1 00:00:02,000 --> 00:00:07,000 Downloaded from YTS.MX 2 00:00:08,000 --> 00:00:13,000 Official YIFY movies site: YTS.MX 3 00:00:10,720 --> 00:00:13,076 'The eyes of the world were focused 4 00:00:13,200 --> 00:00:16,272 'on this little island in the Caribbean Sea.' 5 00:00:20,840 --> 00:00:24,470 'Although Fidel Castro is not officially a communist...' 6 00:00:28,280 --> 00:00:31,239 'Fidel Castro, the bearded opportunist, 7 00:00:31,360 --> 00:00:33,352 'has betrayed his own country. 8 00:00:33,480 --> 00:00:37,679 'For America, there is danger on the doorstep.' 9 00:01:02,840 --> 00:01:05,150 This is a murder story. 10 00:01:06,040 --> 00:01:11,240 The victim, Fidel Castro, the president of Cuba. 11 00:01:38,440 --> 00:01:40,238 Castro never was assassinated. 12 00:01:40,360 --> 00:01:43,000 This time he just tripped over a step. 13 00:01:45,680 --> 00:01:48,115 But more people have tried to murder 14 00:01:48,240 --> 00:01:51,756 the world's most famous socialist, than any man alive. 15 00:01:53,000 --> 00:01:57,950 Governments and gunmen have been trying to get Castro for 50 long years, 16 00:01:58,080 --> 00:02:00,640 but time is nearly up. 17 00:02:13,400 --> 00:02:18,429 The men who tried to kill Castro have spent decades in the shadows. 18 00:02:19,200 --> 00:02:23,592 Now, they've come forward to reveal their secrets. 19 00:02:24,560 --> 00:02:27,712 Who are these men - heroes or villains? 20 00:02:32,880 --> 00:02:36,874 What made them hate Castro enough to want him dead? 21 00:02:38,480 --> 00:02:43,635 On a trip to New York in 1959, even the cops fell in love with him. 22 00:02:44,840 --> 00:02:46,957 And he didn't just hand out Cuban cigars - 23 00:02:47,080 --> 00:02:50,551 he promised his own people free health and education 24 00:02:50,680 --> 00:02:52,797 and the dream of equality. 25 00:02:52,920 --> 00:02:57,233 You'd think people would want to copy him, not kill him. 26 00:02:57,360 --> 00:03:00,034 'Hello, everyone.' 27 00:03:00,160 --> 00:03:05,030 We'd like to share our trips with you and tonight we'll all be going to Cuba. 28 00:03:05,160 --> 00:03:09,632 Cuba lies just off the coast of Florida. 29 00:03:14,200 --> 00:03:19,116 'Many American political leaders still have this idea 30 00:03:19,240 --> 00:03:24,554 that Cuba, rightfully, should almost be a part of our dominion - 31 00:03:24,680 --> 00:03:27,036 they should do what we want them to do, ' 32 00:03:27,160 --> 00:03:31,518 and that if it weren't for Castro, they probably would. 33 00:03:31,640 --> 00:03:35,395 So, Castro has come to be seen 34 00:03:35,520 --> 00:03:40,595 as this nettlesome figure we simply can't deal with, 35 00:03:40,720 --> 00:03:47,718 who has defied us and jeered at us for almost 50 years and got away with it! 36 00:03:47,840 --> 00:03:51,834 Nothing can drive a superpower up the wall faster than that. 37 00:03:54,800 --> 00:03:59,795 When Fidel Castro seized power in 1959, ordinary Cubans were ecstatic. 38 00:03:59,920 --> 00:04:04,039 He'd seen off a corrupt regime which had bled the country dry 39 00:04:04,160 --> 00:04:08,757 for the benefit of American business and a rich ruling elite. 40 00:04:08,880 --> 00:04:13,830 When a dove landed on his shoulder, it looked like divine approval, 41 00:04:13,960 --> 00:04:16,270 but not everyone felt blessed. 42 00:04:19,120 --> 00:04:22,272 'Most of my family were elated when Castro took over, ' 43 00:04:22,400 --> 00:04:25,393 as were most of the Cuban people. 44 00:04:25,520 --> 00:04:30,515 Now, I remember, I was not ten years old, 45 00:04:30,640 --> 00:04:34,953 when I saw on television, a trial, 46 00:04:35,080 --> 00:04:38,198 the first early trials of the revolution. 47 00:04:38,320 --> 00:04:40,915 'And as the trial was going on, 48 00:04:41,040 --> 00:04:46,798 'as they were going to process this man for an execution against a firing squad, 49 00:04:46,920 --> 00:04:49,435 'which was later televised, ' 50 00:04:49,560 --> 00:04:53,839 there were vendors walking around in the audience 51 00:04:53,960 --> 00:04:56,475 selling candy and soft drinks. 52 00:04:56,600 --> 00:05:01,595 'I was nine years old and I said, "Wow, this is not right."' 53 00:05:05,200 --> 00:05:07,999 Like hundreds of thousands of middle-class Cubans, 54 00:05:08,120 --> 00:05:14,310 Enrique Encinosa's family fled Castro's revolution for the safety of Miami. 55 00:05:14,440 --> 00:05:19,071 'Still they come, nearly 200 Cuban refugees a day, 56 00:05:19,200 --> 00:05:20,395 'five days a week. 57 00:05:20,520 --> 00:05:23,752 'They arrive with little more than the clothes on their back. 58 00:05:23,880 --> 00:05:27,760 'Their cash, houses, land, furniture 59 00:05:27,880 --> 00:05:31,032 'have long since been signed over to the Cuban government.' 60 00:05:39,200 --> 00:05:43,638 Castro's exiles are now pillars of Miami society. 61 00:05:43,760 --> 00:05:49,472 Their bitterness has grown with every year Castro has stayed in power. 62 00:05:55,960 --> 00:05:58,634 'The majority of the Cuban exile community 63 00:05:58,760 --> 00:06:03,277 'supports any kind of strategy that will overthrow Castro.' 64 00:06:03,400 --> 00:06:08,316 If you're eliminating a head of state, you know, who is a dictator, 65 00:06:08,440 --> 00:06:13,993 who has been oppressing his people, I think that's totally justified. 66 00:06:14,120 --> 00:06:18,080 'I myself support anybody who tries to kill Fidel Castro, 67 00:06:18,200 --> 00:06:24,356 'because I think it would do humanity a favour. 68 00:06:29,960 --> 00:06:34,318 'If the opportunity comes to harm him through violent means, 69 00:06:34,440 --> 00:06:39,196 'I would gladly do so. I would consider it my duty.' 70 00:06:41,240 --> 00:06:45,917 Castro's would-be assassins are ready to confess. 71 00:06:46,040 --> 00:06:50,478 Step forward suspect one - name: Enrique O'Varez, 72 00:06:50,600 --> 00:06:55,152 Architect, motivation: betrayal. 73 00:06:55,280 --> 00:07:00,480 Fidel's student friend, and one of the first to try to take his life. 74 00:07:03,720 --> 00:07:04,790 Here. 75 00:07:40,080 --> 00:07:46,839 O'Varez became so disillusioned with Castro that he felt compelled to act. 76 00:07:55,200 --> 00:08:00,116 Just after the revolution, Castro could still be seen on Havana's streets, 77 00:08:00,240 --> 00:08:02,596 unconcerned and unprotected. 78 00:08:02,720 --> 00:08:06,111 O'Varez was going to gun him down in broad daylight. 79 00:08:53,440 --> 00:08:59,198 It sounded simple, but killing a man for the first time is never simple. 80 00:09:00,960 --> 00:09:04,158 'I don't pretend to know what goes through a man's mind 81 00:09:04,280 --> 00:09:06,511 'in a situation like this, you know, ' 82 00:09:06,640 --> 00:09:11,954 because I think we are all different and a man might do something today 83 00:09:12,080 --> 00:09:15,756 that he might not have the mentality to do six months from now, 84 00:09:15,880 --> 00:09:20,716 because human beings are psychologically fragile. 85 00:09:20,840 --> 00:09:24,277 'But I would say that a man who puts himself in a situation 86 00:09:24,400 --> 00:09:28,440 'where he actually goes out on the field 87 00:09:28,560 --> 00:09:32,759 'and actually puts himself within grasp, 88 00:09:32,880 --> 00:09:36,794 'he should be committed to do, you know, what he set out to do. 89 00:09:40,600 --> 00:09:43,752 'I don't think it's being, from my own perspective, 90 00:09:43,880 --> 00:09:45,792 'I wouldn't see any excuse for that.' 91 00:09:45,920 --> 00:09:49,630 You're there and... 92 00:09:49,760 --> 00:09:53,913 'Nobody hired you to do this. 93 00:09:54,040 --> 00:09:56,111 'This is something that you volunteered to do. 94 00:09:56,240 --> 00:09:58,516 'This is something that before you went into, 95 00:09:58,640 --> 00:10:01,519 'you were totally aware of the circumstances, 96 00:10:01,640 --> 00:10:08,035 'so you should be willing to take it to the last... level. 97 00:10:09,960 --> 00:10:13,749 'And if you don't, then you've failed.' 98 00:10:15,560 --> 00:10:18,632 It'd be very hard for a man to live with himself after that. 99 00:10:26,760 --> 00:10:30,800 O'Varez hesitated and it cost him his one shot. 100 00:10:30,920 --> 00:10:35,836 Castro's agents were onto him and he was thrown in jail. 101 00:11:07,840 --> 00:11:11,720 This was our first suspect's final confession. 102 00:11:11,840 --> 00:11:14,116 Two months later, Enrique O'Varez, 103 00:11:14,240 --> 00:11:19,838 who was ill with cancer, did take a life - his own. 104 00:11:20,960 --> 00:11:22,838 'Now back to Edward R Murro.' 105 00:11:22,960 --> 00:11:26,192 Just 30 days ago, Fidel Castro entered Havana 106 00:11:26,320 --> 00:11:28,039 to be greeted by cheering mobs 107 00:11:28,160 --> 00:11:31,471 as one of the greatest heroes in Cuba's history. 108 00:11:31,600 --> 00:11:33,592 A few hours ago he returned to his apartment 109 00:11:33,720 --> 00:11:37,919 on the 23rd floor of the Havana Hilton Hotel in the centre of the city. 110 00:11:38,040 --> 00:11:40,839 - Good evening, Fidel Castro. - 'Good evening.' 111 00:11:40,960 --> 00:11:44,795 You must have had a very busy week, how do you feel? 112 00:11:44,920 --> 00:11:49,358 'Well, I feel, really feel well, supposing tired. 113 00:11:49,480 --> 00:11:53,076 'You know we have to work very much, work very much.' 114 00:11:53,200 --> 00:11:55,760 What about your personal safety? 115 00:11:55,880 --> 00:12:00,432 This is something you must think about, or doesn't that worry you? 116 00:12:00,560 --> 00:12:07,956 'Really, what I think is that I have no time to think of my personal safety.' 117 00:12:08,080 --> 00:12:11,471 Is it true that you go wandering about the streets 118 00:12:11,600 --> 00:12:13,717 occasionally all by yourself? 119 00:12:13,840 --> 00:12:16,992 'Yes, of course. I like to be alone most of time. 120 00:12:17,120 --> 00:12:21,478 'My friends don't like and sometime they come with me. 121 00:12:21,600 --> 00:12:25,799 'But really I don't like to be with personal guard.' 122 00:12:25,920 --> 00:12:29,470 Wasn't Fidelito supposed to be with us tonight? 123 00:12:29,600 --> 00:12:32,798 'Come, Fidelito.' 124 00:12:35,920 --> 00:12:38,560 - Hello, Fidel junior. - 'Hi.' 125 00:12:38,680 --> 00:12:41,639 That's a good-looking puppy you have there. Is he yours? 126 00:12:41,760 --> 00:12:45,720 'No, somebody gave it to my father for a present.' 127 00:12:52,800 --> 00:12:57,397 But America's curiosity with Castro's revolution couldn't last. 128 00:12:58,600 --> 00:13:01,957 When Castro seized US-owned businesses for the Cuban people, 129 00:13:02,960 --> 00:13:05,475 he revealed his true colour - red. 130 00:13:05,600 --> 00:13:08,513 And in '50s America, what could be worse 131 00:13:08,640 --> 00:13:12,520 than a communist takeover on the doorstep?' 132 00:13:14,400 --> 00:13:19,191 'Castro is a convinced, dedicated egalitarian.' 133 00:13:19,320 --> 00:13:23,473 He hates any system that provides a class society, 134 00:13:23,600 --> 00:13:28,356 where one group of people live much better than others. 135 00:13:29,080 --> 00:13:32,471 'He didn't expect the United States would sit on its hands 136 00:13:32,600 --> 00:13:37,311 'and watch him do that. Some conflict was inevitable.' 137 00:13:44,000 --> 00:13:47,357 Get your gun out. There. 138 00:13:48,240 --> 00:13:52,359 And so began America's secret war against Cuba - 139 00:13:52,480 --> 00:13:55,757 covert operations fought by nameless men, 140 00:13:55,880 --> 00:13:58,349 sometimes on the order of presidents, 141 00:13:58,480 --> 00:14:00,756 never with the knowledge of the American people. 142 00:14:00,880 --> 00:14:03,600 Get him! 143 00:14:04,520 --> 00:14:06,876 Christmas 1959. 144 00:14:07,000 --> 00:14:10,789 The CIA gets the go-ahead for the big hit on "The Beard ". 145 00:14:11,720 --> 00:14:15,157 The problem is that upright countries like the United States 146 00:14:15,280 --> 00:14:17,715 are not meant to murder foreign leaders. 147 00:14:17,840 --> 00:14:20,514 It is, after all, illegal. 148 00:14:20,640 --> 00:14:24,395 So the agency's great challenge is to dream up plans 149 00:14:24,520 --> 00:14:26,989 that can never be traced to the White House. 150 00:14:29,920 --> 00:14:35,518 They devise ingenious plots to destroy Castro's charisma. 151 00:14:35,640 --> 00:14:42,035 Seizing on the potent symbolism of his rebel beard, they plot to make it fall out. 152 00:14:42,840 --> 00:14:45,674 The plan is to steal into Castro's hotel 153 00:14:45,800 --> 00:14:48,599 and put a special powder into his boots. 154 00:14:51,120 --> 00:14:56,991 The trial run is successful but at the last minute, their agents get cold feet. 155 00:15:11,800 --> 00:15:15,635 They plot to spray a TV station with an LSD-type drug 156 00:15:15,760 --> 00:15:18,480 to make Castro freak out on air. 157 00:15:18,600 --> 00:15:21,877 There's no shortage of LSD at the CIA 158 00:15:22,000 --> 00:15:26,153 but they decide the plan is just too far out. 159 00:15:32,000 --> 00:15:36,392 If America's favourite astronaut, John Glenn, gets lost in space, 160 00:15:36,520 --> 00:15:40,560 they plan to blame Castro for zapping his module with magnetic rays. 161 00:15:43,880 --> 00:15:48,432 The plan fails when the rocket man lands safely back on planet earth. ' 162 00:15:52,320 --> 00:15:55,358 Then brilliant minds are turned to murder. 163 00:15:57,000 --> 00:15:59,196 Castro is a keen diver, 164 00:15:59,320 --> 00:16:04,554 so the CIA wraps him a special gift - a poisoned diving suit. 165 00:16:04,680 --> 00:16:09,436 But Castro doesn't want a new suit, he's just been given one. 166 00:16:12,200 --> 00:16:16,399 So, they try to booby trap a colourful seashell with dynamite 167 00:16:16,520 --> 00:16:19,274 and place it where Castro likes to dive. 168 00:16:19,400 --> 00:16:23,189 The CIA acquire two books on Caribbean molluscs 169 00:16:23,320 --> 00:16:26,950 but it just can't find a shell big enough to do the job. 170 00:16:35,040 --> 00:16:39,956 Next, they rig a poisoned syringe inside a fountain pen, 171 00:16:40,080 --> 00:16:44,040 but they decide they just won't get away with scratching "The Beard ". 172 00:16:47,080 --> 00:16:50,596 Most famously, they really do plot to kill Castro 173 00:16:50,720 --> 00:16:52,951 by doctoring his favourite cigars. 174 00:16:53,080 --> 00:16:56,676 Plan A is poison. 175 00:16:56,800 --> 00:16:59,440 Plan B, explosives. 176 00:17:06,640 --> 00:17:09,155 All these assassination attempts, 177 00:17:09,280 --> 00:17:13,115 we're not supposed to be involved in assassination attempts 178 00:17:13,240 --> 00:17:15,038 against foreign leaders. 179 00:17:15,160 --> 00:17:18,312 I know we have been, but we shouldn't be. 180 00:17:18,440 --> 00:17:20,477 This is a mistake. It's a mistake. 181 00:17:23,120 --> 00:17:25,874 Over in Cuba, Castro's secret agents 182 00:17:26,000 --> 00:17:29,676 were just as dedicated to keeping him alive. 183 00:17:29,800 --> 00:17:32,599 One of the finest was Fabian Escalante. 184 00:17:32,720 --> 00:17:36,634 His exploits were even turned into a hit thriller on Cuban TV. 185 00:17:45,480 --> 00:17:49,394 As one assassination attempt after another was foiled, 186 00:17:49,520 --> 00:17:54,390 Escalante rose to become head of Cuban intelligence. 187 00:17:54,520 --> 00:17:57,797 He's retired now and has time to reflect 188 00:17:57,920 --> 00:18:01,197 on all the plots ever discovered by his agents. 189 00:18:52,000 --> 00:18:57,029 One further adjustment makes it 638. 190 00:18:57,160 --> 00:18:59,959 Escalante has even calculated just how many plots 191 00:19:00,080 --> 00:19:02,879 fell under each United States presidency. 192 00:19:36,360 --> 00:19:39,398 Escalante was keen to substantiate 193 00:19:39,520 --> 00:19:43,480 each and every one of the plots he's counted. 194 00:19:46,920 --> 00:19:49,833 He had eyes everywhere... 195 00:19:51,440 --> 00:19:54,000 ...and men on the inside of the conspiracies 196 00:19:54,120 --> 00:19:56,680 that threatened Castro's revolution. 197 00:19:58,760 --> 00:20:02,276 In Havana itself, you couldn't light a cigar without him knowing. 198 00:20:03,760 --> 00:20:07,595 There was a grenade attack planned at a baseball game. 199 00:20:07,720 --> 00:20:11,555 Snipers zeroed in on the university steps. 200 00:20:14,320 --> 00:20:18,951 He knew their plans down to the last detail. 201 00:20:19,080 --> 00:20:22,152 There was a radio-controlled plane packed with explosives 202 00:20:22,280 --> 00:20:25,478 to be launched from the National Library. 203 00:20:26,040 --> 00:20:29,477 Assassins tried to serve Castro a poisoned milkshake 204 00:20:29,600 --> 00:20:32,513 at the Havana Hilton. 205 00:20:32,640 --> 00:20:35,109 They planned to ambush the presidential convoy 206 00:20:35,240 --> 00:20:37,516 on its way to the airport. 207 00:20:42,160 --> 00:20:45,676 But Fabian and his spies stopped all of them. 208 00:20:47,080 --> 00:20:52,200 For many years, there was one hated adversary who, for Fabian Escalante, 209 00:20:52,320 --> 00:20:55,040 stood above anyone else. 210 00:20:55,160 --> 00:21:01,191 He considered him the greatest threat to Fidel Castro. 211 00:21:05,120 --> 00:21:10,798 In real life, Escalante never did get his man. 212 00:21:12,040 --> 00:21:16,557 Step forward suspect number two - Antonio Veciana. 213 00:21:17,400 --> 00:21:22,350 Qualified in accountancy, recruited by the CIA. 214 00:21:23,680 --> 00:21:26,479 Now, gone fishing just off Miami beach. 215 00:21:56,440 --> 00:22:01,037 The former CIA man, who once ran guns to Cuba, 216 00:22:01,160 --> 00:22:05,951 now runs nothing more than a chain of marine stores in Miami. 217 00:22:42,840 --> 00:22:47,915 'He is like a soccer player with cold blood shooting a penalty shot.' 218 00:22:48,040 --> 00:22:50,680 I mean, he can stand there and he won't budge, 219 00:22:50,800 --> 00:22:54,555 and he will do whatever, what he thinks is right. 220 00:22:54,680 --> 00:22:55,796 He's a very determined man? 221 00:22:55,920 --> 00:23:00,551 He sure is, and I'm very proud being his son. 222 00:24:26,920 --> 00:24:31,836 The bazooka was ready to fire. Castro was a sitting duck. 223 00:24:31,960 --> 00:24:34,794 This time, his spies knew nothing. 224 00:25:23,760 --> 00:25:26,229 Stung by failure, the CIA gambled 225 00:25:26,360 --> 00:25:30,752 on an astonishing new partner in crime - the Mafia. 226 00:25:30,880 --> 00:25:36,911 Before the revolution, organised crime ran Havana and they made millions. 227 00:25:37,040 --> 00:25:41,193 Castro ruined their party and threw them out. 228 00:25:41,320 --> 00:25:45,792 So, they had a motive and they had the means. 229 00:25:45,920 --> 00:25:48,958 Murder being all in a day's work for a mobster. ' 230 00:25:52,840 --> 00:25:55,719 The agency had to keep their distance from the mob. 231 00:25:55,840 --> 00:25:59,356 Step forward suspect number three - the go-between. 232 00:26:01,000 --> 00:26:05,517 Bob Maheu, ex-FBI, a man with the Mafia's number. 233 00:26:05,640 --> 00:26:11,193 The Mafia had a plausible reason for wanting to get back in Cuba, 234 00:26:11,320 --> 00:26:13,596 'which gives the United States government 235 00:26:13,720 --> 00:26:17,680 'a possibility of denying it, whatever happened.' 236 00:26:25,120 --> 00:26:28,238 'You know, there are those who will disbelieve 237 00:26:28,360 --> 00:26:30,158 'what I am about to say, 238 00:26:30,280 --> 00:26:36,038 'but my immediate problem was that I happen to be a Roman Catholic.' 239 00:26:36,160 --> 00:26:38,959 I don't profess to be the Pope, 240 00:26:39,080 --> 00:26:42,152 I don't profess that I have a free trip to heaven, 241 00:26:42,280 --> 00:26:47,309 but I'm a reasonably good Catholic and believe in it, I'm Jesuit-trained 242 00:26:47,440 --> 00:26:54,438 and I had a morality problem with the murder of a... 243 00:26:54,560 --> 00:26:59,760 '...of any person, which included, of course, the leader of a foreign country.' 244 00:27:01,320 --> 00:27:04,996 I remember very vividly what I did. 245 00:27:05,120 --> 00:27:08,113 'I mean, I went down to my recreation room, 246 00:27:08,240 --> 00:27:12,678 'I put on some Strauss, on a very low sound 247 00:27:12,800 --> 00:27:16,794 'and I just sat there and I tried to experience 248 00:27:16,920 --> 00:27:19,560 'what would happen if something went wrong.' 249 00:27:19,680 --> 00:27:25,074 But... I was asked to do it by my government, 250 00:27:25,200 --> 00:27:28,750 and that, I guess, was the prevailing thing. 251 00:27:28,880 --> 00:27:34,319 I mean, I figured, "Well, who the hell am I to worry about me?" 252 00:27:45,240 --> 00:27:51,032 'You'll have to understand that espionage is a very dirty business.' 253 00:27:51,160 --> 00:27:53,231 It's a dirty business. 254 00:27:53,360 --> 00:28:01,279 If this was the way to save one American life, it was a good way to go. 255 00:28:10,200 --> 00:28:14,638 Bob Maheu meets Mafia bosses to hammer out the details. 256 00:28:14,760 --> 00:28:20,552 The CIA want the mob to march up to Castro and just mow him down, 257 00:28:20,680 --> 00:28:23,036 but even gangsters aren't that crazy. 258 00:28:23,840 --> 00:28:28,676 So, it's the Mafia who come up with an alternative - poison pills. 259 00:28:30,280 --> 00:28:33,273 Agency scientists decide deadly botulinum 260 00:28:33,400 --> 00:28:36,393 is a perfect poison for "The Beard ". 261 00:28:36,520 --> 00:28:42,198 They were plastic, just a little bitty capsule, very small. 262 00:28:42,320 --> 00:28:45,074 'You could not taste it, you could not smell it.' 263 00:28:45,200 --> 00:28:48,989 If that pill was dropped in liquid, hot or cold, 264 00:28:49,120 --> 00:28:51,840 they would instantaneously dissolve 265 00:28:51,960 --> 00:28:58,150 and leave no after-effect, as to smell or taste or anything. 266 00:29:05,520 --> 00:29:07,989 Having invented a lethal pill, 267 00:29:08,520 --> 00:29:11,160 the CIA now has to get Castro to swallow it. 268 00:29:11,280 --> 00:29:13,556 Someone has to get close to him. 269 00:29:13,680 --> 00:29:17,071 His hideaway at the Hilton Hotel is heavily guarded, 270 00:29:17,200 --> 00:29:21,911 but maybe "The Beard" does have a weakness after all. 271 00:29:22,040 --> 00:29:25,556 'This city is always noisy, loquacious and smiling, 272 00:29:25,680 --> 00:29:31,119 'and so it sometime appears a little frivolous and carefree, like a pretty girl. 273 00:29:31,240 --> 00:29:33,880 'But that is only at first glance. 274 00:29:37,880 --> 00:29:41,556 'It's a city that can show Spartan courage 275 00:29:41,680 --> 00:29:46,835 'and the pretty girls, it seems, aren't really so frivolous at all.' 276 00:29:48,280 --> 00:29:50,920 Castro's divorced and has been having an affair 277 00:29:51,040 --> 00:29:53,919 with a young German girl. 278 00:29:54,040 --> 00:29:58,193 Marita Lorenz had loved Castro and his revolution, 279 00:29:58,320 --> 00:30:01,358 but their relationship has gone sour. 280 00:30:01,480 --> 00:30:06,350 The CIA persuades her to try and kill her ex-lover. 281 00:30:06,480 --> 00:30:11,509 She hasn't seen Castro for months, but she's kept her old room key 282 00:30:11,640 --> 00:30:17,511 and steals into his suite with the poison pills hidden in a jar of face cream. 283 00:30:17,640 --> 00:30:22,510 'As Marita told me the story, the first time I heard it was from her, 284 00:30:22,640 --> 00:30:25,030 'she'd put the pills in her cold cream jar, 285 00:30:25,160 --> 00:30:30,110 'and so when she went to get them out, they had somehow melted, 286 00:30:30,240 --> 00:30:33,870 'and so she felt, "OK, it won't work, forget it."' 287 00:30:34,000 --> 00:30:39,234 Castro had asked her when she came back if she had come back to kill him 288 00:30:39,360 --> 00:30:42,114 and she said, "Yes, Fidel," she had. 289 00:30:55,600 --> 00:30:58,240 And so he handed her his pistol. 290 00:30:58,360 --> 00:31:02,673 He was stretched out on the bed, fully clothed and handed her the pistol 291 00:31:02,800 --> 00:31:04,598 'and said, "Well then, do it." 292 00:31:04,720 --> 00:31:07,360 'And she said she held the pistol pointed at him' 293 00:31:07,480 --> 00:31:10,598 for a minute and then she put it down, 294 00:31:10,720 --> 00:31:15,636 and said, "I can't, Fidel", and he said, "Of course you can't, no-one can." 295 00:31:21,240 --> 00:31:23,471 Now desperate to dislodge Castro, 296 00:31:23,600 --> 00:31:26,354 the CIA hatched its most brazen scheme. 297 00:31:26,480 --> 00:31:29,314 It all began here. 298 00:31:29,440 --> 00:31:31,591 On President Eisenhower's order, 299 00:31:31,720 --> 00:31:36,920 they planned not only to kill Castro, but mount an invasion of Cuba. 300 00:31:37,040 --> 00:31:41,000 In 1960, Miami Zoo was a secret training camp. 301 00:31:42,480 --> 00:31:45,314 The world could never know that the American government 302 00:31:45,440 --> 00:31:49,320 was turning thousands of Cuban exiles into a fighting force 303 00:31:49,440 --> 00:31:52,114 capable of deposing Castro's regime. 304 00:31:54,080 --> 00:31:57,790 When they landed on Cuban soil at the Bay of Pigs, 305 00:31:57,920 --> 00:32:01,755 it was meant to look like they planned the invasion all by themselves. 306 00:32:03,560 --> 00:32:07,554 Howard Hunt was one of the CIA's top men. ' 307 00:32:07,680 --> 00:32:11,230 We were heavily involved at the recruitment, 308 00:32:11,360 --> 00:32:17,994 and the infiltration of it. The people that we recruited 309 00:32:18,120 --> 00:32:24,196 wanted to go in by parachute or by sea 310 00:32:24,320 --> 00:32:29,111 and get rid of the devil, Mr Castro. 311 00:32:29,240 --> 00:32:32,438 'Castro was such a charismatic leader 312 00:32:32,560 --> 00:32:36,793 'that there were just no possible antidote to him' 313 00:32:36,920 --> 00:32:42,552 that would not have meant... US overt involvement, 314 00:32:42,680 --> 00:32:47,914 and that, of course, was what the United States government wanted to avoid. 315 00:32:48,040 --> 00:32:54,958 And, of course, Eisenhower wanted the American hand totally concealed 316 00:32:55,080 --> 00:32:59,711 and I think the Agency learned a big lesson from that - 317 00:32:59,840 --> 00:33:03,880 that you can't... do both. 318 00:33:04,000 --> 00:33:10,349 You can't succeed and you can't keep the American hand invisible. 319 00:33:10,480 --> 00:33:14,759 Was part of the plan to kill Fidel Castro? 320 00:33:14,880 --> 00:33:17,793 - To do what? - To kill Fidel Castro? 321 00:33:18,560 --> 00:33:21,951 Well, those are not... That word 'kill', the verb 'kill', 322 00:33:22,080 --> 00:33:26,950 is not easily used in government communications. 323 00:33:27,960 --> 00:33:31,874 I myself felt that that was the ultimate solution 324 00:33:32,000 --> 00:33:35,789 because if you had him, you had a caged tiger, 325 00:33:35,920 --> 00:33:40,233 and... but we never got that far. 326 00:33:40,360 --> 00:33:43,558 'These are anxious days for Cuba. 327 00:33:43,680 --> 00:33:48,311 'The threat of armed aggression hangs over the little island. 328 00:33:58,240 --> 00:34:01,551 'At any minute the order may be given from there 329 00:34:01,680 --> 00:34:03,672 'and hordes of mercenaries 330 00:34:03,800 --> 00:34:07,157 trained by the Imperialists will move on the island.' 331 00:34:17,360 --> 00:34:20,592 The big day came in April 1961. 332 00:34:20,720 --> 00:34:23,599 Castro crushed the invasion in hours. 333 00:34:23,720 --> 00:34:28,795 Despite their efforts, the role of America was plain for all to see. 334 00:34:28,920 --> 00:34:30,718 The plan had been hatched by Eisenhower, 335 00:34:30,840 --> 00:34:33,639 but it was executed by Kennedy. 336 00:34:33,760 --> 00:34:38,152 For America's idealistic young president, it was all very embarrassing, 337 00:34:38,280 --> 00:34:40,476 but even that didn't deter JFK. 338 00:34:40,600 --> 00:34:44,276 He kept on pushing the CIA to get rid of Castro, 339 00:34:44,400 --> 00:34:49,236 until, in an irony lost on many, he got assassinated himself. 340 00:35:01,680 --> 00:35:05,356 Fidel Castro and his right hand man, Che Guevara, 341 00:35:05,480 --> 00:35:08,120 might have thought they would finally be left in peace, 342 00:35:08,240 --> 00:35:12,075 free to cut cane and build the Cuban socialist dream 343 00:35:12,200 --> 00:35:14,192 without having to worry quite so much 344 00:35:14,320 --> 00:35:17,119 about being assassinated the whole time. 345 00:35:23,320 --> 00:35:27,633 But Che, the revolutionary pin-up, was soon off around Latin America 346 00:35:27,760 --> 00:35:33,916 preaching communism Cuban-style until his luck ran out. 347 00:35:34,040 --> 00:35:38,831 Step forward suspect number four - Felix Rodriguez. 348 00:35:38,960 --> 00:35:43,716 A born fighter, he fled Cuba and signed up as a CIA sniper. 349 00:35:43,840 --> 00:35:48,073 One thing made him a big hit with America's first family - 350 00:35:48,200 --> 00:35:50,999 he tried to kill Fidel three times. 351 00:35:51,120 --> 00:35:55,000 President Bush, the father. 352 00:35:55,120 --> 00:35:58,670 That was when he was vice president at the White House. 353 00:35:58,800 --> 00:36:03,591 "To Felix Rodriguez, with high esteem and admiration, George Bush." 354 00:36:11,400 --> 00:36:13,790 Let's see. 355 00:36:13,920 --> 00:36:16,480 This is from President Bush, 356 00:36:16,600 --> 00:36:19,115 and this time... 357 00:36:21,480 --> 00:36:27,954 it's... with his brother Jeb, now governor of Florida. 358 00:36:28,080 --> 00:36:32,836 And that's another photo of you and President Bush behind you? 359 00:36:32,960 --> 00:36:36,192 Yes. We were talking over the times about the Che Guevara story, 360 00:36:36,320 --> 00:36:38,630 so I told him, the last moment of Che Guevara 361 00:36:38,760 --> 00:36:42,436 and then everybody that I go to, it's always very interesting 362 00:36:42,560 --> 00:36:46,076 knowing the character of Che Guevara, what he said at the last minute, 363 00:36:46,200 --> 00:36:48,840 what was the conversation was between the two of us. 364 00:36:48,960 --> 00:36:51,429 We talked a lot about that. 365 00:36:51,560 --> 00:36:54,598 This is one with Che Guevara in Bolivia. 366 00:36:54,720 --> 00:36:56,518 Are you in that photo, Felix? 367 00:36:56,640 --> 00:36:59,838 Yeah, this is me right here and that's Che here. 368 00:36:59,960 --> 00:37:02,714 And that's actually the last picture of Che alive. 369 00:37:04,360 --> 00:37:08,752 'There seems absolutely no doubt that this is Che Guevara. 370 00:37:08,880 --> 00:37:13,113 'Yes, they're now sitting Che Guevara up, actually sitting him up. 371 00:37:13,240 --> 00:37:15,596 'His dead body has now been sat up. 372 00:37:15,720 --> 00:37:20,954 'It's the most fantastic sight, he's a very pale ghastly, ghostly yellow colour. 373 00:37:21,080 --> 00:37:26,200 'Now his head has rolled back onto the stretcher on which he was brought in. 374 00:37:26,320 --> 00:37:30,519 'His eyes are still open, the balls of his eyes sticking out at you. 375 00:37:30,640 --> 00:37:34,190 'Now they're lifting his head up by his long hair...' 376 00:37:35,280 --> 00:37:40,878 Rodriguez personally gave the order to execute Che Guevara. 377 00:37:41,000 --> 00:37:43,993 I said, "Is there anything I can say to your family?", 378 00:37:44,120 --> 00:37:48,399 and Che said, "Tell my wife to remarry and try to be happy." 379 00:37:48,520 --> 00:37:50,512 Those were his last words. 380 00:37:50,640 --> 00:37:53,951 Then he came to me and he shook my hand and I shook his hand, 381 00:37:54,080 --> 00:37:58,074 we embraced and then he stood back in attention, 382 00:37:58,200 --> 00:38:01,079 thinking I was going to shoot him, so I left the room. 383 00:38:01,200 --> 00:38:03,840 There was a sergeant taking care of those matters 384 00:38:03,960 --> 00:38:07,397 and I told him it's order from your command to eliminate the prisoner. 385 00:38:07,520 --> 00:38:10,160 Shoot him from here down, because this man 386 00:38:10,280 --> 00:38:12,272 is supposed to die from combat wound. 387 00:38:12,400 --> 00:38:15,199 He said, "Si, mi capitan." So I left the room, 388 00:38:15,320 --> 00:38:18,358 I went to an advanced post and I was taking notes. 389 00:38:18,480 --> 00:38:21,996 It was one o'clock when I left the room there, Bolivian time. 390 00:38:22,120 --> 00:38:24,680 About ten past one, that's when we heard the bursts. 391 00:38:27,000 --> 00:38:29,435 The CIA's achievement was to make Che Guevara 392 00:38:29,560 --> 00:38:33,440 a martyr for his cause, celebrated by millions to this day. 393 00:38:48,320 --> 00:38:54,112 By the late '60s, Castro was not only still alive, he was thriving, still popular 394 00:38:54,240 --> 00:38:57,836 and managing Cuban socialism virtually single-handed. ' 395 00:39:00,080 --> 00:39:03,198 'Castro insists on becoming an expert in every agricultural science. 396 00:39:03,320 --> 00:39:05,312 'At this cattle insemination ranch, 397 00:39:05,440 --> 00:39:08,638 'he personally instructs a man on how to test a bull.' 398 00:39:11,360 --> 00:39:15,149 'I pay a great deal of attention to agriculture 399 00:39:15,280 --> 00:39:18,956 'and in order to be able to direct activity in agriculture, 400 00:39:19,080 --> 00:39:22,630 'I've had to bring together much information about it, 401 00:39:22,760 --> 00:39:27,960 'and that information can only be got by going out into the countryside.' 402 00:39:28,760 --> 00:39:32,436 At home, Castro's spies kept him safe. 403 00:39:32,560 --> 00:39:36,679 Whenever he left the country, he was a much easier target. 404 00:39:39,520 --> 00:39:46,518 In 1971, the CIA teamed up once more with the accountant, Antonio Veciana. 405 00:39:46,640 --> 00:39:51,476 'They planned to kill Castro on a visit to Chile. 406 00:39:54,480 --> 00:39:57,632 'My father was stationed at the United States embassy 407 00:39:57,760 --> 00:40:01,640 'in La Paz, Bolivia, and we decided to go on a vacation.' 408 00:40:01,760 --> 00:40:05,356 'The journey to adventure is so simple now. 409 00:40:05,480 --> 00:40:07,278 'We went from La Paz, Bolivia 410 00:40:07,400 --> 00:40:10,711 'in through the Lake Titicaca, which is the highest lake in the world. 411 00:40:10,840 --> 00:40:14,197 'Then we travelled all the way to Santiago, Chile.' 412 00:40:14,320 --> 00:40:19,031 During that trip that I thought was a vacation, 413 00:40:19,160 --> 00:40:21,675 my father did just something that was phenomenal. 414 00:40:28,320 --> 00:40:32,519 'I'm sure my mum knew. My father didn't keep anything away from my mum, 415 00:40:32,640 --> 00:40:35,360 'and a friend came with us that I later found out 416 00:40:35,480 --> 00:40:38,791 'was the fella who was to have done the shooting.' 417 00:40:41,640 --> 00:40:46,954 Antonio Veciana devises a new way to kill Castro - 418 00:40:47,080 --> 00:40:49,436 conceal a gun inside a film camera 419 00:40:49,560 --> 00:40:52,598 and obtain fake press passes for his two gunmen. 420 00:41:26,280 --> 00:41:29,193 His intelligence is spot on. 421 00:41:29,320 --> 00:41:32,119 Castro arrives to face the press. 422 00:41:32,240 --> 00:41:34,357 Veciana thinks his men are right there, 423 00:41:34,480 --> 00:41:40,033 just feet away from "The Beard ", guns loaded. ' 424 00:41:42,320 --> 00:41:44,471 'It was a specific day. 425 00:41:44,600 --> 00:41:47,513 'He was sitting there and he kept pacing in front of the phone.' 426 00:41:47,640 --> 00:41:50,599 'So I walked up and said, "Dad, what's the matter?" 427 00:41:50,720 --> 00:41:55,033 'He goes "No, no, son, I'm just waiting for an important phone call." 428 00:41:57,880 --> 00:42:00,918 What was really interesting was that my father 429 00:42:01,040 --> 00:42:03,032 was very upset when he got that phone call. 430 00:42:03,160 --> 00:42:06,073 I've never seen him that upset and stuff. 431 00:42:06,200 --> 00:42:08,999 I didn't know that obviously it's because the guy 432 00:42:09,120 --> 00:42:12,397 cancelled the assassination attempt. 433 00:42:33,200 --> 00:42:35,954 'I later found out that he'd said something, 434 00:42:36,080 --> 00:42:38,879 'that he'd got an appendicitis. 435 00:42:39,000 --> 00:42:42,994 'I don't believe that. I think he got a little scared under the hood.' 436 00:42:43,120 --> 00:42:45,840 I told something to my dad that if things are fine, 437 00:42:45,960 --> 00:42:48,839 I told my dad "You should have hired an Arab. 438 00:42:48,960 --> 00:42:51,077 "Those guys are not scared of anything. 439 00:42:51,200 --> 00:42:55,114 "They're willing to give their life if they have to." 440 00:43:01,400 --> 00:43:05,553 In the 1970s, events took a darker turn. 441 00:43:07,800 --> 00:43:11,157 Frustrated by their failure to eliminate Castro, 442 00:43:11,280 --> 00:43:14,000 hardliners sought new targets for their venom. 443 00:43:14,120 --> 00:43:17,636 They turned on their own community, 444 00:43:17,760 --> 00:43:22,960 ruthlessly silencing Miami Cubans who dared to talk of peace. 445 00:43:23,080 --> 00:43:29,600 There were efforts against the lives of people, Cubans especially, 446 00:43:29,720 --> 00:43:34,351 who thought it was time to begin a dialogue with Cuba. 447 00:43:34,480 --> 00:43:37,598 'The hardliners didn't like that and so the reaction 448 00:43:37,720 --> 00:43:39,712 'was to try to blow them up or shoot them. 449 00:43:39,840 --> 00:43:43,516 'And I suppose you could say, no wonder, ' 450 00:43:43,640 --> 00:43:48,590 given that these hard-line exiles had been trained by the CIA, 451 00:43:48,720 --> 00:43:52,839 they'd been involved in sabotage raids against Cuba, 452 00:43:52,960 --> 00:43:56,237 some of them in assassination attempts and so forth. 453 00:43:56,360 --> 00:43:58,158 This was the way they operated. 454 00:43:59,240 --> 00:44:03,632 Step forward suspect number five - Dr Orlando Bosch. 455 00:44:03,760 --> 00:44:07,071 A reckless hardliner who hated Castro so much 456 00:44:07,200 --> 00:44:11,160 he abandoned his career in paediatric medicine for terrorism. 457 00:44:11,280 --> 00:44:15,069 He's linked to at least 50 bombings. 458 00:44:15,200 --> 00:44:19,274 In 1967, he fired a bazooka at a ship in Miami harbour 459 00:44:19,400 --> 00:44:22,313 simply because it was on its way to Havana. 460 00:44:22,440 --> 00:44:24,432 He even threatened a British prime minister 461 00:44:24,560 --> 00:44:28,031 because he was too soft on Cuba. 462 00:44:28,160 --> 00:44:33,360 One woman's followed his tracks - writer and journalist, Ann Bardach. 463 00:44:33,480 --> 00:44:38,032 Orlando Bosch is a convicted terrorist if, for nothing else, 464 00:44:38,160 --> 00:44:42,951 the shooting here in Miami harbour of the Polish ship, which he admits to. 465 00:44:43,080 --> 00:44:47,040 But he also talks about dozens and dozens of other militant strikes 466 00:44:47,160 --> 00:44:50,153 and his lifetime quest to kill Fidel Castro. 467 00:44:50,280 --> 00:44:56,800 What happened next will never be forgotten or forgiven by Cuban people. 468 00:45:03,200 --> 00:45:08,798 In October 1976, Orlando Bosch became Cuba's most wanted man. 469 00:45:11,440 --> 00:45:13,909 'Cubana 455, please push back.' 470 00:45:14,040 --> 00:45:17,033 'There was 73 passengers on the plane. 471 00:45:17,160 --> 00:45:19,277 'It picked up passengers in Guyana, 472 00:45:19,400 --> 00:45:22,120 'then it stopped in Barbados and they had to refuel.' 473 00:45:22,240 --> 00:45:26,154 And then apparently at that time two of the men boarded the plane. 474 00:45:26,280 --> 00:45:30,479 They went into the... the toilets of the plane 475 00:45:30,600 --> 00:45:34,560 and put, planted the bombs in there, in the plane, 476 00:45:34,680 --> 00:45:38,959 and as soon as the plane, the jet took off, 477 00:45:39,080 --> 00:45:42,357 I think it was what, eleven minutes, eleven seconds? 478 00:45:42,480 --> 00:45:43,800 Six minutes. 479 00:45:43,920 --> 00:45:47,072 'Six minutes later, I mean a few minutes later, 480 00:45:47,200 --> 00:45:50,796 'it just blew up over the Barbadian Ocean.' 481 00:46:34,440 --> 00:46:38,195 At the time we had a cousin, she woke us up 482 00:46:38,320 --> 00:46:42,234 and she kept saying to all of us, "You need to sit down." 483 00:46:42,360 --> 00:46:44,352 I remember hearing her say to my mother, 484 00:46:44,480 --> 00:46:46,472 "Please, sit down, sit down". 485 00:46:46,600 --> 00:46:51,994 She said "The plane that Raymond was on..." I remember she kept saying, 486 00:46:52,120 --> 00:46:58,037 "I think, I think the plane that Raymond was on went down." 487 00:46:58,160 --> 00:47:01,870 And my mother screamed. 488 00:47:02,000 --> 00:47:07,234 Because we can assume what happens next - 489 00:47:07,360 --> 00:47:10,080 that there will be no survivors. 490 00:47:15,040 --> 00:47:17,839 The wreckage fell near Barbados. 491 00:47:17,960 --> 00:47:20,475 There were no survivors. 492 00:47:20,600 --> 00:47:24,753 There had been 73 passengers and crew on board. 493 00:47:24,880 --> 00:47:29,875 Amongst them, the 24 members of the Cuban national fencing team. 494 00:47:30,000 --> 00:47:32,640 Many were teenagers. 495 00:47:33,840 --> 00:47:38,119 Two men were convicted in Venezuela of placing the bombs, 496 00:47:38,240 --> 00:47:42,200 but the suspected masterminds remained elusive. 497 00:47:43,000 --> 00:47:46,710 CIA documents reveal that days before the bombing, 498 00:47:46,840 --> 00:47:50,038 an associate of Orlando Bosch was overheard saying, 499 00:47:50,160 --> 00:47:55,633 "We're going to hit a Cuban airplane, Orlando has the details." 500 00:47:55,760 --> 00:48:00,471 Bosch was detained for the crime in Venezuela but was never convicted. 501 00:48:00,600 --> 00:48:06,119 In 1989, Bosch emerged back in the United States. 502 00:48:06,240 --> 00:48:10,280 He was arrested, but only for a parole violation. 503 00:48:10,400 --> 00:48:12,551 The anti-Castro cause meant votes 504 00:48:12,680 --> 00:48:16,799 and Miami Republicans campaigned for his freedom. 505 00:48:16,920 --> 00:48:21,472 He became the cornerstone of the campaign 506 00:48:21,600 --> 00:48:28,279 by Ileana Ros-Lehtinen for her run for the US Congress. 507 00:48:28,400 --> 00:48:31,359 The campaign became "Free Orlando Bosch". 508 00:48:31,480 --> 00:48:37,920 Her campaign manager was a young ambitious politician named Jeb Bush, 509 00:48:38,040 --> 00:48:44,196 'and Jeb Bush's father was the vice-president of the United States, 510 00:48:44,320 --> 00:48:46,710 'and then was the president of the United States.' 511 00:48:46,840 --> 00:48:49,753 Mr President, it is an honour and a thrill 512 00:48:49,880 --> 00:48:54,159 that you have come to Miami on behalf of my campaign. 513 00:48:54,280 --> 00:48:56,272 I'm extremely grateful 514 00:48:56,400 --> 00:49:00,076 for all of your support and encouragement in the past weeks. 515 00:49:03,960 --> 00:49:09,479 'And despite protests from the US justice department, 516 00:49:09,600 --> 00:49:13,037 'particularly from Bush's own Attorney-General, ' 517 00:49:13,160 --> 00:49:17,632 saying that this is one of the worst terrorists operating in our hemisphere, 518 00:49:17,760 --> 00:49:22,471 that we under no circumstances should allow him to remain here... 519 00:49:24,880 --> 00:49:31,559 ...President George Bush overruled them all at the request of his son 520 00:49:31,680 --> 00:49:36,118 and granted residency to Orlando Bosch. 521 00:49:36,240 --> 00:49:38,038 'He had spent the past 13 years 522 00:49:38,160 --> 00:49:40,231 'in Venezuelan and American prisons. 523 00:49:40,360 --> 00:49:43,990 'Bosch's relatives say he just wants to spend time with his family. 524 00:49:44,120 --> 00:49:46,760 'The Justice Department has tried to deport Bosch as a terrorist 525 00:49:46,880 --> 00:49:49,918 'but 31 countries refused to take him.' 526 00:49:51,520 --> 00:49:56,231 Orlando Bosch settled down with his family in Miami. 527 00:49:56,360 --> 00:49:58,795 He's a keen landscape painter 528 00:49:58,920 --> 00:50:03,073 who depicts Cuban scenes remembered from his youth. 529 00:50:51,000 --> 00:50:52,992 Orlando, the good man! 530 00:52:36,080 --> 00:52:40,552 'This really upset a lot of people, 531 00:52:40,680 --> 00:52:45,516 'because it turned out that most of the people on this plane were civilians. 532 00:52:45,640 --> 00:52:48,235 'There really is no evidence' 533 00:52:48,360 --> 00:52:53,515 that these were very, very important high-level Cuban officials 534 00:52:53,640 --> 00:52:57,077 on the plane, or military officials. 535 00:53:32,880 --> 00:53:37,113 'Castro plays David to our Goliath beautifully, 536 00:53:37,240 --> 00:53:40,836 'and we give him an opportunity, almost on a weekly basis. 537 00:53:40,960 --> 00:53:46,558 'We do something which allows him to put the blame on us.' 538 00:53:46,680 --> 00:53:52,950 We're unable to deal... rationally with Cuba. 539 00:53:57,720 --> 00:54:02,431 After the plane bomb America and Cuba did, for once, get talking. 540 00:54:02,560 --> 00:54:08,033 In '79, President Jimmy Carter even invited Castro to visit the States. ' 541 00:54:08,880 --> 00:54:11,554 'Last time Castro made this journey, 542 00:54:11,680 --> 00:54:14,115 'it was shortly after the revolution that brought him to power. 543 00:54:14,240 --> 00:54:18,712 'Nothing that's happened since has made the visit less of a security risk for him, 544 00:54:18,840 --> 00:54:20,877 'and on the plane coming over he was asked 545 00:54:21,000 --> 00:54:23,196 'if he was wearing a bullet-proof vest.' 546 00:54:32,440 --> 00:54:33,430 No. 547 00:54:37,280 --> 00:54:39,351 But there was a plot to kill Castro 548 00:54:39,480 --> 00:54:42,473 just after he touched down on American soil. 549 00:54:44,520 --> 00:54:47,319 I have a moral one, a moral vest. 550 00:54:47,440 --> 00:54:52,071 Tomorrow, when he makes his speech, the United Nations will allow no visitors. 551 00:54:52,200 --> 00:54:55,830 Instead of the usual sequence of national leaders coming to the podium, 552 00:54:55,960 --> 00:54:58,998 Fidel Castro will have the session all to himself - 553 00:54:59,120 --> 00:55:02,955 a sensible precaution, since last time he was here in 1960, 554 00:55:03,080 --> 00:55:06,391 he went on for four hours and 29 minutes. 555 00:55:09,960 --> 00:55:14,273 The hatred still burned in one of Castro's oldest enemies. 556 00:55:14,400 --> 00:55:18,110 Antonio Veciana plotted to hide plastic explosives 557 00:55:18,240 --> 00:55:22,314 inside a softball and throw it at Castro's car. 558 00:55:51,760 --> 00:55:54,480 But Fabian Escalante's undercover agents 559 00:55:54,600 --> 00:55:57,559 were already on the case. 560 00:57:17,560 --> 00:57:19,552 There was another man accused 561 00:57:19,680 --> 00:57:24,197 of the Cuban airline bombing in 1976, though he denies it. 562 00:57:25,160 --> 00:57:29,951 Step forward suspect number six - Luis Posada Carriles. 563 00:57:30,080 --> 00:57:34,233 His life's ambition - to kill the communist Castro. 564 00:57:37,040 --> 00:57:42,559 In the '50s, Havana University trained Posada in chemistry and engineering. 565 00:57:42,680 --> 00:57:48,438 In the '60s, America trained him in sabotage and explosives. 566 00:57:50,080 --> 00:57:54,154 Writer Ann Bardach met him when he was on the run. 567 00:57:54,280 --> 00:57:57,398 'Posada came out, an elderly man, ' 568 00:57:57,520 --> 00:58:01,958 kind of silver grey hair, a real gentleman, took my bags. 569 00:58:02,080 --> 00:58:04,356 He had a van waiting outside. 570 00:58:04,480 --> 00:58:08,474 He had a gravelly crushed voice, a lot of charm, 571 00:58:08,600 --> 00:58:12,719 'a lot of self-confidence - a big, big ladies' man.' 572 00:58:14,280 --> 00:58:16,556 He gets involved from Bay of Pigs. 573 00:58:16,680 --> 00:58:20,276 Bay of Pigs is the jumping off point for Luis Posada, 574 00:58:20,400 --> 00:58:22,392 and he had a lot of advantages 575 00:58:22,520 --> 00:58:26,594 because he had previously worked as an exterminator. 576 00:58:26,720 --> 00:58:29,474 That was the first career of Luis Posada. 577 00:58:29,600 --> 00:58:32,195 Something I find a bit curious about Luis Posada 578 00:58:32,320 --> 00:58:35,472 is he did his degrees in chemical engineering, 579 00:58:35,600 --> 00:58:39,389 'so he was the one with the real background in explosives.' 580 00:58:45,880 --> 00:58:50,636 During his many years behind bars, he discovered a talent for acrylics. 581 00:58:50,760 --> 00:58:54,674 Posada's paintings sell like hotcakes in Miami 582 00:58:54,800 --> 00:58:57,838 and the proceeds fund his struggle against Castro. 583 00:58:57,960 --> 00:59:04,036 His friend, Enrique Encinosa and his wife, help out with the sales. 584 00:59:04,160 --> 00:59:08,439 What I love about this is you can see the little moss growing from the walls, 585 00:59:08,560 --> 00:59:12,190 and again the shadows coming off from the insides of the castle. 586 00:59:12,320 --> 00:59:14,596 Luis is very good at shadows. 587 00:59:14,720 --> 00:59:18,316 This painting is of Oriente Province, 588 00:59:18,440 --> 00:59:24,710 and to me it's one of the best works done by Luis Posada Carriles. 589 00:59:24,840 --> 00:59:28,880 You will observe he has excellent depth in the street, 590 00:59:29,000 --> 00:59:31,037 tremendous use of shadows. 591 00:59:31,160 --> 00:59:33,516 I think you're dealing here with a sensitive man. 592 00:59:33,640 --> 00:59:37,600 I know it might be hard for some people in your audience to understand 593 00:59:37,720 --> 00:59:40,918 that a guy who's spent all his life doing war, 594 00:59:41,040 --> 00:59:44,238 and that has been accused of almost everything 595 00:59:44,360 --> 00:59:46,352 by one government or the other, 596 00:59:46,480 --> 00:59:50,076 and who has lived in hiding for so many years would be sensitive, but he is. 597 00:59:57,000 --> 01:00:02,029 In 1997, seven bombs tore apart Havana's hotels. 598 01:00:06,720 --> 01:00:10,509 The aim - to warn European tourists away from Cuba 599 01:00:10,640 --> 01:00:14,190 and bring Castro's economy to its knees. 600 01:00:14,320 --> 01:00:17,518 One young Italian traveller, named Fabian Di Celmo, 601 01:00:17,640 --> 01:00:20,109 was killed in the blasts. 602 01:00:20,240 --> 01:00:22,835 Cuba's security men did catch the bomber, 603 01:00:22,960 --> 01:00:25,919 but it was clear he wasn't the man in charge. 604 01:00:26,040 --> 01:00:29,477 A year later, Posada spoke to the press 605 01:00:29,600 --> 01:00:34,675 and couldn't help letting slip that he was the mastermind. 606 01:00:35,640 --> 01:00:38,599 Another thing that goes on the charge sheet 607 01:00:38,720 --> 01:00:41,519 is the bombings in Havana in 1997. 608 01:00:45,280 --> 01:00:51,959 OK, since... OK... the fact of it is 609 01:00:52,080 --> 01:00:57,997 that it has never been proven he did it, he has never been indicted for it. 610 01:00:58,120 --> 01:01:01,909 So. from a strictly legal viewpoint, 611 01:01:02,040 --> 01:01:04,919 I personally think it's an acceptable method. 612 01:01:05,040 --> 01:01:07,714 It's a way of damaging the tourist economy. 613 01:01:07,840 --> 01:01:11,277 The message that one tries to get across 614 01:01:11,400 --> 01:01:15,110 is that Cuba is not a healthy place for tourists. 615 01:01:15,240 --> 01:01:17,914 So, if Cuba is not a healthy place for tourists, 616 01:01:18,040 --> 01:01:22,751 because there's a few windows been blown out of hotels, that's fine. 617 01:01:27,440 --> 01:01:29,830 It's the year 2000. 618 01:01:29,960 --> 01:01:36,150 Cuban agents are in Panama to protect Castro on a visit. 619 01:01:36,280 --> 01:01:42,436 Under close surveillance, is a group of Castro's oldest adversaries. 620 01:01:42,560 --> 01:01:46,270 'Luis Posada was there with Gaspar Hermanes, 621 01:01:46,400 --> 01:01:49,552 'Pedro Ramon and Guillermo Novo. 622 01:01:49,680 --> 01:01:52,354 'They were there to try to assassinate Fidel Castro, ' 623 01:01:52,480 --> 01:01:54,472 there can be no doubt about that. 624 01:01:54,600 --> 01:01:56,910 They also had been infiltrated. 625 01:01:57,040 --> 01:02:00,556 Probably by one of their own, probably by one of their confidants, 626 01:02:00,680 --> 01:02:04,151 and Cuban intelligence certainly knew what they were up to. 627 01:02:04,280 --> 01:02:07,478 They are exceptionally good. 628 01:02:28,680 --> 01:02:33,152 The plot, the 638th and last in Escalante's list, 629 01:02:33,280 --> 01:02:35,795 was to take Castro out with a bang 630 01:02:35,920 --> 01:02:39,072 by putting a huge bomb underneath his podium. 631 01:02:40,720 --> 01:02:44,760 When it was foiled, Castro revelled in the victory. 632 01:03:13,120 --> 01:03:17,353 Prosecutors amassed a compelling case against Posada. 633 01:03:17,480 --> 01:03:21,030 Finally, in April 2004, 634 01:03:21,160 --> 01:03:26,952 Panama's Supreme Court sentenced him and his associates to prison. 635 01:03:27,080 --> 01:03:30,073 But four months later he was out again. 636 01:03:30,200 --> 01:03:32,920 Mysteriously, Posada received a pardon 637 01:03:33,040 --> 01:03:35,760 from Panama's outgoing president. 638 01:03:37,840 --> 01:03:44,280 A year later, in 2005, Luis Posada slipped undetected into Miami itself. 639 01:03:44,400 --> 01:03:49,111 For months he lived a normal life. The authorities let him be. 640 01:03:49,240 --> 01:03:53,632 Posada was so relaxed he even held a press conference 641 01:03:53,760 --> 01:03:56,400 to tell his side of the plane bomb story. 642 01:03:56,520 --> 01:03:59,513 He slurs his words because he was shot in the mouth 643 01:03:59,640 --> 01:04:02,109 while he was on the run. 644 01:04:37,000 --> 01:04:41,472 I was shocked, sure. I mean shocked, yeah. 645 01:04:41,600 --> 01:04:45,913 Yeah, that there he is now hanging out in Miami 646 01:04:46,040 --> 01:04:51,877 asking for political asylum. Shocked, yeah, just like a terrorist. 647 01:04:52,000 --> 01:04:54,595 George Bush says that anyone who gives refuge 648 01:04:54,720 --> 01:04:57,554 or shelters a terrorist is a terrorist. 649 01:04:57,680 --> 01:05:00,354 Well then, that makes George Bush himself a terrorist. 650 01:05:03,320 --> 01:05:07,360 'He certainly is sheltering, at this point, Luis Posada Carriles, 651 01:05:07,480 --> 01:05:11,394 'and his father allowed Orlando Bosch a safe conduct 652 01:05:11,520 --> 01:05:14,592 'so that he could remain in Miami.' 653 01:05:14,720 --> 01:05:17,679 If anybody harbours a terrorist, they're a terrorist. 654 01:05:17,800 --> 01:05:20,031 If they fund a terrorist, they're a terrorist. 655 01:05:20,160 --> 01:05:22,152 If they house terrorists, they're terrorists. 656 01:05:22,280 --> 01:05:24,920 I can't make it any more clearly to other nations. 657 01:05:25,040 --> 01:05:26,838 And that's what they are. 658 01:05:26,960 --> 01:05:31,000 Orlando Bosch and Luis Posada Carriles are... terrorists. 659 01:05:31,120 --> 01:05:34,113 I mean, no other definition fits. 660 01:05:35,720 --> 01:05:37,951 All this might not matter too much 661 01:05:38,080 --> 01:05:40,914 if all Miami's assorted terrorists and assassins 662 01:05:41,040 --> 01:05:43,714 were in retirement, but they aren't. 663 01:05:43,840 --> 01:05:45,672 We went to see a man who got arrested 664 01:05:45,800 --> 01:05:50,033 for possessing a Stinger missile he wanted to use to kill Fidel Castro. 665 01:05:51,400 --> 01:05:56,156 Step forward our final suspect - Rodolfo Frometa, 666 01:05:56,280 --> 01:05:58,033 electrician and guerrilla. 667 01:07:09,920 --> 01:07:12,355 Frometa and his men live out their dream 668 01:07:12,480 --> 01:07:14,551 most weekends in the Everglades. 669 01:07:16,920 --> 01:07:21,392 They still believe they can get Castro. 670 01:08:06,680 --> 01:08:08,672 Hola. 671 01:08:08,800 --> 01:08:16,674 The plan for Cuba's transition from Stalinist rule to a free and open society. 672 01:08:16,800 --> 01:08:21,750 To identify ways to hasten the arrival of that day. 673 01:08:24,360 --> 01:08:27,876 No matter what the dictator intends or plans... 674 01:08:42,440 --> 01:08:45,080 Thank you all. 675 01:08:47,120 --> 01:08:50,557 'Cuba seems to have the same effect on American administrations' 676 01:08:50,680 --> 01:08:53,070 that the full moon once had on werewolves. 677 01:08:53,200 --> 01:08:57,160 You know, we may not sprout hair and howl 678 01:08:57,280 --> 01:09:01,069 but we behave in, in the same way, just irrationally. 679 01:09:10,200 --> 01:09:13,671 Whatever became of Luis Posada Carriles? 680 01:09:13,800 --> 01:09:16,156 The United States could have sent him to join 681 01:09:16,280 --> 01:09:21,275 other suspected terrorists in Guantanamo Bay, but they didn't. 682 01:09:21,400 --> 01:09:27,317 Posada was very publicly arrested and escorted under armed guard. 683 01:09:27,440 --> 01:09:32,879 But he wasn't charged with blowing up planes or trying to murder Fidel Castro. 684 01:09:33,000 --> 01:09:36,914 He was simply detained for visa irregularities. 685 01:10:03,840 --> 01:10:08,198 The American authorities wouldn't let us visit Posada in jail 686 01:10:08,320 --> 01:10:11,870 but his friends chat to him almost daily. 687 01:10:12,000 --> 01:10:14,310 - Hey, there. Hi, Enrique. - Hey. 688 01:10:14,440 --> 01:10:16,033 - Come on in. - Thank you very much. 689 01:10:16,160 --> 01:10:18,277 - Come right in. - How are you doing? 690 01:10:18,400 --> 01:10:21,472 - Fine. - Good, good. Make yourselves at home. 691 01:10:21,600 --> 01:10:26,994 - And how's Luis? - Luis is fine, expecting your call. 692 01:10:27,120 --> 01:10:29,999 OK. Where have all his paintings gone? 693 01:10:30,120 --> 01:10:36,720 We had a painting exhibition and we sold 121 paintings. 694 01:10:36,840 --> 01:10:39,560 It was very, very successful. 695 01:10:39,680 --> 01:10:45,551 Almost like over $30,000 in paintings sold in... over the weekend. 696 01:10:49,320 --> 01:10:51,118 Posada was on good form 697 01:10:51,240 --> 01:10:53,277 but he was perplexed that the American government, 698 01:10:53,400 --> 01:10:58,600 which he'd served so long had, if only for a little while, put him behind bars. 699 01:11:56,640 --> 01:12:00,839 I was very happy to hear him. Yeah, he's kind of grown on us. 700 01:12:00,960 --> 01:12:03,714 Yeah, he's quite a character. 701 01:12:03,840 --> 01:12:07,072 We're looking forward to having him back, hopefully soon. 702 01:12:08,040 --> 01:12:11,590 Hopefully soon. It would be a shame if he dies in jail. 703 01:12:13,120 --> 01:12:15,680 But like he tried to say, I mean the struggle 704 01:12:15,800 --> 01:12:18,360 is going to continue with him or without him. 705 01:12:18,480 --> 01:12:21,393 So, because it's a just struggle 706 01:12:21,520 --> 01:12:24,433 we're looking to do something that is important 707 01:12:24,560 --> 01:12:27,917 to what, 12 million people, now? So... 708 01:12:39,400 --> 01:12:44,429 638 plots to kill Castro, and a few close shaves. 709 01:12:44,560 --> 01:12:48,349 Now it looks like "The Beard" can die a natural death. 710 01:12:50,320 --> 01:12:54,109 'Castro is probably, of all the heads of government, 711 01:12:54,240 --> 01:12:55,993 'the one with the tightest security.' 712 01:12:56,240 --> 01:12:59,438 When he flies, he uses three airplanes 713 01:12:59,560 --> 01:13:02,075 and you don't know which one he's riding in. 714 01:13:02,200 --> 01:13:04,476 'When he goes to a foreign country to visit, 715 01:13:04,600 --> 01:13:08,480 'he carries everything, so nobody will try to poison his drinks. 716 01:13:08,600 --> 01:13:11,320 'He takes his own food, his own water, his own ice.' 717 01:13:11,440 --> 01:13:13,352 He has a number of doubles, 718 01:13:13,480 --> 01:13:18,111 one of which is his older brother, Ramon, who looks very much like him, 719 01:13:18,240 --> 01:13:20,835 'and they even have a wax dummy. 720 01:13:20,960 --> 01:13:24,237 'In Cuba they sit in a car and drive around town.' 721 01:13:24,360 --> 01:13:26,795 He has at least 50 or 60 houses 722 01:13:26,920 --> 01:13:30,152 that he resides in and changes them constantly, 723 01:13:30,280 --> 01:13:32,715 you know, and a Praetorian guard of several hundred. 724 01:13:32,840 --> 01:13:36,595 'With such tight security it's very, very difficult 725 01:13:36,720 --> 01:13:40,396 'to carry out a successful operation against him.' 726 01:13:40,520 --> 01:13:43,797 But, again, we only have to be successful once. 727 01:13:45,680 --> 01:13:47,478 But you haven't been. 728 01:13:47,600 --> 01:13:51,753 It's all right, you know, we only have to be successful once.