1963General source · 2 sourcesWell documented

The Poisoned Milkshake

On the timeline · around 1963 ·

What happened

In 1963, working again through the Mafia, the CIA had a waiter at the Havana Libre hotel drop a botulinum capsule into Castro's regular chocolate milkshake. The capsule had frozen to the inside of a freezer where it was hidden and broke apart when the waiter tried to pry it loose.

Why it matters

Cuba's own longtime security chief later called the frozen milkshake the single closest the CIA ever came to actually killing Fidel Castro.

Sources

CNN. Cuba's Fidel Castro survived 600 assassination attempts, officials say (2016) · General source
Great Big Story. The Milkshake That Nearly Killed Castro · General 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 →