Family Weekly October 20, 1963
Here is an exclusive interview with the American attorney
who personally negotiated with the
Cuban dictator for the release of the Bay of Pigs prisoners
was a Cuban cigar humidor, a gift from Fidel.
(Donovan gave Castro a camera.) "The Castro
I came to know after our first meeting in August,
1962, is a fascinating man," Donovan said. "He's
shrewd, complex, and a brilliant propagandist.
Look how he irritates the United States with his
little island ! But he was very calm, correct, and
confident with me."
Any calmness attributed to Fidel contradicts
the dominant American impression of Castro as
a boisterous tyrant spouting outlandish accusa
tions to stimulate the emotions of the masses.
But Donovan considers Castro's temper a politi
cal masquerade. He saw both Fidel, the show
man, and Fidel, unmasked. "Castro is one com
plete actor," Donovan told me. "He could play
Hamlet any day."
The Man Behind the Beard
Castro's personal habits surprised Donovan. In
contradiction to reports that he is sloppy, Castro
appeared neat. A big, husky man, his familiar
fatigue uniform was well-fitted and starched, his
dark beard trimmed and singed.
Castro is frantically busy because he makes
all decisions himself. And except for a few asso
ciates and several bodyguards, he usually is alone.
"He's a practical man," Donovan says, "but
surprising, too. We'd meet at unexpected places
(anywhere from an offshore island to boxing
matches), and we sometimes drove 90 miles an
hour getting there. Castro also is a night man.
He works all night and sleeps from 8 a.m. to
1 :30 in the afternoon."
Castro's reputation as an egotist who loves he
roics is well-founded. His face mirrored admira
tion when he told Donovan: "You're going to be
a big man. Americans love heroics. Your State
Department could not come down here and ac
complish this. Nor the Defense Department
why, it would have cost them tens of thousands
of lives. Here you're going to get these prisoners
out without losing one American life. They'll ap
preciate that."
But Castro-also is a bluffer who tested Dono
van's composure by employing the Red technique
of mixing pleasantries and threats. He once told
Donovan: "You are in circumstances similar to
the Japanese peace ambassadors in Washington
before Pearl Harbor. They had diplomatic im
munity, but we could deal with you differently.
You're in more danger than the prisoners."
Castro's threat didn't frighten Donovan, who
is used to cloak-and-dagger situations. Instead,
Donovan got tough. "Look," he snapped, "I'm
the only market for these prisoners. You're not
going to sell them any place else."
Donovan's firmness seemed to impress him.
The negotiator recalls: "One of Castro's asso
ciates said Fidel appreciated the fact that I told
him my position and feelings, not just something
he wanted to hear. He said that Castro consid
ered me different from most diplomats and thus
he could deal with me. He realized that I wasn't
hoodwinking him or spying."
Still Fidel doesn't encourage outsiders to radi
ate confidence. He is a supersensitive man who
enjoys flashing his authority and seeking small
time recognition. Although he found the ex
change agreement (written in longhand by Dono
van) entirely satisfactory, he still made some
immaterial changes in the document. "You know
now," he told Donovan, sticking out his jaw,
"that I am also a lawyer."
Fidel showed off his authority again while he
and Donovan were awaiting the first ship carry
ing ransom goods. Castro dramatically ordered
his Soviet MIG fighters to stage an acrobatic
show over Havana. But Donovan deflated the
Cuban dictator's ego a bit by quipping, "Here
comes that invasion you've been talking about,"
Castro's ability to emote on cue was dramati
cally demonstrated one day soon after the pris
oners' release. President Kennedy had told the
liberated invaders that "their flag will someday
fly over Free Havana." Fidel, in a violent speech
that ended after 92 minutes only because his
voice gave out, roared in reply: "It will fly over
the Free Havana Bar in Miami."
Time Off for Strange Behavior
But offstage, he bubbled with amity. Shortly
after this anti-American tirade, Donovan, ac
companied by his son John, 18, arrived in Havana
to gain the release of three Central Intelligence
Agency employees. Castro stopped work for two
days to entertain them!
"We will take Don-a-wan spear fishing and
skin diving at 3 in the morning," Castro said.
"Where?" an associate asked.
"Where the ladyfish are!" Castro shot back.
"The Bay of Pigs where else?"
Although Havana has a scenic beach, Castro
ordered his party driven 93 miles south, on
Cuba's opposite coast, to the Bay of Pigs area.
(Castro is so proud of the invasion site that he
is offering a $15,000 prize, to be awarded by a
jury of architects from seven countries, for the
best victory monument design.)
Changing into his swimsuit, Castro insisted
that he wanted only to talk fishing. He threat
ened to leave if he heard politics from Donovan.
"He then gave my son a one-hour lecture on the
invasion," Donovan said. "Castro explained he
was desperate for military supplies. But he felt
confident the people were with him." (Castro's
estimate proved right; invasion strategists relied
on a simultaneous civilian uprising.)
The bearded dictator self-righteously pro
claimed that he was not concerned with outside
judgment which branded him a slave trader.
"World opinion is nothing," he scoffed at Dono
van. "Everyone knows I don't read these things."
But Castro asked Donovan to explain articles
about himself and Cuba that appeared in U.S.
publications. "Every trip, I always had an awful
lot of stories to discuss," Donovan said.
Donovan Explains His Mission
Once Castro and Donovan were at a run-down
villa still occupied by an invasion prisoner's
father, and Fidel said casually, "Don-a-wan, tell
me your philosophy. What motivates you to come
here, to be among enemy people, to do this?"
Donovan reached into his coat pocket and
pulled out a printed card containing a prayer of
Saint Francis. He read : "Make me an instrument
of Your peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow
love; where there is injury, pardon; where there
is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope . . .
where there is sadness, joy ... It is in pardon
ing that we are pardoned."
Fidel, master of the firing squad, listened in
tently. "Yes," he said solemnly, "this is a very
fine objective. I agree entirely with it. But you
know, the methods you and I employ to accom
plish such objectives are a little different."
This double-talk perhaps best exemplifies Cas
tro's thinking and personality. When the last
ransom ship left Havana, an "exasperated" Cas
tro accused the United States of "reneging on
the agreement." Naturally. Fidel is a callous,
calculating man who utilized a profitable deal
without neglecting his dedicated Red aims.
As James B. Donovan says, "Fidel is one fasci
nating propagandist."
Family Wrrklu Ortabrr 20. 193