Ex-CIA Agent Agee Dies in Cuba Exile

New book reveals Juanita Castro's involvement with US intelligence

(NEWSER) - The sister of Fidel and Raúl Castro worked with the CIA in the 1960s, while the agency was planning to assassinate Fidel and overthrow the revolutionary government. In a new book, Juanita Castro, who now lives in Miami, reveals that she hid opponents of her brothers' regime in her home and that their mother frequently interceded with Raúl to help political prisoners. "The CIA wanted to talk with me," Castro says. "I was left half-shocked, but in any case I told them yes." More»

Economic adviser says Obama acting out of 'morality'

(NEWSER) - The US trade embargo against Cuba won’t be ending anytime soon, President Obama’s economic adviser insisted today. “That’s way down the road, and it’s going to depend on what Cuba does going forward,” Lawrence Summers told NBC’s Meet the Press, saying Obama’s actions are “grounded in American interests, grounded in morality, letting families get back together again.” More»

CIA devised creative means to remove Cuban president

(NEWSER) - Despite several assassination attempts against Fidel Castro, the Cuban president stepped down Tuesday on his own terms. The CIA came up with at least eight sometimes-kooky ways to oust the leader, CNN reports, most of which were not carried out:

• Chemical attack on the air of his radio station.
• Cigars treated to cause disorientation or his beard to fall out.

Iraqi defector lied on WMDs, but CIA was a willing dupe

(NEWSER) - An Iraqi defector codenamed Curveball, a primary source behind the WMD intelligence that inspired the invasion, is the subject of a new book that bears his handle, but the CIA is the most guilty party in author Bob Drogin's account. Analysts “twisted” and “magnified” the low-level engineer's stories beyond recognition, Drogin tells Salon. More»