Fidel

[Gerry Down]

I don't think that in a year that Castro's hatred towards the "imperialists" completely changed to the point that he was depressed over JFK's death.

Prob scared he'd get the same fate as Hitler and Mussolini if he was blamed for JFKs death.

[Charles Collins]

Prob scared he'd get the same fate as Hitler and Mussolini if he was blamed for JFKs death.

Castro was not a coward by any stretch of the imagination. Here is what Carlos Franqui says happened on 10/27/62 when the American U-2, piloted by Major Rudolph Anderson was shot down over Cuba:

From “Guerrilla Prince by Georgie Anne Geyer:

“Indeed, on that Saturday, Franqui insists to this day that "Castro drove his jeep to Pinar del Río, and went to one of the Russian rocket bases, where the Soviet generals took him on a tour of their installation. Just at that moment, an American U-2 appeared on a radar screen. Fidel asked how the Soviets would protect themselves in war if that had been an attack plane instead of a reconnaissance plane. The Russians showed him the ground-to-air missiles and said that all they would have to do would be to push a button and the plane would be blown out of the sky. " 'Which button?' Fidel asked. " 'This one,' one of the Russians indicated. "Fidel pushed it and the rocket brought down the U-2. . . . The Russians were flabbergasted, but Fidel simply said, 'Well, now we'll see if there's a war or not.' "

[Walt Cakebread]

Castro was not a coward by any stretch of the imagination. Here is what Carlos Franqui says happened on 10/27/62 when the American U-2, piloted by Major Rudolph Anderson was shot down over Cuba:

From “Guerrilla Prince by Georgie Anne Geyer:

“Indeed, on that Saturday, Franqui insists to this day that "Castro drove his jeep to Pinar del Río, and went to one of the Russian rocket bases, where the Soviet generals took him on a tour of their installation. Just at that moment, an American U-2 appeared on a radar screen. Fidel asked how the Soviets would protect themselves in war if that had been an attack plane instead of a reconnaissance plane. The Russians showed him the ground-to-air missiles and said that all they would have to do would be to push a button and the plane would be blown out of the sky. " 'Which button?' Fidel asked. " 'This one,' one of the Russians indicated. "Fidel pushed it and the rocket brought down the U-2. . . . The Russians were flabbergasted, but Fidel simply said, 'Well, now we'll see if there's a war or not.' "

An interesting tale.....  Who can confirm that it happened?  Can Castro's whereabouts be verified for that day?

[Charles Collins]

An interesting tale.....  Who can confirm that it happened?  Can Castro's whereabouts be verified for that day?

The book is mostly anecdotal. Here is what follows:

Despite Franqui's colorful statements, the most credible theory of what actually happened on October 27 is that a Russian commander of one of the missile batteries, most probably without orders from Khrushchev, nervously or by accident shot down the U-2. This was the conclusion of both the Kennedy administration and of the Russians. The Soviets' longtime ambassador to Cuba, Alexander Alexeev, wrote later in TASS, "In reality, as we now know, the plane was hit by the order of a group ... of Soviet troops in Cuba. It was hit by the commander of the group." The Harvard report backs this up; in the confusion of those days — a confusion that included the question of orders, standing or otherwise, from Moscow — the Harvard group concluded that the "local commander who actually gave the order to fire was apparently General Georgy A. Voronkov, now retired and living in Odessa."

I suspect that the Castro pushed the button account is fictitious. But I wouldn’t be surprised if he actually did order the button to be pushed...

[Walt Cakebread]

The book is mostly anecdotal. Here is what follows:

Despite Franqui's colorful statements, the most credible theory of what actually happened on October 27 is that a Russian commander of one of the missile batteries, most probably without orders from Khrushchev, nervously or by accident shot down the U-2. This was the conclusion of both the Kennedy administration and of the Russians. The Soviets' longtime ambassador to Cuba, Alexander Alexeev, wrote later in TASS, "In reality, as we now know, the plane was hit by the order of a group ... of Soviet troops in Cuba. It was hit by the commander of the group." The Harvard report backs this up; in the confusion of those days — a confusion that included the question of orders, standing or otherwise, from Moscow — the Harvard group concluded that the "local commander who actually gave the order to fire was apparently General Georgy A. Voronkov, now retired and living in Odessa."

I suspect that the Castro pushed the button account is fictitious. But I wouldn’t be surprised if he actually did order the button to be pushed...

I suspect that the Castro pushed the button account is fictitious.

Yes, I agree....a tale of fiction....   So why did you post this......"Castro was not a coward by any stretch of the imagination."

[Charles Collins]

I suspect that the Castro pushed the button account is fictitious.

Yes, I agree....a tale of fiction....   So why did you post this......"Castro was not a coward by any stretch of the imagination."

Just because I suspect that it is stretching the truth a little, doesn’t mean that it didn’t happen that way. And if he ordered the button pushed, as I suspect, it took courage to do that.

[Walt Cakebread]

Just because I suspect that it is stretching the truth a little, doesn’t mean that it didn’t happen that way. And if he ordered the button pushed, as I suspect, it took courage to do that.

OK Charlie..... It's fun to believe fairy tales.   But Castro did NOT control the Russian troops, or the missiles.