DOROTHY KILGALLEN
Against Fidel Castro 1959
REFERENCE:
UNTOLD STORY: FIDEL CASTRO
Vol 1 No. 2, September 1960 page 6
MEMO FROM THE PUBLISHER
The Editors of this magazine have tried to present all sides of Castro,
the man, the rebel, the conqueror. We were impressed with his
philosophy of reform, not so impressed with his carrying-out of
justice. We have grave misgivings concerning his reputed
alliances with Russia. But we feel that each reader must get the
whole picture for himself before making any personal judgment.
And here it is, for the first time, the whole UNTOLD STORY of Cuba's
Fidel Castro.
DOROTHY KILGALLEN
Sounds Off on Castro
These quotes taken from Miss Kilgallen's column make her one of the first reporters to come out against in print...
January 21, 1959
"Washington insiders expect Fidel Castro to be invited to visit the
White House, on the advice of diplomats working on the old theory that
if we don't make him love us, he may be wooed by the Russians.
Some of the international experts are terribly afraid U.S. press
reaction to the Castro executions may have irked him to such an extent
that only high level buttering up could repair the damage."
January 23, 1959
"Fidel Castro's closest aides are a little nervous over his long-range
plans. He wants to be another Simon Bolivar, liberating all Latin
American countries under the role of dictators."
January 29, 1959
...Havana's famed gambling casinos will get permission to resume full
scale operations within two weeks. The same people who got the
green light from Batista managed to reach Castro."
February 2, 1959
"There have been three minor revolutions within the Castro forces in
the brief period of time since the rebel leader took over Cuba.
If Fidel doesn't call in some brainy experts to help him run the
country and keep him from making boo-boos, he'll be out within the
year."
February 6, 1959
"Gambler Frank Erickson returned to Havana last week, sure sign that
for all his lofty talk, Fidel Castro wants ‘the boys' back running the
casinos."
February 13,1959
"The new look at Havana night clubs: Castro soldiers sit at the
ringside tables with machine guns at hand and grenades dangling from
their uniforms."
March 2, 1959
"When Fidel Castro isn't engaged in giving out interviews for
television variety shows in the U.S., he's busy restraining hot-headed
brother Raul from staging mass executions in the Cuban provinces.
Fidel is a thorough-going conservative compared with Raul."
March 31, 1959
"Fidel Castro will not shave off his beard for his official visit to
Washington. He doesn't dare, because without it nobody would
recognize him."
April 6, 1959
"Our government's intelligence reports on Cuba's Fidel Castro go back
to the 1940's and aren't very pretty. They list him as a
Communist and a killer."
May 1, 1959
"Fidel Castro left New York in quite a pet over the local gazettes'
treatment of his visit here. He was particularly burned because
one August newspaper gave his regime six months. (Estimated cost
to the taxpayers for his protection and other frills during his U.S.
stay: $1,000,000.)"
April 29, 1959
"Despite what Fidel Castro says, leftists have taken control of
information and communication systems in Cuba -including newspapers,
radio and television."
July 15, 1959
"If our state department heads in Washington deny they're gravely
worried over the explosive situation in Cuba and nearby Latin American
countries, they're either giving out false information for reasons of
their own or playing ostrich, which might prove to be a dangerous
game. U.S. intelligence is virtually non-existent if the
government isn't aware that Russia already has bases in Cuba, and
Russian pilots in uniform are strutting openly in Havana...Fidel Castro
is the target for so many assassins they're apt to fall over each other
in their efforts to get him. The Mafia want to knock him off. So
do the Batista sympathizers, of course, and then there are his own
disillusioned rebels, just for starters. He has machine guns and
other ammunition mounted on every key rooftop near his base of
operations, but the smart money doubts if any amount of precaution can
change his status as a clay pigeon."
End of Page
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