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Che: Parts 1 and 2 - Assassination attempts feature

Che Part One

Feature by Jack Foley

Che: Part One & Part Two, Steven Soderbergh’s critically-acclaimed epic featuring a standout performance from Benicio Del Toro, is out to own as a box-set and individually on DVD and Blu-Ray June 29, 2009.

Che was, of course, instrumental in the rise to power in Cuba of Fidel Castro, a figure that for half a century, the CIA has been attempting to assassinate.

Former chief of the Cuban secret service, Fabian Escalante, estimated the number of assassination attempts by the CIA to be 638.

Here are some of our favourites:

The Exploding Cigar – This is probably the most well known assassination attempt on Fidel Castro. In the early 60’s The CIA designed a cigar which would explode the moment Castro began to smoke it. They never got to him and Castro gave up smoking in 1985.

The Chemical Cigar – Another scheme was to give him a chemically-treated cigar shortly before a major speech, prompting him to “make a public spectacle of himself”.

The Exploding Coral – Castro used to scuba dive off the coast of Cuba, the CIA devised an underwater bomb which would explode on impact. The CIA collected a number of shells and molluscs, painted them in a bright and attractive colour and packed them with a lethal amount of explosives in the hope that Castro would see the brightly colored shells and swim down to collect them. The idea never made it off the drawing board.

The Fungus Filled Scuba Suit – Another scuba related assassination attempt was to give Castro a toxic fungus affected scuba diving suit filled.

Beard Removal Powder – Another scheme which now sounds more like a scene from Police Academy, was to fill his shoes with hair removal powder which would make his famous beard fall out, causing him to be ridiculed.

The Former Lover – On one occasion, a former lover was recruited to kill Castro. CIA gave the woman poison pills which she hid in a jar of cream, however the pills melted and after consideration she decided that, putting cream in Castro’s mouth while he slept was a bad idea. According to the former lover, Castro had already guessed that she was aiming to kill him and had even offered her his own pistol.

The Poisoned Pen – The CIA even came up with plans for a Bong style ball-point pen containing a hidden poison-packed hypodermic syringe.

The Mafia – The CIA even considered hiring the Mafia to do a mob style street shooting and there have been at least two attempts to supply toxic pills which the mafia believed they could slip into the Cuban leader’s food and drink.

Che Part One & Part Two is out to own as a box-set and individually on DVD and Blu-Ray 29th June 2009.