Juanita Castro, sister of Fidel and fervent anti-communist who informed for the CIA and fled Cuba – obituary

Yahoo ^ | 12/4/23 | Telegraph Obituaries

[DallasBiff]

Juanita Castro, who has died aged 90, was the younger sister of Fidel and Raúl Castro; but while they established Cuba’s communist regime, she defected in the early 1960s and became a CIA informant, smuggling documents out of the country and transmitting messages via a clandestine radio.

It was in late June 1964 that Juanita Castro, then 31, called a press conference in Mexico City and, teary-eyed, declared that she could no longer remain indifferent to what was happening in Cuba: “My brothers Fidel and Raúl have made it an enormous prison surrounded by water. The people are nailed to a cross of torment imposed by international communism.” She had left Havana 10 days earlier, supposedly on a short visit to see her sister Emma.

It is unlikely that this ruse fooled anyone. Rumours about her opposition to the regime had been rife, and she was suspected of facilitating the escape of more than 200 government critics. When she decided to flee even her chauffeur remarked on her hardly inconspicuous luggage of 11 – some say 21 – bags. Most likely it was Raúl, with whom she had always been close, who turned a blind eye to her subterfuge, and assisted in securing her a visa.

[DallasBiff]

I never knew about her or her story.

[Nextrush]

I heard her on the radio back in the 1970’s I listened to the radio preachers and conservative commentators that bought time on various radio stations in those days.

One of them William Steuart McBirnie had her on as a guest.

[Fiji Hill]

In the 1960s and 1970s, she often appeared at events held by Christian Anti-Communism Crusade.

[the_Watchman]

My wife and I met in McBirnie’s Glendale, California church in the late 1960’s.

[Fiji Hill]

I was a regular listener to McBirnie’s Voice of Americanism radio broadcast. He was one of the few conservative voices on the radio in the years before Rush Limbaugh.

[MotorCityBuck]

...but was she Hot. Need pictures to figure True guilt.

[x]

The joke of the day back then is that Fidel called her a Castro Convertible.

Castro Convertibles is still in business, but they aren’t the household word they once were.

[Nextrush]

He was out there I worked in religious broadcasting for awhile so I played his shows.

But he was out there in the 1960’s and 70’s when I was growing up.

Into Bible Prophecy and a guy who networked with so many folks for a broad “Conservative” movement.

[Nextrush]

I did not visit his church in Glendale heck I haven’t been to Southern California in my lifetime.

But McBirnie was a preacher he talked Bible Prophecy today’s events would certainly be something he would be linking into Ezekiel 38 and so on.

McBirnie got his name in the movies consulting on “The Omen” a film about the Antichrist that came out in 1976.

[wjcsux]

I remember hearing her life story. Quite an awesome and brave lady.

[fidelis]

Eternal rest grant unto her, O Lord, and may perpetual light shine upon her. By the mercy of God may she and all the faithful departed rest in peace. Amen. +

[DoughtyOne]

And yet the toothy president was thrilled to be photographed
with Fidel.

He never met a Communist dictator he didn’t admire.

[Libloather]

[IAGeezer912]

Svetlana, Stalin’s daughter, did the same thing. In 1967, she became an international sensation when she defected to the United States and, in 1978, became a naturalized citizen.