The Castro Obsession: U.S. Covert Operations in Cuba, 1959-1965 |
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You Are Here: Home > History Books > Cuba History > Item 264
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The Castro Obsession: U.S. Covert Operations in Cuba, 1959-1965
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by Don Bohning
Sales Rank: 944210
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List Price: $29.95
$26.96
At Amazon
on 9-14-2008.
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Features
Cover Type: Hard Cover with 320 pages
Published by: Potomac Books Inc. April 1, 2005
Written in: English
ISBN 10 Number: 1574886754
ISBN 13 Number: 978-1574886757
Book Dimensions:
9 x 6.4 x 1.2 inches
Weighs: 1.4 pounds
Product Description
At the height of the Cold War, the Eisenhower and Kennedy administrations made removing Fidel Castros regime one of their highest foreign policy priorities. The Castro Obsession provides new insight into the bold U.S. covert war against Cuba that lasted from 1959 until 1965. Eisenhower and Kennedys fervent desire to get rid of Castro led to the failed Bay of Pigs invasion, but the efforts to oust his regime did not end there. It became an obsession. Primarily through the CIA and the military, the United States resorted to economic and political destabilization, propaganda, sabotage, hit-and-run raids, and assassination plots to try to topple the regime. This secret war was one of the most wide-ranging, sustained, expensive, and ultimately futile covert action campaigns in history.
Was this secret war wise, and did it ultimately promote U.S. interests? Don Bohning says no. Even if the details were murky, the extreme American pressure on Cuba was apparent to all, and this heavy-handedness severely damaged the U.S. image in Latin America and much of the Third World. Instead of ridding the hemisphere of a dictator, these efforts increased his international political fame and provided him the excuse for more repression in Cuba. U.S. attempts to overthrow Castro also had dire unintended consequences, such as contributing to the Soviet decision to install nuclear missiles in Cuba, which produced the most dangerous crisis of the Cold War. Bohning sheds new light on this covert war, revealing that it was even more extensive, risky, and long-lived than previously thought.
About The Author
Don Bohning, a former Latin America editor for the Miami Herald, has won numerous journalism awards, including the James Nelson Goodsell Award for outstanding reporting on Latin America and the Caribbean. He lives in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.
Reader Reviews
Now at about 75 years old, Fidel Castro is in ailing health. Cuba's economy, as with most of the communist centrally planned economies, is at subsistence level. Average annual per capita income is about $1,500 per person. But still it survives. Two new books go a long ways towards explaining why. Don Bohning's "The Castro Obsession", talks about the secret (and not so secret) operations conducted against Castro from 1959 to 1965. The appearance of a giant country like the United States arrayed against a small insignificant country like Cuba, and then failing created a groundswell of respect and support for Castro among people and countries that root for the underdog. Humberto Fontova's "Fidel: Hollywood's Favorite Tyrant", is really two books in one. The main theme talks about the comments from selected Hollywood types, media and political left wing liberals, praising Castro (shades of Hanoi Jane Fonda). The secondary theme is that Castro has instituted a bloody repressive regime that attempts to control all life in Cuba. While this is not a surprise, the details are shocking in that we have so much more information because of the communication with large numbers of Cubans now living in the US but retaining close links with the island. These two books provide interesting background for the actions that will be playing out over the next few years.
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The Castro Obsession: U.S. Covert Operations in Cuba, 1959-1965
Available from Amazon
Price: $26.96
Updated on 9-14-2008.
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