The Real Fidel Castro Quotes

“Their rear machine-guns had been taken out to make space for additional fuel, but this made them vulnerable to attack. Four B-26s were shot down by Castro’s three T-33 jet trainers, which were faster and more manoeuvrable. The CIA planners had assumed that the T-33 trainers could not be used as combat aircraft, but the Cubans had made space to mount a machine-gun, and this makeshift arrangement proved very effective against the lumbering B-26s.”
― Leycester Coltman, The Real Fidel Castro

“The B-26s could therefore operate for only some forty minutes over the beachhead before they had to undertake the long journey back to Central America to refuel.”
― Leycester Coltman, The Real Fidel Castro

“The battalions which landed at Playa Girón quickly captured both the village and the airstrip; but the loss of aviation fuel and other supplies meant that the airstrip never became operational.”
― Leycester Coltman, The Real Fidel Castro

“The invasion force was supported by some fifteen B-26 bombers. These aircraft took more than three hours to reach Cuba from their bases in Central America.”
― Leycester Coltman, The Real Fidel Castro

“By 9.30 a.m. they were launching a second attack, this time on the ships offshore from Playa Girón. They hit another big freighter, the Rio Escondido, which had disembarked all its troops but was still unloading supplies.”
― Leycester Coltman, The Real Fidel Castro

“The second vessel in the bay, the Barbara J, contained the American ‘advisers’ who constituted the CIA command post. After being struck by a rocket the vessel started to take water. To escape further damage it steamed out of the bay and headed south.”
― Leycester Coltman, The Real Fidel Castro

“Some men were drowned when struggling to get ashore, and a lot of equipment was lost.”
― Leycester Coltman, The Real Fidel Castro

“A large freighter, the Houston, had disembarked one battalion and its equipment during the night, but still had a second battalion on board when it was struck.”
― Leycester Coltman, The Real Fidel Castro

“What could the government’s heroic revolutionary rhetoric mean to a generation of Cubans who had never known Batista or the Bay of Pigs, who were bored with politics, often more interested in rock music or youth fashion?”
― Leycester Coltman, The Real Fidel Castro

“the new regime was clearly illegitimate, extreme and violent.”
― Leycester Coltman, The Real Fidel Castro

“In October 1983 Castro’s friend Maurice Bishop, the Prime Minister of Grenada, was overthrown and killed by an even more radical Marxist faction.”
― Leycester Coltman, The Real Fidel Castro

“When General Galtieri seized the islands from Britain in a surprise military operation, Castro had little choice but to join the chorus of Latin American approval.”
― Leycester Coltman, The Real Fidel Castro

“Castro was left with mixed feelings over Khrushchev’s fall. He had never completely forgiven Khrushchev for having withdrawn the missiles from Cuba without consulting him. He remained scornful of Khrushchev’s unwillingness to support violent revolution in Latin America.”
― Leycester Coltman, The Real Fidel Castro

“With his intimates he kept chewing over the folly and injustice of Khrushchev’s decision to pull back without consulting him.”
― Leycester Coltman, The Real Fidel Castro

“Now, without even consulting or informing him, Khrushchev had surrendered to the enemy. It was total humiliation. He shouted every insult and obscenity he could think of. He kicked the wall in his office. A large mirror crashed to the floor, showering glass everywhere. He finally summed up again his view of Khrushchev: ‘Maricón!’ (‘Faggot!’)”
― Leycester Coltman, The Real Fidel Castro

“The Technical Services Division of the CIA considered various exotic possibilities, such as the famous exploding cigars and the powder designed to cause Castro’s beard to fall out.”
― Leycester Coltman, The Real Fidel Castro

“Recalling this period in old age, he said that he had spent most of his life fighting against authority. Suddenly everything was changed. The skills and abilities which he had developed as a guerrilla leader were no longer relevant.”
― Leycester Coltman, The Real Fidel Castro

“The real Castro, as opposed to the image presented by friendly”
― Leycester Coltman, The Real Fidel Castro