Originally posted by Turnbull:
Michael's policy was that no traitor or enemy got a pass--ever. Fredo was an eventual dead man from the moment at the Superman show when Michael realized that Fredo betrayed him to Roth. The bit in the car in Havana ("You're still my brother, Fredo!") and his instruction to Tom when he got back to Nevada ("Tell him I understand that Roth misled him...") were both designed to lure Fredo back and keep Fredo alive until he could pump Fredo for more info--and to await Mama's passing so he could finally whack Fredo.
In sum: Michael didn't change his mind about Fredo--he was waiting for the opportune time to kill him.
I don't quite agree with you here. If he had that kind of plans in havana party, he wouldn't have disclosed his knowledge of Fredo's betrayal(The kissing scene). At that time, he was genuinely shocked that his brother had betrayed. He was not calm and composed enough to make plans at that time, like he later did with Roth (keeping enemies closer..). I think that during the car scene, michael did not know (or realize) to what extent Fredo was involved. And here is another subtle point of difference - I think that he did not know enough to get angry enough to plan Fredo's murder, whereas you say that since michael did not know enough, he wanted to keep him alive to get more info.
