1975Primary source · 2 sourcesWell documented

The Church Committee Exposes the Plots

On the timeline · around 1975 ·

What happened

In 1975 the US Senate's Church Committee investigated CIA abuses and published 'Alleged Assassination Plots Involving Foreign Leaders,' finding concrete evidence of at least eight CIA plots to kill Castro between 1960 and 1965. It could not establish that any president had directly ordered the killings.

Why it matters

The report confirmed the plots as official fact for the first time, and its revelations helped drive sweeping intelligence reforms.

Sources

U.S. Senate Select Committee to Study Governmental Operations. Alleged Assassination Plots Involving Foreign Leaders (Church Committee Interim Report) (1975) · Primary source
The National Security Archive, George Washington University. CIA Assassination Plots: The Church Committee Report 50 Years Later (2025) · Reputable source

Part of a timelineThe Plots to Kill Castro32 events · Exploding cigars, Mafia hitmen, a poisoned milkshake, a booby-trapped seashell, a lethal pen handed over the day JFK died — and decades of exile plots after. The CIA's documented campaign to assassinate Fidel Castro, and the man who outlived it all.View all →