifty nine, he was

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<v Speaker 1>the most worrisome kind of communist for the CIA, Powerful, charismatic, and,

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<v Speaker 1>at least in his native Cuba, revered. He was a firebrand,

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<v Speaker 1>a symbol of defiance. In short, he had to go.

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<v Speaker 1>That realization brought about years of increasingly bizarre assassination attempts

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<v Speaker 1>on the part of the CIA. One of Gottlieb's earliest

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<v Speaker 1>plans was to dip cigars in a lethal poison and

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<v Speaker 1>slip the fatal stokeies to Castro. The poison was the

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<v Speaker 1>easy part. Gottlieb had chemists working like Santa's elves on

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<v Speaker 1>a variety of dangerous chemicals, including baculinum toxin, the same

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<v Speaker 1>kind of neurotoxic protein found in spoiled canned goods and

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<v Speaker 1>the faces of aging entertainers. But gottli wasn't looking to

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<v Speaker 1>improve Castro's looks. Inhaled, the toxin would cause difficulty breathing, paralysis,

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<v Speaker 1>and death of Castro and maybe communism itself. The hard

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<v Speaker 1>part was getting a deadly cigar into his hands. To

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<v Speaker 1>accomplish that, the CIA turned to experts in the matter

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<v Speaker 1>of international criminality. They met with the Mafia. A CIA

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<v Speaker 1>memo uncovered years later described quote a sensitive mission requiring

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<v Speaker 1>gangster type action end quote. With the approval of CIA

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<v Speaker 1>director Alan Dulles, the agency paid Mafia member Johnny Roselli

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<v Speaker 1>a hundred and fifty thousand dollars in nineteen sixty to

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<v Speaker 1>arrange for Castro's death. The mob had a personal score

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<v Speaker 1>to settle with Castro, who had seized mafia properties in Cuba.

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<v Speaker 1>Roselli enlisted fellow organized crime figure Santos Traficante. The CIA

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<v Speaker 1>then delivered baculinum pills and some dosed cigars to Trafficante,

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<v Speaker 1>who passed them along to a man named Jorge Orta,

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<v Speaker 1>who worked on Castro's executive staff and was a cooperative

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<v Speaker 1>co conspirator or to like to gamble and owe the

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<v Speaker 1>mob of debt. This was how he'd repay it. The

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<v Speaker 1>CIA held their collective breath, waiting to hear whether Orta

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<v Speaker 1>had succeeded in poisoning Castro. Not long after, reports out

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<v Speaker 1>of Cuba said Castro had suddenly fallen ill. This was it.

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<v Speaker 1>The US stood ready to send troops into the country,

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<v Speaker 1>but Castro recovered. If he had been poisoned, it wasn't enough.

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<v Speaker 1>More likely, Orta was more scared of Castro than the mafia,

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<v Speaker 1>and he couldn't bring himself to do it. The illness

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<v Speaker 1>was likely a coincidence. Roselli had a plan B. He

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<v Speaker 1>got more of the pills and used Dr Manuel Antonio

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<v Speaker 1>de Verona, leader of the anti Castro Democratic Revolutionary Front.

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<v Speaker 1>Verona passed them on to a waitress who worked at

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<v Speaker 1>a restaurant Castro loved. The idea was that he'd get

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<v Speaker 1>some very poor service in the form of a deadly

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<v Speaker 1>toxin mixed into his milkshake or ice cream. Accounts very

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<v Speaker 1>on what happened next. It's possible Castro suddenly stopped visiting

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<v Speaker 1>the business and the pill is when unused. Other declassified

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<v Speaker 1>documents state that the poison pills had been hidden in

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<v Speaker 1>a freezer and broke open, rendering them useless either way.

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<v Speaker 1>Following the disastrous Bay of Pigs fiasco in nine, when

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<v Speaker 1>Castro's forces beat back CIA funded exiles, Verona wanted out

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<v Speaker 1>of the scheme entirely. Goli wasn't about to give up.

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<v Speaker 1>The CIA's plans grew bolder. During intelligence meetings, the agency

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<v Speaker 1>discussed something other than assassination. What if Castro could be humiliated.

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<v Speaker 1>The leader often gave rousing speeches. Maybe a cigar dipped

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<v Speaker 1>an LSD would cause him to lose his mind in public,

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<v Speaker 1>shaking their confidence. Then the CIA had an even better

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<v Speaker 1>idea Castro broadcast some of his speeches from a radio station.

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<v Speaker 1>A plot was hatched to deliver an aerosolized version of

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<v Speaker 1>l s D to directly into the broadcast booth in Havana,

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<v Speaker 1>with Castro inhaling the odorless hallucinogen. If Castro started tripping

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<v Speaker 1>on national radio, he'd be discredited on you know. But

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<v Speaker 1>the CIA could never figure out how to enact the plot.

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<v Speaker 1>Getting to Castro was always the problem. Then they discovered

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<v Speaker 1>he'd soon be in New York City to visit the

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<v Speaker 1>United Nations. They began mulling over thallium salt, a deadly

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<v Speaker 1>substance once he used in rat poisons. They didn't necessarily

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<v Speaker 1>want him to ingest it. Once exposed to his skin,

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<v Speaker 1>it would force Castro's iconic beard to fall out as

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<v Speaker 1>though he were Samson, and his facial air gave him

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<v Speaker 1>his powers the CIA planned to spread the thallium over

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<v Speaker 1>his shoes and nightstand at a New York City hotel,

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<v Speaker 1>but the trip was canceled. There was another idea to

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<v Speaker 1>construct a fountain pen with a deadly tip that one

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<v Speaker 1>got as far as being given to a CIA contact

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<v Speaker 1>named Rolando Cubella that same day. In nineteen sixty three,

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<v Speaker 1>John F. Kennedy was assassinated and Cubella lost his nerve.

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<v Speaker 1>The CIA looked at Castro's habits. He liked to go diving,

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<v Speaker 1>so a scuba suit and breathing apparatus contaminated with tuberculosis

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<v Speaker 1>and a deadly fungus was designed. The CIA believed that

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<v Speaker 1>could offer the scuba suit as a gift to Castro

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<v Speaker 1>when negotiating for the release of prisoners in the Bay

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<v Speaker 1>of Pigs Aftermath. When that proved difficult, the CIA started

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<v Speaker 1>looking into exploding seashells. If the CIA could find one

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<v Speaker 1>so spectacular, so beautiful that Castro would have to pay

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<v Speaker 1>get up then It never happened, but the CIA did

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<v Speaker 1>eventually find someone to get close enough to Castro to

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<v Speaker 1>expose into the CIA's chemical ingenuity. They recruited a woman

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<v Speaker 1>named Marita lorenz A lover of Castro's who intended to

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<v Speaker 1>slip poison into his drink. She hid the poison and

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<v Speaker 1>a container of cold cream, but had trouble fishing it out,

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<v Speaker 1>which made Castro suspicious. Castro began questioning her and then

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<v Speaker 1>handed her a gun to use instead. He told her

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<v Speaker 1>that no one could kill him, and well he wasn't wrong.

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<v Speaker 1>Years after the fact, a CIA agent who kept one

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<v Speaker 1>of the botulinum talks and cigars brought it out of

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<v Speaker 1>storage to test its remaining potency. It was still lethal

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<v Speaker 1>even to the touch. But what got even the CIA

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<v Speaker 1>learned was that it didn't matter how dangerous the weapon

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<v Speaker 1>was if he didn't have the right person for the job.

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<v Speaker 1>Maybe all they were missing was George White. A happy

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<v Speaker 1>and healthy Castro busied himself allowing the Soviet Union to

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<v Speaker 1>build nuclear testing sites in Cuba, leading to a standoff

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<v Speaker 1>between the US and Russia that flirted with war. He

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<v Speaker 1>accused the United States of sabotage in Cuba's crops and

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<v Speaker 1>introducing dangay fever to its population, claiming it was biological warfare.

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<v Speaker 1>He went on to rattle the nerves of eleven U

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<v Speaker 1>S presidents, reigning for nearly fifty years before old age

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<v Speaker 1>began to mimic the effects of the CIA's plans. The

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<v Speaker 1>speeches became less coherent. He passed away in twenty six

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<v Speaker 1>of what one assumes were natural causes. During his life,

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<v Speaker 1>Castro was not only aware of the CIA's foiled plots,

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<v Speaker 1>he was delighted by them. He ordered a Havana museum

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<v Speaker 1>to create exhibits about the failed attempts. Their Cubans could

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<v Speaker 1>visit and get a tour of the CIA's inability to

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<v Speaker 1>eliminate their target. Castro thought there were over six hundred

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<v Speaker 1>attempts on his life, roughly thirty by the CIA. In

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<v Speaker 1>sent an investigation, the CIA swore it had only been

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<v Speaker 1>five or six. No matter how many times he tried.

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<v Speaker 1>Sidney Gottlieb never got his man. As it turns out,

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<v Speaker 1>he was more effective and hastening the demise of the

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<v Speaker 1>CIA's own employees, and that would make George White's life

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<v Speaker 1>very difficult. Indeed, that's next time on Operation Midnight climax

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<v Speaker 1>S