Vendetta!

William B. Breuer

Description

1960. As the Cold War reaches its height, so does postwar prosperity, and the American people celebrate their optimism by electing as president the young, charismatic John F. Kennedy. Just 90 miles from the United States, the Cuban people are celebrating the rise of Fidel Castro, their own young and charismatic populist leader who overthrew Batista's oppressive regime. Around the world, a rising tide of Communism is absorbing one country after another. President Kennedy, vowing to keep Communism out of the Western Hemisphere, knows he must confront Castro. It will mean not only testing his own resolve, but maintaining a precarious balancing act. Kennedy cannot allow the United States to be seen as weak, yet he cannot be too aggressive and risk nuclear annihilation. How then to weaken Castro's grip on Cuba--without forcing a showdown between the United States and the Soviet Union?

With the aid of his attorney general, his younger brother Robert, the new president, in effect, declares a secret war against Fidel Castro, enlisting the CIA and Cuban refugees. During the next few years, the Kennedys and Castro engage in the most dangerous and covert duel of the Cold War, a fierce vendetta that will take the world to the brink of nuclear confrontation.

Now, in this powerful, eye-opening new book, William B. Breuer reveals the startling truth behind the Cuban crisis of the early 1960s. From the Bay of Pigs to Guantanamo Bay and the October '62 missile crisis, Breuer exposes how John and Robert Kennedy worked together to expand the clandestine, sometimes illegal activities to eliminate Castro. Vendetta! is a riveting account of recent history, complete with spies, saboteurs, guerrillas, murder plots, and kidnappings, told in the hard-hitting, dramatic style that has won the author critical acclaim as a chronicler of military intrigue.

Based on new firsthand interviews with many of the people who directed and participated in the Kennedys' secret war, Vendetta! includes candid recollections from a host of government officials who are talking about these events for the first time, among them, W. Raymond Wannall, former assistant director of the FBI, and Theodore Shackley, the CIA official who directed the covert actions from Miami. As this fascinating chapter of modern day intrigue unfolds, we are swept into the middle of the action, from tense conferences in the Oval Office to terrifying encounters at Guantanamo Bay, where American-backed forces stood outnumbered and surrounded by Cuban troops. Vendetta! is William B. Breuer at his very best--real-life espionage, political fact and folly, thrilling adventure, and intrigue.

Critical Acclaim for William B. Breuer

SHADOW WARRIORS

"Absorbing . . . with colorful yarns . . . as suitable for serious students of history as for fans of cloak-and-dagger mayhem, military style." --Publishers Weekly

"An engrossing tale of unsung heroes and high-risk missions . . . penetrates the little-known espionage, propaganda, and guerrilla operations of the Korean War." --Kirkus Reviews

FEUDING ALLIES

"A valuable resource . . . highly recommended." --Booklist
Terrorist Plot: Blow Up New York.

Machinations in Mexico.

A Blueprint for Gaining the White House.

A Hoax in the Mountains.

Pulling Uncle Sam's Whiskers.

"One Bad Apple for Another." "Two Hundred Thousand Yankee Gringos Will Die!" The U.S.

Power Barons Disagree.

A Safari to the United States.

"The United States Should Go It Alone!" "Bobby's As Hard As Nails!" A Secret Scheme Is Born.

Intrigue and Covert Actions.

Exercises in "Health Alterations." Spooks and a "Tweeping" Plot.

"Beardless, Ignorant Kids." An "Evil Nest of Yankee Spies." Showdown on Guantanamo Bay.

"The President Said 'No Deal'" "A Catastrophe Is at Hand." The Search for a Scapegoat.

An "Assistant President" Emerges.

Eleanor Roosevelt: "A Silly Old Lady." Top Secret: Agents CG-5824S and NY-694S.

The Dominican Republic Connection.

A Green Light for Operation Mongoose.

Tension Grips Washington.

"Our Blood Ran Cold." "If We Want to Meet in Hell." Shake-up in the Secret War High Command.

Shooting Up a Soviet Ship.

"We Must Do Something About Castro." "The President's Been Shot!" A Naval Base Under Siege.

"We Won't Git!" Recruits for the Guerrilla International.

A Tragedy in Los Angeles.

Epilogue.

Notes and Sources.

Index.

Sujets

• West Indies
• Histoire
• FBI
• Agencia Central de Inteligencia
• William Breuer
• Robert F. Kennedy
• Communism
• John F. Kennedy
• Theodore Shackley
• Cold War
• History of the United States
• Korean War
• Cuba
• Caribbean
• History
• John Fitzgerald Kennedy
• Guerre froide
• Communisme
• Fidel Castro
• Robert Francis Kennedy
• Federal Bureau of Investigation
• Central Intelligence Agency

Informations

• Publié par: Turner Publishing Company
• Date de parution: 21 avril 2008
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780470305294
• Langue: English

Extrait

Vendetta!
Also by William B. Breuer:
An American Saga
Bloody Clash at Sadzot
Captain Cool
They Jumped at Midnight
Drop Zone Sicily
Agony at Anzio
Hitler s Fortress Cherbourg
Death of a Nazi Army
Operation Torch
Storming Hitler s Rhine
Retaking the Philippines
Nazi Spies in America
Devil Boats
Operation Dragoon
The Secret War with Germany
Hitler s Undercover War
Sea Wolf
Geronimo!
Hoodwinking Hitler
Guantanamo
Race to the Moon
J. Edgar Hoover and His G-Men
The Great Raid on Cabanatuan
MacArthur s Undercover War
Feuding Allies
Shadow Warriors
War and American Women
Unexplained Mysteries of World War II
Vendetta!
Fidel Castro and the Kennedy Brothers
William B. Breuer

John Wiley Sons, Inc.
New York Chichester Weinheim Brisbane Singapore Toronto
This text is printed on acid-free paper.
Copyright 1997 by William B. Breuer
Published by John Wiley Sons, Inc.
All rights reserved. Published simultaneously in Canada.
Reproduction or translation of any part of this work beyond that permitted by Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act without the permission of the copyright owner is unlawful. Requests for permission or further information should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley Sons, Inc.
This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information in regard to the subject matter covered. It is sold with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering legal, accounting, or other professional services. If legal advice or other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent professional person should be sought.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Breuer, William B.
Vendetta! : Fidel Castro and the Kennedy brothers / William B. Breuer.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-471-18456-X (acid-free paper)
1. United States-Foreign relations-Cuba. 2. Cuba-Foreign relations-United States. 3. United States-Foreign relations-1961-1963. 4. Subversive activities-Cuba-History-20th century. 5. Castro, Fidel, 1927- . 6. Kennedy, John F. (John Fitzgerald), 1917-1963. 7. Kennedy, Robert F., 1925-1968.
I. Title.
E183.8.C9B76 1997
327.7307291-dc21
97-5029

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Dedicated to
T HEODORE S HACKLEY ,
who served the United States
with great honor and distinction
as an Army officer and as a
high-ranking CIA official
in times of enormous
world tension
Cuba and its provinces.

Fidel s feelings of hatred for [the United States] cannot even be imagined by Americans. His intention, his obsession, to destroy the [U.S.] is one of his main interests and objectives.
Juanita Castro
(sister of Fidel)
June 11, 1965
Contents
1 Terrorist Plot: Blow Up New York
2 Machinations in Mexico
3 A Blueprint for Gaining the White House
4 A Hoax in the Mountains
5 Pulling Uncle Sam s Whiskers
6 One Bad Apple for Another
7 Two Hundred Thousand Yankee Gringos Will Die!
8 The U.S. Power Barons Disagree
9 A Safari to the United States
10 The United States Should Go It Alone!
11 Bobby s As Hard As Nails!
12 A Secret Scheme Is Born
13 Intrigue and Covert Actions
14 Exercises in Health Alterations
15 Spooks and a Tweeping Plot
16 Beardless, Ignorant Kids
17 An Evil Nest of Yankee Spies
18 Showdown on Guantanamo Bay
19 The President Said No Deal
20 A Catastrophe Is at Hand
21 The Search for a Scapegoat
22 An Assistant President Emerges
23 Eleanor Roosevelt: A Silly Old Lady
24 Top Secret: Agents CG-5824S and NY-694S
25 The Dominican Republic Connection
26 A Green Light for Operation Mongoose
27 Tension Grips Washington
28 Our Blood Ran Cold
29 If We Want to Meet in Hell
30 Shake-up in the Secret War High Command
31 Shooting Up a Soviet Ship
32 We Must Do Something about Castro
33 The President s Been Shot!
34 A Naval Base under Siege
35 We Won t Git!
36 Recruits for the Guerrilla International
37 A Tragedy in Los Angeles

Epilogue
Notes and Sources
Index
1
Terrorist Plot: Blow Up New York
Arosy Winter Sun was peeking over the Washington Monument and starting its ascent into a clear blue sky on the crisp Saturday morning of November 17, 1962. Lights had been burning all night in the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) headquarters where Alan H. Belmont, assistant to Director J. Edgar Hoover, had been orchestrating a manhunt in New York City to track down a ring of pro-Fidel Castro terrorists before they could blow up or torch several major targets.
Through one or more moles, the FBI had learned that the Cuban group was plotting to explode bombs with timing devices in Macy s, Gimbel s, and Bloomingdale s when these huge department stores were packed with shoppers during the Christmas season. Also on the sabotage target list were several U.S. military installations in the region and oil refineries across the Hudson River in New Jersey.
Since early Friday morning and all through the night, Al Belmont s office had taken on the trappings of a military command post. Using a battery of telephones, he was in contact with the FBI field office in New York and also with the automobiles of special agents who were charging around the city in search of the wanted Cubans.
As is the case in most manhunts, operations were tricky and had to be delicately timed. Belmont s plan was to make the arrests of the three ringleaders simultaneously. Two of them had been located during the night, but Belmont instructed the FBI agents not to pick them up for fear that the third one would learn of his cronies arrests and go deep undercover or even flee to Cuba.
Keeping the two Cuban subjects under physical surveillance all night without their knowing they were being watched put an enormous burden on the New York field agents, W. Raymond Wannall, then chief of a section in the Intelligence Division in Washington, would later recall. They managed to do this with great skill, however. 1
Wannall had been in Belmont s office during most of the thirty-six hours of the manhunt, providing intelligence information to help locate the terrorist ringleaders. By dawn, both men were haggard and weary. The FBI agents scouring New York were nearly exhausted after twenty-four hours. Mr. Three was still at large.
At 9:00 A.M ., John F. Malone, SAC (special agent in charge) of the New York office, telephoned and asked Belmont for a reconsideration of his decision. Mr. Three could not be located, so why not apprehend the two Cuban subjects still under surveillance? Belmont, feeling unspoken pressure from director Hoover, whom he had briefed periodically during the night, stuck to his guns, realizing that if Mr. Three was not found soon, the arrest of the other two subjects might be aborted.
Those of us in Al s office discussing each problem as it came up supported him completely, Ray Wannall remembered. But we were happy that we were not the ones making this tough call. If things didn t turn out right, Mr. Hoover would not have been too happy. 2
An hour later, Belmont received another telephone call from John Malone in New York: Mr. Three had been spotted. Belmont gave the order to arrest all of the ringleaders.
Taken into custody first were the two Cubans the FBI agents had been surveilling all night. They were Jos Garcia Orelanno, who operated a costume jewelry store, and an employee at his firm, twenty-two-year-old Marino Antonio Esteb n Del Carmen Sueiro y Cabrera.
When cornered, Mr. Three, twenty-seven-year-old Roberto Santiesteb n Casanova, was belligerent, resisted arrest, and had to be physically subdued by FBI agents. He was carrying a fully loaded Mauser semiautomatic pistol. While being handcuffed, he loudly cursed the FBI men and tried to swallow a piece of paper on which were written notations of formulas for explosives. After arriving at FBI headquarters on Foley Square, Santiesteb n kicked a newspaper photographer. * While being questioned by Malone and other FBI men, Santiesteb n ranted that he was being illegally detained, claiming that he was an aide to Carlos Lechuga, Fidel Castro s ambassador to the United Nations, and therefore had diplomatic immunity.
Santiesteb n had arrived in New York from Havana only six weeks earlier on the same plane with Osvaldo Dortic s Torrado, an attorney from a wealthy family whom Castro had appointed as a figurehead president of Cuba. Dortic s ostensibly had come to address the United Nations General Assembly. Although the Cuban government had requested diplomatic status for Santiesteb n after his arrival, the U.S. Justice Department held that his papers were being processed, and therefore his safeguard from arrest was not yet effective.
* Latins list their father s name (Santiesteb n) before their mother s name (Casanova). Hence, Roberto Santiesteb n Casanova s last name was Santiesteb n.
As soon as the three Cubans had been collared, FBI agents swooped down on Jos Garcia s costume jewelry firm, Model-Craft, at 242 West 27th Street, and discovered a large cache of explosives, detonators, grenades, and incendiary devices. Also found were papers explaining how a detonator affixed to an incendiary device and a pushed button would cause an intense flame to erupt in sixty to seventy-five minutes. In a steel safe there were diagrams of areas of ships and railroad freight cars that would be most vulnerable to explosives and incendiary devices.
Hidden in the jewelry store were documents belonging to Santiesteb n, who Vincent L. Broderick, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, declared was right at the heart of the sabotage conspiracy. 3
Broderick added, We are dealing with a man who is a violent revolutionary, charged with exercising aggressive acts. 4
Jos Garcia and Marino Sueiro, the other suspected ringleaders, had extensive backgrounds in pro-Castro organizational life in New York City. They both frequented the Casa Cuba