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Secret Sex Lives of Tyrants S01E02
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00:07¡Suscríbete al canal!
00:30He puts makeup on.
00:32He had thousands of concubines.
00:34They were this glamorous, gun-toting sex objects.
00:39Fire on designated targets.
00:41The psychological insights of the degenerate and deviant.
00:45He was obsessed with aphrodisiacs.
00:48It's typical of somebody who's sexually repressed.
00:52Power can change somebody.
01:08He was quite happy to precipitate World War III.
01:17The entire world on the edge of their seats
01:21as the Cold War hurtled towards nuclear war.
01:26For nearly five decades,
01:29Fidel Castro ruled an island nation
01:32just 90 miles off the coast of Miami
01:34with an iron grip,
01:37taunting the United States with his revolutionary zeal.
01:40La revolución ha conquistado para él.
01:42But behind closed doors,
01:45another tale unfolded.
01:47He was a great, charismatic, successful womanizer.
01:53There are numerous reports that have come out
01:55that Castro had 35,000 lovers.
02:01Is that really possible?
02:03How would you even have the time for that?
02:13This country homestead on a vast sugarcane property
02:16is the birthplace of one of the world's most notorious dictators.
02:21His appetite for power matched only by his desire for sex.
02:28Born out of wedlock in 1930,
02:30he was christened Fidel Alejandro Castro.
02:34Castro's father, Angel,
02:36was a wealthy Spanish landowner.
02:39From a young age,
02:41Castro realised he was different from his siblings.
02:45Whilst they shared the same parentage,
02:48he was the product of his father's affair
02:50with the family cook,
02:52a bastard child born into a rich family.
02:56Might this have shaped the way Castro regarded marriage and sex?
03:01So he was growing up in a household
03:05where his father was sleeping with the servant,
03:09who was his mother,
03:11and I believe she didn't marry him.
03:14She didn't marry the father
03:16until Castro was in his teens,
03:18around 13, 14.
03:21Castro, I think,
03:23even though you'd never admit it,
03:25never escaped the fact
03:27that he was a bastard son.
03:29And you could see
03:30that this played a part
03:31in his swing
03:33towards communism,
03:34because communism is, of course,
03:36anti-bourgeois society,
03:38and bourgeois society,
03:39once husband, wife,
03:41marriage and proper children,
03:43not multiple polyamorous liaisons.
03:47But Castro was also born
03:49into a time of national turmoil.
03:521930s Cuba was in chaos.
03:55The recession-hit government was unpopular,
03:58the streets of Havana unsafe.
04:00A rowdy coalition of the military and students
04:03overthrew the government in 1933,
04:06which began years of turmoil
04:08to which young Fidel was witness.
04:11His interest in sexual domination
04:14map over very nicely
04:16onto his interests
04:17in controlling his people.
04:20And we can see that
04:22sort of each point of his masculinity
04:26or his machismo
04:29overlaps with these relationships
04:32over women
04:33and over the people of Cuba.
04:36We can't understand Fidel Castro
04:39without understanding
04:41that ultimate drive
04:43for power and control.
04:45Educated at Jesuit schools,
04:47Castro stood out as an athlete,
04:49but also as a talented student
04:51with a rebellious streak.
04:53He went to Catholic institutions,
04:55a Jesuit institution,
04:57and he was very much, I believe,
04:59affected by that in his upbringing.
05:01His sense of guilt,
05:04his sense of what is normal
05:09in sexual activity,
05:11and also his attitudes towards gays,
05:15which was negative.
05:16I think that was all affected
05:17by his Jesuit upbringing.
05:22By the 1950s,
05:24post-World War II Havana
05:26had become once more
05:27a party town.
05:30Tourists and movie stars
05:32flooded in from Miami,
05:34bringing American dollars,
05:36Hollywood glamour,
05:37and their inevitable travel companions,
05:39the mafia and corruption.
05:42Organised crime was rife,
05:45operating under the regime
05:46of corrupt dictator
05:47Fugencio Batista.
05:54The relationship between Cuba
05:56and the United States of America
05:58had historically been
06:00quite a close one,
06:01especially geographically,
06:02a matter of miles
06:04between the Cuban shoreline
06:05and Miami,
06:07so much so that Havana
06:08was the playground
06:09for the rich and famous of America.
06:12People would go there
06:13to the clubs
06:13and, of course,
06:14have their cigars and so on.
06:16So it really was the place to be.
06:19The Monte Carlo of the Americas.
06:22All this and the gaiety
06:24of a tropical night in Havana.
06:27At the same time
06:28as stars like Frank Sinatra
06:30were living the high life
06:32in Havana,
06:33Fidel Castro was studying law
06:35in the Cuban capital.
06:37Castro, being the charming guy
06:40that he was,
06:41he quickly learned
06:42how to weaponise
06:44his power and control
06:45and dominate anybody
06:47anybody that he interacted with,
06:50even from an early age.
06:51Castro's relationships
06:53with Western women
06:55and his reported preference
06:58for blondes,
06:59I think that's part
07:01of this macho, sportsman,
07:06playboy-type image
07:08that he liked.
07:09Castro's priapic reputation
07:12started early.
07:13At university,
07:15he juggled multiple
07:16sexual relationships
07:17simultaneously.
07:19It's here that Castro
07:20first earned the nickname
07:22El Caballo,
07:24the horse.
07:25And even in somewhat,
07:27maybe a bit of a twisted way,
07:29believing that he deserved
07:31that power
07:32and utilising that dominance
07:34through the numerous women
07:36that he engaged in
07:37many sexual relationships with.
07:39Tyrants often deviate
07:42in their sexual behaviour
07:43because they can.
07:46Because they deviate
07:47in all their other behaviours.
07:50They deviate
07:51in the use of power.
07:54But there was one woman
07:56who caught Castro's eye.
07:59Merta Diaz-Balat,
08:00the daughter
08:01of a prominent Cuban politician.
08:03He was taken by her beauty
08:05and her influence.
08:06They married in 1948,
08:09her father paying
08:10for their honeymoon
08:11to the United States.
08:14Castro's love-hate affair
08:15with America
08:16was about to begin.
08:18Oh, you'll hear much more
08:19about him later.
08:26Yankee Stadium, New York.
08:30Despite their lifelong enmity,
08:33Fidel Castro
08:33and the United States
08:35shared a love of baseball.
08:37He was a powerful pitcher
08:39who hated to lose.
08:41Even after he became
08:42Cuba's national leader
08:43in 1959,
08:45Castro never missed
08:46a chance to play ball.
08:47The unpredictable Castro
08:49dons a baseball uniform
08:50to pitch a full...
08:51And the American media
08:52always lapped it up.
08:54And the game is on.
08:55Castro pitching
08:56is credited with
08:57striking out
08:58the three batters he faces.
08:59Could be.
09:00This one game
09:02where the up
09:02really has to be careful.
09:04Viva Fidel.
09:07Castro,
09:07when he was growing up,
09:09when he was at college,
09:10absolutely loved sports.
09:12All sports.
09:13He excelled at them,
09:14in particular baseball.
09:15In fact,
09:17there is a rumour
09:18that he was asked
09:19to play for the New York Yankees.
09:22However,
09:23there's no documentary evidence
09:25to support this.
09:26But he still enjoyed
09:27everything to do with sport.
09:29In 1949,
09:31with Castro
09:32an outspoken lawyer
09:33representing the poor,
09:36Merta gave birth
09:36to their son,
09:37Fidelito,
09:40Castro's first official child.
09:46The political turmoil
09:48in the country
09:49shows no sign of abating.
09:51In 1952,
09:53a military coup
09:54brings the corrupt Batista
09:56to power
09:57for a second time.
10:00It was all too clear
10:02that if you doubted
10:03his intentions,
10:04your fate would be
10:05the firing squad.
10:08As Castro
10:09became more deeply involved
10:10in radical politics,
10:12he grew distant
10:13from his wife,
10:14Merta,
10:15and,
10:16like his father,
10:17openly had affairs
10:18with other women.
10:20He was attractive,
10:22he was a magnet,
10:23he was charismatic,
10:25and he would have
10:27been popular with women
10:29even if he had not
10:31been national leader.
10:32It's not like
10:33someone just wakes up
10:34one day and says,
10:36oh,
10:36I'm going to become
10:37a dictator
10:38and I'm going to become
10:39a voracious
10:40sexual deviant.
10:42That's not how
10:43these things work.
10:44We can see
10:46a long history
10:47of emerging
10:49psychological
10:50and sociological
10:51impacts
10:52that we can trace
10:54through someone's narrative.
10:56Fidel Castro's narrative
10:58was about to take
10:59a dramatic turn.
11:01In 1953,
11:02he led a rebel attempt
11:04to steal weapons
11:05from a barracks,
11:07but Batista's forces
11:08were ready for them.
11:09On July 26, 1953,
11:12the fortress
11:12was attacked
11:13by 165 revolutionaries.
11:16Most of them
11:16were killed.
11:22Fidel Castro
11:23led the detachment.
11:25Castro,
11:26the ringleader,
11:26and his brother Raul
11:28were captured
11:29and put on trial.
11:31Defiantly,
11:32he chose
11:33to defend himself.
11:35At that time,
11:36under Batista's regime,
11:38a death penalty
11:39would surely await.
11:41But Castro
11:42got lucky.
11:44His wife,
11:45Merta,
11:45persuaded her father,
11:47a cabinet minister
11:48in Batista's government,
11:49to intervene.
11:51Instead of a firing squad,
11:53Castro was sentenced
11:54to 15 years in jail.
11:56He would serve
11:57only two.
12:01Castro's wife
12:02had saved his life.
12:04He repaid her
12:05by running
12:06into the arms
12:07of another man's wife.
12:12Her name
12:13was Natalia Revuelta,
12:14a charming Havana socialite
12:17whom he called Natty.
12:19She was said
12:20to be the most beautiful woman
12:21in the capital.
12:23They had to be attractive,
12:24they had to be seductive.
12:26I think that he wanted
12:28intelligent women
12:29really as a way
12:31of saying,
12:32you're intelligent,
12:33but I'm more intelligent
12:34than you.
12:36But Natty
12:37was just a brief diversion.
12:39In 1955,
12:41Castro fled to Mexico
12:43with his brother Raul.
12:45It was here
12:46that Castro met a man
12:47who would become
12:48his most trusted ally,
12:51Argentinian revolutionary
12:52Ernesto Che Guevara.
12:56Che Guevara
12:58was a Marxist doctor
13:00turned revolutionary
13:02and he shared
13:04Castro's vision
13:05for anti-imperialism,
13:08for a revolution,
13:09and they called themselves
13:11the 26th of July movement.
13:13This relationship
13:15between Che Guevara
13:16and Fidel Castro
13:17was one of the most important
13:19in modern revolutionary history.
13:22But there was someone else
13:24who played a key role
13:25in Fidel Castro's ambitions.
13:28Celia Sanchez
13:29was Castro's political strategist
13:31and, rumour has it,
13:33lover.
13:35A year after they met,
13:37she saved Castro's life
13:39after his failed attempt
13:41to return to Cuba.
13:43While most of Castro's men
13:45were killed,
13:46Celia mobilised the locals
13:47to hide Castro
13:49and the remaining rebels
13:50lived to fight another day.
13:53Castro's plan of action
13:55to fight by any means
13:56until the Batista regime
13:58is toppled.
13:59Castro regrouped,
14:00living rough.
14:02With Che Guevara,
14:04he stoked the embers
14:05of revolution
14:06with a propaganda campaign
14:08run from his jungle office.
14:15Town by town,
14:18the rebels took Cuba
14:19until the final blow came
14:22on New Year's Eve,
14:251958.
14:28Realising defeat
14:30was inevitable,
14:31Batista fled the country.
14:37Fidel Castro
14:38became the leader
14:39of a new Cuba.
14:44Then the temper
14:45of the frown chain
14:46and an ugly mob
14:47rains the streets.
14:48Its prime targets
14:49the symbols
14:49of the overthrow regime.
14:51The gambling casinos,
14:52the parking meters,
14:53the homes and businesses
14:54of Batista's story.
15:01Eight days later,
15:03riding atop one
15:04of Batista's own tanks,
15:06a triumphant Fidel Castro
15:08entered Havana.
15:10Cuba was liberated
15:11and Castro
15:13was a national hero.
15:16To the Cuban people
15:17and to the admiring world,
15:19there could be no better way
15:20to start the new year.
15:28Victory Castro style
15:30included a white dove
15:32that settled on his shoulder
15:34as he addressed his people.
15:36Was this a sign from above
15:38or a stunt?
15:40Here's this charismatic,
15:43heroic,
15:45Cuban Castro
15:46with doves landing on him
15:50as a signal
15:51that he is
15:52the chosen one.
15:54Fidel Castro
15:55with the doves of peace
15:57sitting on his shoulders
15:58as he surveys the crowd
16:00that is tonight
16:01celebrating Cuba Libre.
16:04Now, what better image
16:06than this great man
16:08who's now taken over
16:10from the bad dictator
16:11and has doves landing on him?
16:14And this was taken
16:15as a sign
16:15by many people
16:17of some kind
16:18of supernatural event.
16:19What they didn't know
16:21was that Castro
16:23and his girlfriend
16:24at the time
16:24had practiced this
16:26and trained the doves
16:28to land on him.
16:30So it was a staged event.
16:34But the new dictator
16:35wasn't interested in peace.
16:37He was interested
16:38in retribution
16:39and revenge.
16:41Soon after seizing power
16:43in 1959,
16:45Fidel Castro
16:46went to work
16:47staging a mass
16:48public trial
16:49of former regime officials.
16:51In Havana Sports Palace,
16:52the Castro regime's
16:54controversial showcase trials
16:55got underway
16:56before a turbulent throng
16:57of 18,000.
16:59Castro did not attend
17:00the kangaroo court.
17:02He was preoccupied
17:03with other matters.
17:06Since men have been in power
17:09over thousands of years
17:12acting as dictators,
17:15their political power
17:18has translated
17:20into sexual power.
17:22Even as his captured enemies
17:24pleaded for their lives,
17:26Castro's sexual conquests
17:29mounted.
17:30Batista aide,
17:31Major Sosa Blanco,
17:32charged with 200 murders,
17:34faces a military tribunal.
17:36Three judges still wearing
17:37the Revolutionary's
17:38jungle battle dress.
17:41During the trial
17:42of Major Blanco,
17:43a colonel
17:44in Batista's army,
17:45a 12-year-old boy
17:47was brought forward
17:48as a witness.
17:49The crowd,
17:50whipped into a frenzy,
17:51erupted with chants
17:53of kill him,
17:54kill him.
17:56Emotions climb
17:57in the nine-hour trial
17:58as the testimony
17:59piles up.
18:00This woman charges
18:01Blanco murdered
18:02her husband.
18:04The decision is death.
18:06The world reacted
18:08with outrage.
18:10The executions,
18:11some 250 to date,
18:13have been widely criticized
18:14by many as too hasty
18:15and summery.
18:17Fidel Castro
18:18treated his enemies
18:19brutally.
18:20They were imprisoned,
18:22tortured,
18:23they were put on
18:24public show trials,
18:26they were even executed
18:27in public,
18:28and his private police force,
18:31the G2,
18:32became feared
18:33throughout the country.
18:35Says Castro,
18:36the Cuban revolutionary government
18:38has no reason
18:38to offer explanations
18:39to America
18:40or to anyone.
18:42This is the biggest gathering
18:44and demonstration
18:45in Cuba's history.
18:47Almost a million people
18:48are here.
18:49There is Fidel Castro,
18:51the leader
18:51and the cause
18:52of this demonstration.
18:54The purpose
18:54of today's gathering
18:55is to show
18:56the whole world
18:57that all Cubans
18:58are united
18:59in the rebel victory
19:00and that all of them
19:01support the execution.
19:03Foreign leaders
19:04condemned the executions,
19:06but that simply
19:07played into his hands.
19:08Right or wrong,
19:10Castro now
19:10had their attention,
19:12a formidable player
19:13on the world stage.
19:17Fidel Castro,
19:19now in power,
19:20set up headquarters
19:21in the plush
19:22Havana Hilton.
19:24The revolutionary leader
19:26now had a brand new
19:27propaganda plaything,
19:29American television.
19:31We are against
19:32all kind of dictator.
19:35That is our idea.
19:37Nevertheless,
19:38class dictator,
19:39military dictator.
19:40That is why
19:41we are not agreeing
19:42with communism.
19:44Communism was a dirty word
19:45in the United States
19:46and Castro was happy
19:48to lie to their faces
19:49if it meant victory
19:51in the court
19:51of public opinion.
19:53Dr. Castro,
19:55Senator Smathers
19:56of Florida
19:57says that you have
19:59many communists
20:00in your government.
20:02Is that so?
20:03I know,
20:04because Senator Smathers
20:05said it ought to be true.
20:08I don't think that
20:09I can,
20:11in first place,
20:15that is,
20:16I have read some lists
20:17that I don't doubt
20:20that they,
20:22saying,
20:23if it continues
20:24to discover
20:25such communists
20:26in our government,
20:28including Adam and Eve,
20:30are going to be communists too.
20:32The charm offensive worked.
20:35On a visit to New York,
20:37only four months
20:38after his victory,
20:39the 32-year-old revolutionary
20:41received a rock star welcome.
20:44In the end,
20:45he had to get an armed guard.
20:46It took over 20 minutes
20:48to go 100 metres
20:49to the hotel doors
20:51because everybody
20:52wanted a piece of Castro.
20:54They wanted to meet him
20:55and talk to him
20:56and greet him.
20:57Castro was cool.
21:00Even if his dress sense
21:01was not everyone's idea
21:03of a statesman.
21:05What do you think
21:05of Castro?
21:06I think
21:07that if he follows through
21:08with the plans
21:09that he says
21:10he will follow through,
21:11I think he will be
21:12an excellent example
21:14of modern democracy.
21:16However,
21:17I have one objection.
21:18I did see him
21:19on the street
21:19the other night
21:20in front of
21:21the Times building.
21:22I think that he should
21:24come dressed
21:24like a gentleman
21:25like the other
21:26government representatives do.
21:28You think he should
21:29wear a tie
21:29and perhaps a jacket,
21:30huh?
21:31Yes, I do.
21:32I really do.
21:32Castro loved the attention
21:34and now he had
21:36the ear of the world.
21:38Castro,
21:39just like all tyrants,
21:40was an extreme narcissist.
21:42He was an egomaniac.
21:45He was self-indulgent,
21:48hedonistic.
21:48He would have
21:51indulged
21:52in the news stories
21:53themselves.
21:54Good evening,
21:55my fellow citizens.
21:56The United States
21:57soon had its own
21:58charismatic young leader,
22:00John F. Kennedy.
22:01He didn't trust Castro
22:03and his closeening ties
22:04with the Soviet Union.
22:05Cuba was starting
22:07to look every bit
22:08a communist state.
22:09It wasn't really
22:10until he took control
22:12of Cuba
22:13that the socialist
22:14leanings started to show
22:15and really
22:17that was as a reaction
22:18to the way
22:19that the United States
22:20reacted to him
22:22coming into power.
22:24So it's almost like
22:24one fed the other.
22:26Their distrust of him
22:28made him build
22:29his socialist leanings
22:30which made them
22:31ever more distrustful.
22:33The Cold War
22:34was in full swing
22:36and tensions
22:37between the US
22:38and the Soviet Union
22:39were at an all-time high.
22:41So Castro realised
22:43that to really
22:45get the reins of power
22:47which would have been
22:48quite insecure
22:49if he'd followed
22:50the path that was predicted
22:51turned to the communists.
22:54The politics of Cuba
22:55changed
22:56and Cuba became communist
22:58and of course
22:59during the Cold War
23:00that was a dirty word
23:02especially for the Americans
23:03and so tensions
23:05started to grow
23:06between Cuba
23:07and the United States
23:08and at times
23:09all eyes
23:10were on Cuba.
23:12The United States
23:14suddenly had
23:14an unpredictable dictator
23:16with close ties
23:18to the Soviet Union
23:19just 90 miles
23:21from their shores.
23:22Cuba
23:23was now
23:24a ticking time bomb.
23:25President Kennedy
23:27decided Castro
23:28had to go.
23:30In 1961
23:31the CIA
23:32working with
23:34Cuban exiles
23:34began training
23:36an invasion force.
23:38The mission
23:39to overthrow Castro
23:41and restore
23:42a government
23:43sympathetic
23:43to the United States.
23:45The landing location
23:47the Bay of Pigs.
23:51On Monday
23:52April 17
23:53in the early
23:54hours of the morning
23:55The invasion
23:56was a disaster.
23:58Castro's forces
23:59were ready for them.
24:00He captured
24:01or killed
24:02nearly all
24:03who landed
24:04including
24:05American personnel.
24:06The National
24:07Revolutionary Militia
24:08took the last positions
24:09the invaders held.
24:12The revolution
24:13was victorious
24:14but the victory
24:16was bought
24:16with precious lives.
24:18Castro's readiness
24:19was rather unexpected
24:21by the American forces
24:23and it was just
24:25completely unexpected
24:26that America
24:27would be defeated
24:28and that Castro
24:30would rise triumphant
24:31and it really
24:32consolidated
24:33his position
24:34on the world stage
24:35that he and Cuba
24:37were ready for anything.
24:38To the Cuban people
24:40Castro's victory
24:41made him
24:42an even greater hero.
24:43He had humiliated
24:45the mighty
24:46United States.
24:49The enemy
24:50suffered complete defeat.
24:51The mercenary remnants
24:52give up their arms.
24:54But I have decided
24:55in the last 24 hours
24:57to discuss briefly
24:59at this time
25:00the recent events
25:01in Cuba.
25:02America was
25:03completely humiliated
25:05at the bait of pigs.
25:06It made Castro
25:07CIA enemy
25:09number one.
25:11Castro seemed
25:12to be enjoying
25:13his notoriety
25:14hiding in plain sight
25:16while in private
25:17his sexual conquests
25:19continued
25:20at a frenetic rate.
25:21Fidel had
25:23a voracious
25:24sexual appetite.
25:25There are even
25:27reports that
25:28he would sleep
25:29with at least
25:31two women a day
25:32one at lunch
25:33one at dinner
25:34sometimes even breakfast.
25:37Some of these women
25:38would come willingly.
25:39He was very
25:41charming
25:42charismatic
25:42women would
25:44sort of fawn
25:45after him
25:46because of his charm
25:47but if they weren't
25:50no bother to him
25:52because he would
25:52just have his men
25:54scour the community
25:56for women
25:57and bring them
25:57back to him.
25:59Well I think
26:00he epitomized
26:01the macho male
26:02in that
26:02he liked having
26:04lots of mistresses.
26:06He didn't treat
26:06them very well
26:07and the kind of women
26:09he went for
26:10are
26:11well what would
26:12you call them?
26:13They were good trophies.
26:14They were beautiful.
26:16They were often
26:16women you couldn't
26:17normally get
26:18in Cuban society
26:19like they could
26:20be American
26:21or they could
26:22be wealthy
26:23and glamorous
26:24so all of this
26:26was to boost
26:27the image
26:27of the super
26:29macho male.
26:31Having humiliated
26:32the United States
26:33in the Bay of Pigs
26:34Castro then pursued
26:36as many American
26:37women
26:38as he could.
26:40And it sort of
26:41was a way
26:43of tweaking
26:44the tale
26:45of giant America
26:47saying that
26:49look
26:49I can have
26:50your women
26:52and it was
26:53something
26:53that I think
26:54he liked to do.
26:56As if to thumb
26:57his nose
26:57at the United States
26:58and almost
27:00as if in competition
27:01with his young rival
27:02in the White House
27:03Castro mixed
27:04with some of
27:05Hollywood's
27:05biggest stars
27:06none bigger
27:07at the time
27:08than screened
27:11seductress
27:12Ava Gardner.
27:22Because of that
27:23complicated relationship
27:24with Cuba
27:25and the United States
27:27many of the women
27:28that he sought
27:29after to
27:30dominate
27:32were Hollywood
27:34starlets
27:34American women
27:35that he was able
27:37to realize
27:38as a symbol
27:39for his power.
27:41Castro like
27:42all dictators
27:42image
27:43and symbolism
27:44was terribly
27:45important
27:46and you have
27:47to keep
27:47showing this
27:48to the world.
27:49Ava Gardner
27:50had a long-standing
27:51love affair
27:52with Cuba.
27:53She and Frank
27:54Sinatra
27:54had honeymooned
27:55there
27:56and Gardner
27:58was a regular
27:58house guest
27:59at Ernest Hemingway's
28:00residence
28:01in Havana.
28:02A political junkie
28:04Gardner was drawn
28:06to the charismatic
28:07leader on her
28:08visit to Cuba
28:08in 1959.
28:13One complication
28:14Castro was already
28:16living with another
28:17lover
28:17half his age
28:19German-born
28:20Marita Lorenz.
28:22Well of course
28:23you've got to look
28:24at the women
28:25that Castro
28:26had
28:26there were always
28:27overlaps
28:28Cuban society
28:30gossips as much
28:30as any others
28:31possibly even more
28:33so everybody
28:34had the ideas
28:35of who was doing
28:36what with whom
28:37they're always
28:38measuring themselves
28:39not only against
28:40the dictator
28:41but against
28:41the competitors
28:42and where do I
28:44stand and who's
28:45going to knock me
28:45off and what
28:46have I got to do
28:46to maintain
28:47my position.
28:49The story goes
28:50that Marita
28:51confronted her
28:52rival Ava Gardner
28:53in the lobby
28:54of the Havana
28:55Hilton.
28:56It's not clear
28:57who slapped who
28:58but Castro's guards
29:00had to separate
29:01them.
29:02Marita fled
29:03the country.
29:05In 1960
29:06the CIA
29:07tracked Marita
29:08down in Miami
29:09and recruited her
29:11to attempt
29:12an assassination
29:13of her former
29:14lover.
29:15The plan
29:15was for Marita
29:16to regain
29:17Castro's trust
29:19and then
29:20to slip a vial
29:21of poison
29:21into his drink.
29:23Marita did
29:24return to Castro's
29:26bedroom
29:26but Castro
29:27saw through
29:28the plot.
29:29The story
29:30goes that he
29:31handed her a gun
29:32and said
29:32if you are
29:33going to kill
29:34me do it
29:35now.
29:35She couldn't
29:37go through
29:37with it.
29:38It's almost
29:39as if he
29:39couldn't handle
29:40the amount
29:41of power
29:41that he had
29:42ultimately
29:43and this
29:44pushed him
29:45over the
29:46edge
29:46into a
29:47spiraling
29:48existence
29:49as an
29:52egomaniac
29:52a narcissist
29:53a power
29:55hungry person.
29:56The Cuban
29:56dictator's
29:57appetite
29:57for western
29:58women
29:59was matched
30:00only by his
30:01hunger for
30:01power.
30:02But instead
30:02of building
30:03an alliance
30:04with the
30:04United States
30:05Castro chose
30:06to make
30:07friends with
30:08his enemy's
30:08greatest enemy.
30:10He encouraged
30:11the Soviets
30:12to bring the
30:13nuclear bombs
30:14to Cuba.
30:16The Cold War
30:17was more than
30:18a conflict
30:18of ideologies.
30:19In the early
30:201960s it was
30:22a fast
30:22escalating
30:23arms race
30:24with
30:25intercontinental
30:25nuclear technology
30:26now at the
30:28fingertips of
30:28US President
30:29John F.
30:30Kennedy
30:30and Soviet
30:32Premier
30:32Nikita Khrushchev.
30:34As the world
30:35held its breath
30:36it was Fidel Castro
30:38with his finger
30:39on the trigger
30:39of World War III.
30:43In October
30:441962
30:45Khrushchev and
30:47Castro
30:47made their move.
30:50A civilian freight
30:51ship was heading
30:52towards Cuba
30:53secretly carrying
30:54nuclear missiles.
30:55Soviet technicians
30:57and military
30:58construction
30:58were detected
30:59on the island
31:00by US spy planes.
31:02America was
31:03suddenly in
31:04striking distance
31:05of a nuclear
31:06attack.
31:07Within the past
31:08week
31:09unmistakable
31:10evidence has
31:11established the
31:12fact that a
31:13series of
31:14offensive missile
31:15sites is now
31:17in preparation
31:18on that
31:19imprisoned island.
31:20With US
31:21naval forces
31:22blockading Cuba
31:23Castro remained
31:25defiant.
31:26He wanted to
31:27be the big
31:28guy.
31:28That was his
31:30goal and that
31:30meant controlling
31:32the people and
31:32controlling his
31:33women.
31:34As in the past
31:35these rallies are
31:36designed to whip up
31:37hate of what
31:38Castro calls Yankee
31:39imperialistic
31:40warmongers.
31:41Through suggestions
31:42that a UN team
31:43inspect missile
31:44sites Castro said
31:45that they had better
31:46come ready for
31:46combat.
31:47He went on to
31:48call President
31:49Kennedy a pirate
31:50for setting up
31:51the quarantine.
31:52On October
31:5414
31:54a ballistic
31:55missile was
31:56detected at a
31:57Cuban launch
31:58site.
31:58The world
31:59reached a
32:00nuclear flash
32:01point.
32:03It shall be the
32:04policy of this
32:05nation to
32:06regard any
32:07nuclear missile
32:08launched from
32:09Cuba against any
32:10nation in the
32:11Western Hemisphere
32:12as an attack by
32:14the Soviet Union
32:15on the United
32:16States requiring
32:17a full
32:18retaliatory response
32:19upon the
32:21Soviet Union.
32:21Castro put his
32:23entire population
32:24on notice.
32:26America could
32:26invade at any
32:28moment.
32:30But at the
32:3111th hour
32:32behind Castro's
32:33back Kennedy and
32:35Khrushchev struck a
32:36deal.
32:37The Soviets would
32:38remove their
32:39nuclear missiles from
32:40Cuba in exchange
32:41for the US promise
32:42not to invade the
32:43island and the
32:45removal of US
32:46missiles in Turkey.
32:47The Soviet Union
32:49had sold Castro
32:50out.
32:52When the Soviets
32:53started saying,
32:54look, we're pulling
32:55back after the
32:56whole business, he
32:58was the one who
32:59wanted them to
32:59stay.
33:01Under Navy
33:01surveillance, the
33:02missiles that had
33:03threatened the US
33:04went back where
33:05they came from.
33:09Castro was left
33:10in the cold by his
33:11Soviet paymasters
33:12and now vulnerable.
33:14The effective
33:15truce between
33:17Khrushchev and
33:18Kennedy was made
33:20without Castro's
33:21knowledge or say
33:23so.
33:24And Castro was
33:24furious.
33:25How had he been
33:26effectively left out
33:28of this international
33:29decision?
33:31Feeling betrayed,
33:32he lashed out,
33:34calling the Soviets
33:35weak and demanding
33:37a nuclear strike
33:38against the US, a
33:40move that alarmed
33:41both Washington and
33:42Moscow.
33:44He was quite happy
33:45to precipitate World
33:47War 3 because that
33:49fitted with his
33:50self-image of
33:51megalomania.
33:53He didn't know any
33:54restraint in that
33:55sense.
33:55He was happy to be the
33:57person who started
33:58World War 3 and
33:59almost who pressed
34:01that button, but that
34:02control was taken away
34:03from him by the
34:04superpowers.
34:06Castro was more than
34:07an upstart despot.
34:08He had led the United
34:10States and the Soviet
34:11Union to the brink of a
34:13world war and given the
34:14chance would do it
34:16again.
34:20Through the 1960s and
34:2270s, the CIA is
34:25believed to have
34:25orchestrated more than
34:26600 plots to kill
34:28Fidel Castro.
34:30The CIA's attempted
34:32assassinations of Castro
34:34are interesting not only
34:36because of the numerous
34:38attempts made on his
34:39life, but the rather
34:41interesting and varied
34:42ways in which they
34:43tried to take his
34:44life.
34:47Yeah, somebody said,
34:48hey, what about if,
34:48you know, he smoked
34:49cigars, but what if we
34:50can smuggle some cigars
34:51that will explode in
34:52his face?
34:52Hey, let's look at it.
34:54Yes, there was a lot of
34:55plots that came on the
34:56table.
34:57A poison-laced,
34:58flesh-eating
34:59wetsuit.
35:00He was a big diver.
35:01He loved scuba diving.
35:02You know, they figured
35:03that they knew the area
35:04where he would go, that
35:05they could, you know,
35:07find some way of
35:07poisoning the air in his
35:08tank or cause an
35:09embolism or God knows
35:10what.
35:11The attempts were as
35:12farcical as they were
35:14ingenious.
35:16These are all things that
35:17get tabled in the agency.
35:20You know, when people sit
35:20around and they're
35:21brainstorming, there's a
35:22lot of stupid stuff that
35:24comes out.
35:24There's a lot of brilliant
35:25stuff that comes out.
35:26Also report CIA
35:28involvement in eight
35:29assassination plots
35:30against Castro.
35:31With his life in danger
35:33every day, Castro's
35:35political life became more
35:37frantic and frantic and so
35:38did his sex life.
35:40As Castro's tenure
35:42extended, you would expect
35:45his paranoia increased.
35:47And it did increase.
35:48You can see it from the
35:49repression of Cuba in general.
35:51And the same thing would
35:52apply to his women.
35:54He would have his affairs,
35:56but I think he would be
35:58more distant and quicker to
35:59dispose of them and certainly
36:01have less trust in them.
36:03And any suspicion that they
36:06are dealing with the other
36:08side in that would really
36:10lead to a lot of hostility.
36:12Somehow, Castro survived.
36:15Among the very few people
36:17he trusted was his second
36:19wife, someone he kept from
36:21public view for four
36:22decades, a schoolteacher
36:25named Dalia Soto del
36:26Valle.
36:28Few people knew Dalia even
36:30existed.
36:32But throughout their
36:34relationship, Castro's
36:36affairs continued in numbers
36:38that defy belief.
36:39It's been said that Castro
36:43slept with 35,000 women.
36:46And it's mathematically
36:49possible.
36:50And if we go back to
36:51Genghis Khan and genetic
36:53testing that has shown that
36:57Genghis Khan really did sleep
36:59with enormous tens of
37:02thousands of women, yes,
37:03it's possible Castro did the
37:05same, but I doubt it.
37:06I doubt it very much.
37:08Is that really possible?
37:10How would you even have the
37:11time for that?
37:12Where do they get these
37:14numbers?
37:14Who knows?
37:15It's not as if somebody was
37:16having a tally mark or a
37:17tick box each time one of
37:19these women came through.
37:20But it speaks to the
37:24exorbitancy of his life,
37:25just the ultimate self
37:27indulgence that was Castro.
37:31Look at this man.
37:33What a man he is.
37:34And of course, how these
37:36acolytes would put it out to
37:38everybody.
37:39This is part of his image.
37:40He's a superman.
37:44Whatever her reasons, Dalia
37:46stuck by Castro.
37:48They married 20 years into
37:50their relationship.
37:51And she bore him five sons.
37:55By 1980, Castro's Cuba was
37:59crumbling.
38:00U.S. sanctions crippled Cuba's
38:02economy.
38:04Food and basic supplies were
38:05scarce.
38:06Frustration grew.
38:10Every day in Miami, Cuban
38:13Americans stage their anti-Castro
38:15rallies, hoping this crisis might
38:17lead to his downfall.
38:18So there was a growing air of
38:20dissent in Cuba.
38:23Castro wanted to get rid of
38:26these people, basically saying,
38:28if you don't like it here, go to
38:30the United States, go to Miami.
38:33But Castro doubled down.
38:36In April 1980, with thousands of
38:39Cuban citizens seeking asylum at the
38:41Peruvian embassy in Havana, Castro
38:44made a stunning announcement.
38:46Anyone who wanted to leave Cuba
38:48could do so from the port of
38:51Marielle.
38:51But as always with Fidel, there was
38:54a catch.
38:55He was very calculated in the
38:57people that he sent and
38:59effectively emptied his prisons
39:01and sent the
39:03ne'er-do-wells from Cuba to the
39:08United States.
39:08It was an enormous embarrassment
39:10for the states and had a real
39:13long-lasting effect on the
39:15political landscape there.
39:17He cleared his jails of the most
39:19violent criminals that they had.
39:22You know, until then, I had never
39:23seen a person with a tattoo on
39:25their face or on their lips or
39:26something like that.
39:27That didn't exist.
39:29And all of a sudden, you have
39:31thousands of these guys coming in
39:33with some legitimate refugees,
39:35because there were a lot of
39:35legitimate people that came.
39:40Over the next five months, more
39:41than 125,000 Cubans set sail on
39:45makeshift craft for the United
39:46States.
39:48It's estimated up to a third of the
39:50Cubans who put to sea drown.
39:52Now there are 50 Coast Guard and
39:54Navy vessels patrolling the waters
39:56and 30 planes are dropping food and
39:58water to the refugees below them.
40:00It was known as the Mario boatlift
40:03and all of a sudden, America had a
40:05very big problem.
40:07The level of criminality in South
40:09Florida quadrupled within a few
40:13months.
40:14And within three or four years, the
40:16majority of those hoods were either
40:18dead or in jail.
40:20So there's a movie called Scarface,
40:22which is kind of the Hollywood version
40:25of what was going on.
40:27But it wasn't too far-fetched either.
40:30It was an international stunt with
40:34far-reaching consequences.
40:36Castro, without an international
40:38ally, was now an empty shell of a
40:41dictator.
40:42The tyrant was fading, but the sexual
40:45predator was still at large.
40:48He had sort of a bit of a revolving door
40:51to his bedroom.
40:52He, Castro, was not interested in
40:55investing in relationships with women
40:57for the most part.
40:58And once he was done with them, they
41:01would go on their way.
41:03So in terms of valuing women, Castro had a
41:07value for them, but it was short-lived to,
41:10in many cases, a singular sexual experience.
41:13He ultimately couldn't handle the amount of
41:17power that he had.
41:18And he fed into it and became this monster
41:23to the people around him, surely that nobody
41:27could recognize if they had met the young university
41:29student in the years prior.
41:32In the end, ill health finally did what
41:35no bullet or political coup had managed.
41:38After nearly five decades in power,
41:41Fidel Castro handed over the reins to his brother
41:44Raul in 2008.
41:47He died eight years later at the age of 90.
41:52Castro's story reminds us that our power can
41:57change somebody.
41:58It can turn somebody into a egomaniac,
42:03a person that lacks empathy,
42:05and can feed into a very scary narrative.
42:11And we see that with Castro.
42:13He was a revolutionary who became a staunch
42:17Marxist, public enemy number one to the CIA.
42:20But in the end, basically a bit of a failure.
42:27Whether he slept with 35,000 women,
42:30bedded Hollywood starlets,
42:32or, as he liked to portray,
42:34enjoyed the simple life with his schoolteacher wife,
42:37the line between notoriety and mythology
42:40are never more blurred than when it comes to Fidel Castro.
42:45He lived the life of an elite in Cuba.
42:49But in terms of what he did for Cuba,
42:52I believe it was a failure.
42:54He couldn't control behaviour the way he thought he could.
42:58And so in the end,
42:59Cuba is nowhere near the society he wanted it to be.
43:05He must have known,
43:06as his last days approached,
43:09that on the surface,
43:10he had stood up to America and kept it going.
43:13But at another level,
43:16he knew it wasn't going to last.
43:19No thousand-year Reich here.
43:25No thousand-year Reich here.
43:27no��은.
43:34Yeah,
43:46no thousand-year Reich here.
43:54He must have known,
44:01Gracias por ver el video.
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