The Cover-Up: How Was Movement from Phase I to Phase II Justified?

[Magda Hassan]

How do you explain Castro's longevity?

1. Kennedy won the 1960 election.

2. Kennedy refused to send in the navy at Bay of Pigs.

3. Kennedy refused to sanction the bombing of Cuba during the Missile Crisis.

4. Kennedy dismantled Mongoose after that.

5. Johnson was much more interested in Southeast Asia, since he disagreed with Kennedy's withdrawal plan.

Once Mongoose was dismantled, even the CIA was sick of the boom and bang stuff over Cuba. They wanted an invasion. When LBJ and Hoover put the brakes on that, it was three strikes and your out. How many times you going to go to the trough and not drink? LBJ now decided to shift the focus to Vietnam.

And it was that disaster which really allowed Castro to entrench himself and probably saved Nicaragua also.

ANd, by the way, Ruth Paine was in the middle of Nicaragua also. What a coincidence eh?

Also Castro actually had the support of the vast majority of the Cuban people whose lives had materially changed for the better with the new policies. Sure, a few pissed off casino bosses and factory owners and their acolytes who had their scams blown out of the water but for the other 90% they had no intention or desire of returning to the bad old days. And they take very good care of Fidel.