Spycraft - Melton [159]
Depilatory Cigars: Similar in concept to the failed shoe attack, under this scheme, Castro’s cigars were to be treated with a powerful depilatory that would cause his beard to fall out, leaving him hairless as a means of damaging his macho image. The special box of cigars was to be provided to Castro during his appearance on a television talk show hosted by David Susskind. After CIA officer David Atlee Phillips questioned how the operation could ensure that only Castro, and not others (including Susskind) would smoke the cigars, the idea was abandoned.54 Phillips made the point that assassination schemes required both effective technical substances and precise operational planning.
Poisoned Cigars: The CIA recruited a double agent to offer Castro a Cahiba cigar, his favorite brand, treated with botulin, a toxin so deadly that the target would die shortly after putting the cigar onto his mouth. CIA records indicate that the cigars were passed to the double agent in February of 1961, but he apparently decided against carrying out the plan.55
Exploding Cigars: During a Castro visit to the United Nations the CIA considered a plan to plant a box of exploding cigars at a place where he would smoke one “and blow his head off.” The plan was not carried out.56
Exploding Seashells: In early 1963 TSD was asked to construct a sea-shell with explosives, to be planted in the ocean at a spot in which Castro commonly went skin diving. After a technical and operational review, CIA discarded the idea as impractical.57
Contaminated Diving Suit: A proposal was made for a U.S. lawyer involved with official negotiations over the release of prisoners captured at the Bay of Pigs to present Castro with a contaminated diving suit. TSD bought a diving suit, dusted it inside with a fungus, which would produce Madura foot, a chronic skin disease, and contaminated the breathing apparatus with a tubercle bacillus. The plan was abandoned when the lawyer decided to present Castro with a different diving suit.58
Poisoned Pen: On November 22, 1963—the day that President Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas—a CIA officer offered a poison pen to a Cuban agent, AMLASH, in Paris for use against Castro. TSD had modified the ballpoint pen with a hypodermic needle designed to be so fine that the target (Castro) would not sense its insertion and the agent would have time to escape before effects were noticed. AMLASH was instructed to use Blackleaf-40, a commercial poison, with the device, but in the aftermath of Kennedy’s assassination, he decided against taking the pen back to Cuba.59
Suppressed Pistol and Rifle: The CIA subsequently provided AMLASH with a suppressed pistol and suppressed FAL rifle and scope, as well as highly concentrated explosives.60 AMLASH took no action, and in June of 1965, the CIA terminated contact with him.61
The DDP’s planning of assassination attacks on other foreign leaders, such as Patrice Lumumba of the Congo, also drew on TSD’s research, production, and delivery capabilities.62 The initial plan to eliminate Lumumba involved putting poison into his food or toothpaste. A syringe, surgical mask, rubber gloves, and a vial of toxin were sent to the Congo for the operation. However, the plot failed when moral objections to assassination were raised by senior officers of the Agency’s DDP, as well as the difficulty in gaining access to Lumumba’s entourage.63 Ultimately, the plot became unnecessary when opposition Congo forces killed Lumumba in January 1961.
With the exception of the AMLASH operation, assassination of foreign leaders as a policy option for the United States ended on November 22, 1963, when President Kennedy was shot