I was watching a program on the History Channel this afternoon about Meyer Lansky and the mob in 50s Cuba. The first time I saw GFII, I never knew the Cuba storyline was based, in part anyways, on real life events. After watching the program I wondered if the Lansky, Batista, or anyone else associated with the Mafia ever attempted to assassinate Castro? Gangsters were willing to kill each other as long as it was profitable, yet it seems like everyone sat idly while Castro built support for his takeover. The program portrayed Batista particularly as being almost laid back about the discontent in his country, like he was too concerned with money to even attempt to mount a defense against the rebels. I'm just curious as to how the Mafia, such a powerful organization, could seemingly allow Castro to come in and destroy all their dealings in Cuba without much resistance. Perhaps someone with more knowledge than I would like to elaborate on this situation for me.

Jimmy, the CIA mounted an operation, called "Mongoose," whose goal was the assassination of Castro. "Mongoose," directed by Bobby Kennedy, used Mafia contacts to smuggle into Cuba the "weapons" of assassination. These included poison for Castro's milkshakes, explosives to put in his cigars, even depilitory powder to dust on his shoes so that his beard would fall out, causing him to lose face (no pun intended). The Mafia was to bring them to Cuba, but Cubans were supposed to put them in place. Johnny Roselli was the mob guy most often associated with these ridiculous plots. None of them ever came close to succeeding.
A relatively recent book, "Ultimate Sacrifice," claims the Mafia was responsible for the JFK assassination, and asserts that the mob had even more involvement with anti-Castro plots. But again, none of these plots actually called for a Mafia guy to whack Castro.
Lansky was very close to Batista when he first ruled Cuba in the Thirties. Batista went into voluntary exile in Daytona Beach, FL, in the Forties, then returned in a coup in 1952. He found Cuba's tourist business in shambles because crooked gambling kept tourists away. He called on his old pal Lansky to run gambling in Cuba because Lansky had a reputation for giving the suckers a fair game. Lansky also parceled out pieces of Cuban gambling to his Mafia pals, especially Santos Trafficante.
Now, here are two fun-filled factoids:
First: Castro married Mirta Diaz-Balart in 1948. She was the daughter of Rafael Diaz-Balart, one of Cuba's wealthiest and most influential lawyers, who was also the mayor of Banes, the Cuban HQ town of the United Fruit Company. One of Rafael's top clients was Batista, who sent Fidel and Mirta a $1,000 gift for their wedding! Fidel used Batista's grand, along with the 10 grand that his new father in law gave him, for a lavish, months-long honeymoon in Miami and New York. He bought a brand new Lincoln Continental to take him and his bride around in style in America during his honeymoon. Rafael saved Fidel and his brother from torture and execution after the failed attack on the Moncada Army Barracks in July 1953. Batista released Fidel and Raul from prison in a general amnesty in '55.
Second: Lincoln Diaz-Balart, one of Miami's two US Congressmen, is Fidel's nephew. Lincoln led the fight to keep Elian Gonzales in America. The irony is that, after he got out of prison in Cuba in '55, Fidel relocated to Mexico City. Mirta divorced him. Fidel lobbied Mirta ceaselessly to let their son, Fidelito, visit him for a couple of weeks in Mexico City. She sent Fidelito. Fidel refused to return him to his mother. So Mirta's father Rafael, who was high in Batista's administration, used his clout to have the Mexican police snatch Fidelito from Fidel and return him to Cuba. Shades of Elian...

Awesome as always. Thanks TB.

One of the many books I've been trying to read simultaneously. The "plan C" idea is interesting (especially with the acknowledgement of Harry Ruiz Williams).

Not to hijack this thread, but...
I gave up on "Ultimate Sacrifice" about a third of the way through. I couldn't overcome the sheer tedium and boredom of the authors' breathless "discoveries"(!!) that--good heavens!--the Mafia was involved in plots to kill Castro, and that the US government had plans to foment a Cuban revolution.
They remind me of Hugh Hefner discovering the breast. Every third-grade kid knows by now that the CIA's Operation Mongoose used Mob guys to bring potential assassination materials in to Cuba. And, of course the US had contingency plans to invade Cuba or foment an anti-Castro counter-revolution. One of the conditions of JFK's no-invasion pledge was that Castro allow UN inspectors on the island to verify that all offensive weapons were removed. He refused. JFK was reasonably sure that the Soviets had removed them (US planes overflew Soviet ships leaving the island, and the captains unfurled tarps to show the missiles that were removed). But he couldn't be 100 percent sure. And the Soviets lied through their teeth about not having put offensive weapons in Cuba before our U2 planes spotted them. So, JFK had every reason to plan for a contingency. Having a contingency plan is not the same as putting it into action. And it's a good thing that neither he or his successors did--because "C-Day" would have failed just as badly as did the Bay of Pigs invasion.

Fidel Castro is comming today to Argentina...

I don`t think someone is trying to kill him today...

Shame, really...

yea hyman roth and meyer lansky r parralels.