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Did the Cubans assassinate Kennedy?
The Telegraph (UK) ^ | 1/4/06 | Kate Connolly

Posted on 01/03/2006 6:06:27 PM PST by saquin

The Cuban secret service was behind the assassination of President John F Kennedy, according to evidence presented in a new television documentary.

Rendezvous with Death, to be shown on German television on Friday, offers the most convincing evidence that Fidel Castro's regime was behind the most talked-about murder of the 20th century.

A former agent of the Cuban secret service G2 talks for the first time about how Lee Harvey Oswald, the assassin, was, he claims, pointed out to the Cubans by the KGB.

Oscar Marino, who fell out with the Castro regime, said the Cubans were desperate to eliminate Kennedy, an opponent of the revolution who wanted to kill Castro.

"You ask why we took Oswald?" he said to the German film maker Wilfried Huismann. "Oswald was a dissident: he hated his country. He possessed certain characteristics.

"There wasn't anyone else. You take what you can get. . . Oswald volunteered to kill Kennedy."

Oswald was a Communist who spent three years in the Soviet Union and shot Kennedy in Dallas. He was killed by Jack Ruby after his arrest, leaving his motives shrouded in mystery.

Huismann spent three years persuading people to break their silence about Oswald's alleged Cuba connections. His film is based on testimony by former US, Cuban and Russian agents, KGB files and Mexican archives.

One of the main witnesses is a retired FBI agent, Lawrence Keenan, now in his eighties. Keenan was sent after the assassination to trace Oswald's footsteps in Mexico.

The evidence he found - linking the Cubans with the murder - prompted the FBI head, J Edgar Hoover, on the orders of President Lyndon Johnson, to withdraw Keenan after three days.

"This was perhaps the worst investigation the FBI was ever involved in," said Keenan.

"I realised that I was used. I felt ashamed. We missed a moment in history."

Mexico City was considered a "Pandora's Box" by the Johnson administration, which feared a war with Cuba were the truth to be revealed to the American people.

"They were afraid of what will happen. They didn't want to. . . know the truth for fear it would mean we go to war. Johnson sincerely feared for his own life." It was convenient therefore for the administration to paint Oswald as a loner.

Alexander Haig, a military adviser to Kennedy and Johnson who became secretary of state in 1981, said in the film that Johnson was terrified his people would learn the truth.

"He [Johnson] said 'we simply must not allow the American people to believe that Fidel Castro could have killed our president'.

"And the reason was that there would be a Right-wing uprising in America, which would keep the Democratic party out of power for two generations."

Mr Haig added: "He [Johnson] was convinced Castro killed Kennedy, and he took it to his grave."

Huismann's interviews and documents he found show the extent of the secret war, involving murder and sabotage plots, between Castro and the Kennedy brothers.

Without the knowledge of Congress or the American public, John and Robert Kennedy allegedly planned eight assassination attempts on Castro, all of which failed.

Huismann's explanation for the failures is a Cuban who fought alongside Castro but who later fell out with him.

The film-maker claims that this man was "contracted" by Robert Kennedy to murder the "Maximo Lider", and was provided by the CIA with pistols disguised as fountain pens and powerful poison to carry out the task.

But Castro always found out about the plots in advance, leading to suspicions of a double agent.

The film claims that in November 1963 the Cuban took his last order from Robert Kennedy to murder Castro. The act, involving poison and the fountain pen, was to be carried out on Nov 22, the very day Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas.

"Unfortunately, Castro was better than us," said a CIA agent in the film who is not identified.

Marino said Oswald was recruited to the secret service organisation by the same agent who had been recruited to kill Castro, a year before the Kennedy assassination.

"In other words the very man Robert Kennedy recruited to kill Fidel Castro hired his brother's murderer," Huismann said.

KGB files released in Moscow document a meeting between Oswald and the Cuban, who is now a retired surgeon living in Madrid.

Interviewed for the film, however, he denied any connection to Oswald, calling it an "outrageous lie".

Marino did not want to answer the question as to whether Castro had direct knowledge of the Oswald assassination plan.

Huismann wrote his film with Gus Russo, author of the 1998 book on the Castro-JFK rivalry, Live by the Sword.


TOPICS: Cuba; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: castro; cuba; jfk; jfkassassination; kennedy
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To: saquin

I think it was the mob.


41 posted on 01/03/2006 6:57:47 PM PST by A CA Guy (God Bless America, God bless and keep safe our fighting men and women.)
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To: saquin
I've always thought that the KGB did it and did it not in revenge for some trifles such as an attempt on Castro but for a pattern of behaviour that suggested to Moscow further trouble down the line. Ich bin ein jelly donut, anyone?

Having accepted that as a given, IU've been more interested in the smoke screen that the KGB proxies in this country, and other useful idiots created and sustained for a long time to divert attention from the obvious. I mean, why hasn't anyone ever asked how and why Oswald's Russian (Ukrainian?) wife obtained an expedited exit visa from the Worker's Paradise, when other similar couples had to wait years and years for one, often engaging help from Congressmen, Senators and even heads of state? The smoke screen KGB created has been much more interesting to this cat.

42 posted on 01/03/2006 7:06:47 PM PST by Revolting cat! ("In the end, nothing explains anything.")
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To: saquin

Lee Harvey Oswald, acting alone, killed JFK at 12:30 p.m. on the afternoon of 11/22/63. I believe that to the core of my bone marrow. And the only reason that, for the last 42 years, there have been so many freaking conspiracy theories, besides the fact that the entire Kennedy administration is overly romanticized, is that to a certain element, the scales are out of balance in this situation. This element is never going to accept the fact that a piece of human debris, a piece of flotsam and jetsam, mouthing off Marxist drivel he probably never really understood, who worked as a buck an hour stockboy and couldn't get it up for his wife, who could do only one thing in his whole miserable life reasonably well ... shoot a rifle ... could get up in a window and pick off the most powerful man in the world like somebody plinking cans off a fence. As I said, the scales are out of balance and therefore, this element will never, ever accept the simple explanation, an explanation that, to this date, remains proven by the preponderance of real evidence out there, not the Stone-, Garrison- or Lane-inspired fairy tales.


43 posted on 01/03/2006 7:09:55 PM PST by GB
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To: saquin

I didn't even know there was a controversy. Either Communist Russia or its satelite Cuba. Oswald visited Russia which was unheard of in those days. They swept it under the rug to prevent a World War, IMO.


44 posted on 01/03/2006 7:10:00 PM PST by The Westerner
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To: reagan_fanatic

I remember surfing a JFK conspiracy website a while back, and seeing a master list of all the various theories seriously put forth at one time or another.

Some of the best:

1. Nixon did it (he WAS in Dallas that day, strangely enough).
2. Connelly signaled the shooters when he waved his hat.
3. LBJ did it from the car behind!

And the all-time champ...

4. JFK committed suicide! In the Zapruder film, when he's supposedly reacting to getting shot in the neck he's actually reaching inside his jacket for his gun. Then he bends forward, loads the ammo and kills himself. Or something.


45 posted on 01/03/2006 7:10:00 PM PST by Jhensy
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To: Jhensy

Listen...everybody knows that Jackie did it...she offed him with her lady derringer and was trying to make her getaway out of the back seat on the trunk.( I think she was P.O.'d when JFK asked her if she had anything in her closet but pink dresses and pillbox hats)


46 posted on 01/03/2006 7:16:21 PM PST by Carl LaFong
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To: plain talk

And here's where the conspiracy talk falls apart, the involvement of Ruby, who was supposedly connected to the Mob, to the Cubans, etc. Jack Ruby had a documented history, predating 11/22/63 by a couple of decades, of erratic, sometimes violent behavior and mood swings and displays of emotions. He was also considered, by his family, friends, acquaintances, etc., about as Meshuggah as it is possible for a human being to be. He was certifiable. Later on, he refused to go to Washington to be interviewed by the Warren Commission, he would only talk to old Earl himself, who came to Dallas and interviewed him in the jail, and Ruby kept asking Warren to listen to the sounds of the Jewish women and children being gassed in the basement of the jail. Ruby may have mingled with mob folks, it would be hard for him not to being in the entertainment business in those days, but would be no way, NO WAY, that any self-respecting mobster or Castro agent would let that fool anywhere in the same zip code with anything as important as hitting the assassin of the president of the U.S. Again, the simple explanation: He was a cop buff, that was also well documented, which as I can't remember which one, William Manchester or Jim Bishop, wrote "allowed him to get into places in Dallas where the average citizen couldn't go," and that let him get into the basement of the police station, he saw Oswald walking by, he had a typically violent, emotional, spur of the moment outburst and blew Oswald away.


47 posted on 01/03/2006 7:17:05 PM PST by GB
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To: GB
Actually, Oswald was not a very good shot. He qualified as something lke 'sharpshooter or marksman", I forget now. I used to work with an ex Marine and he said Oswald's rating was the worst you could score and still qualify.

He said most Marines qualify "expert" and most of the rest just under.

It is possible that Oswald acted alone but he would have had to have been extremely lucky to have made the shots he made.

I was once champion of my gun club, and I think I would have had difficulty making those shots that fast on a moving target that small from that distance. Still it is within the realm of possiblility.

48 posted on 01/03/2006 7:18:01 PM PST by yarddog
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To: Perdogg
Coast-to-coast ping!

A few years too late. The recently deceased Jack Anderson was on Art Bell around 2000/2001, promoting his book on the
asassination that said Castro hired the mafia to do the hit. Since both were under attack by the Kennedys, it was easy
for Castro to dangle some incentives concerning nationalized mafia properties.

49 posted on 01/03/2006 7:19:50 PM PST by Calvin Locke
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To: COEXERJ145

It wasn't just DU that ran with the "Bush and the CIA killed Kennedy" conspiracy. I remember seeing it on book tv and lots of websites that were featuring the Alex Jones video that supposedly had proof.

The History Channel ran a segment in November of 2004 called "The Kennedy Assassination: Beyond Conspiracy" which basically concluded that Lee Harvey Oswald was the lone gunman. That debunked the theories and alleged proof that there were more gunmen involved. It was interesting how they revealed Oswald as a fan of communists and even saying he wanted to hijack a plane to go to Cuba. They also revealed that Lyndon Johnson went to his grave believing that Cuba was behind JFK's assassination and he didn't want to say that because he didn't want to confront a possible miliary action.

As far as I'm concerned, JFK was probably the last of the real moderate Democrats that they'll let run for president. He even appointed one of the original Roe v. Wade dissenters (Byron White) to the Supreme Court.
Rush Limbaugh even played a tape of a JFK speech about how tax cuts would stimulate the economy and Limbaugh proclaimed JFK a "dittohead". (I didn't hear the show, but I read it at National Review)
http://www.nationalreview.com/flashback/flashback-bowman080103.asp


50 posted on 01/03/2006 7:21:45 PM PST by Susannah (< click on my screen name for links to download some must-see videos)
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To: GB
Just because there are a lot of crazies with nutty theories out there doesn't mean all of the theories are wrong.

I used to know a U.S. Treasury agent in Dallas who knew Ruby. He and I and several other guys were eating together and we asked him about Ruby and the assassination. He didn't know any more than any one else but he did confirm Ruby's strong mob ties. He personally did believe Ruby killed Oswald on orders from the mob but again said it was just his opinion.

51 posted on 01/03/2006 7:23:31 PM PST by yarddog
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To: yarddog

You ever been to Dealey Plaza? I have. It is a much smaller area than it appears on film. Much smaller. The grassy knoll that looks so far away on the Zapruder film is like right on top of you. The JFK limo was 265 feet from the Depository window at the moment of the last shot, the head shot. Less than 100 yards. Oswald had a rifle with a 4X scope. The car was moving at 11 miles an hour when it turned the curve, and according to witnesses slowed down as the shots were fired, and was completely exposed. This was not as hard a shot as people make it out to be. And the thing is, the fact that Oswald even qualified at all as a Marine rifleman makes him better than Joe Schmoe coming off the street and trying to do this. FYI, I was a conspiracy buff as a youngster, but reading Posner's book and actually visiting Dealey Plaza and seeing the area and putting 2+2 together in my mind made me do a complete 180 on it.


52 posted on 01/03/2006 7:26:31 PM PST by GB
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To: Carl LaFong

I don't think it will die among those of us who remember that day.


53 posted on 01/03/2006 7:34:48 PM PST by Arizona Carolyn
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To: yarddog

Actually Oswald was an UNQ or an unqualified rifleman, he later just barely made marksman. He was a lousy shot.


54 posted on 01/03/2006 7:38:04 PM PST by usmcobra (30 years since I first celebrated The Marine Corps Birthday as a Marine)
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To: plain talk

I read a small book, years ago, about the gunman on the grassy knoll and how he broke down the gun and was out of the country before they even announced the President was dead... certainly possible it was either Russian KGB or some professional paid by Castro -- could have made it from Texas to Cuba pretty fast.


55 posted on 01/03/2006 7:38:11 PM PST by Arizona Carolyn
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To: A CA Guy

I've never totally bought the mob theory or the oilman theory -- the gunman on the knoll was too good a shot, he was a pro with nerves of steel... the mob gunmen are murderers, but most are not good at hiding in plain sight.


56 posted on 01/03/2006 7:39:49 PM PST by Arizona Carolyn
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To: GB
Actually that still sounds like good shooting. The first shot maybe was so-so but the other was very quick, I forget but something like three seconds.

I also remember when the rifle was tested the scope was not sighted in perfectly, it could have been knocked out by rough handling after the assassination or maybe being out is the reason Oswald made the shot.

I doubt if there was a second shooter that he was anywhere else but right with Oswald.

57 posted on 01/03/2006 7:41:31 PM PST by yarddog
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To: yarddog

My husband was on the Navy Rifle Team and taught shooting in the Navy -- he has always said: no way!


58 posted on 01/03/2006 7:41:48 PM PST by Arizona Carolyn
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To: GB

How do you explain the magic bullet?


59 posted on 01/03/2006 7:43:21 PM PST by Arizona Carolyn
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To: usmcobra
Actually Oswald was an UNQ or an unqualified rifleman, he later just barely made marksman. He was a lousy shot.

I thought I had read that somewhere too. Wasn't sure but glad you pointed it out.

60 posted on 01/03/2006 7:45:36 PM PST by yarddog
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