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Marita LorenzFidel Castro's mistress, who was ordered to kill the revolutionary
Date of Birth: 18.08.1939
Country:  USA |
Content:
Marta Lorenz: Love Affair with Fidel Castro and Failed Assassination Attempt
Introduction
Former CIA mercenary Marta Lorenz, now a 74-year-old resident of New York, begins her story with the words, "I fell in love with Fidel Castro... and then I tried to kill him!" Lorenz was tasked with eliminating the Cuban dictator using poisonous pills, likely ampoules containing botulinum toxin, hidden in her face cream. This German woman became Castro's mistress in 1959 when she was just 20 years old. However, within a year, she transformed from a lover to a potential assassin.
The Beginning of a Love Affair
It all started on February 28, 1959, when the cruise liner "Berlin," where Lorenz worked, docked in Havana's harbor. As soon as the ship arrived, many curious Cuban military personnel, including Castro, rushed towards it. Lorenz recalls the moment of their first encounter: "One of the men stood taller than the rest. I asked him who he was. He laughed and said, 'I am a Cuban. Commander Fidel Castro.' After this fateful meeting, Lorenz set her sights on the dictator, and soon the couple began their life together in Havana.
The Planned Assassination
Lorenz's presence did not go unnoticed, especially by intelligence agencies. However, how did the daughter of a German captain of an American cruise liner go from being Castro's mistress to his potential assassin within a year? The CIA agents manipulated her by claiming that Castro had orchestrated her miscarriage. "I didn't believe it," Lorenz said in an interview for the documentary film "CIA Declassified." "But they brainwashed me well when they said he did it. It left me with a broken heart." The CIA bombarded her with anti-Cuban propaganda, drugged her with amphetamines and sleeping pills, eventually convincing her that Castro was not only a threat to the United States but also a terrible person in general.
The Failed Attempt
Lorenz agreed to carry out the assassination and in January 1960, she went to Miami to meet with CIA double agent Frank Sturgis, who handed her the poisonous pills. Lorenz's role seemed relatively simple at first: slip the pill into Castro's drink and disappear unnoticed. Fearing exposure, she hid the poison in a jar of cold cream. This turn of events proved fatal. While in Castro's penthouse, Lorenz attempted to dissolve the pill in a glass of water but accidentally scooped up some cream along with the already partially dissolved pills. The cream smeared the glass. Panicking, she tried to clean it but failed. In that moment, Castro entered the room. He immediately understood what had happened, and Lorenz froze in horror. She recalls, "He took out his gun. I thought he was going to shoot me, but he handed me the gun and asked, 'Did you come here to kill me?' Then Castro lit a cigar and closed his eyes. He didn't take any action because he was confident that Lorenz wouldn't be able to pull the trigger. He still loved her, and she still loved him. The young woman emptied the gun and fell into the commander's arms.
The Aftermath
However, the incredible story does not end like a fairytale. Fearing the CIA, Lorenz did not stay with her beloved Castro. She returned to Miami and never saw Fidel again. Her subsequent fate led her to another dictator, Marcos Perez Jimenez of Venezuela, with whom she had a daughter. There are many rumors about what happened to the child of Lorenz and Castro's love affair. One suggests that she was shown a photograph of her beheaded baby, while another claims that the dictator kept the child safe and unharmed. "At the moment I saw the outline of the island from the plane, I knew I couldn't do it," Lorenz concludes her story about the failed assassination attempt. "I have the reputation of a killer, but I never harmed a fly."
