1 00:00:07,080 --> 00:00:08,800 NARRATOR: Evil. 2 00:00:08,960 --> 00:00:11,480 Powerful. 3 00:00:11,640 --> 00:00:14,160 Uncompromising. 4 00:00:14,320 --> 00:00:16,079 Ruthless. 5 00:00:16,239 --> 00:00:18,400 Behind closed doors, 6 00:00:18,560 --> 00:00:20,320 a private hell. 7 00:00:20,480 --> 00:00:23,160 - (woman screams) - Tyrants often 8 00:00:23,320 --> 00:00:25,880 deviate in their sexual behaviour. 9 00:00:26,880 --> 00:00:29,240 - He fantasised about older women. 10 00:00:29,400 --> 00:00:31,880 - He puts make up on. 11 00:00:32,040 --> 00:00:34,560 - He had thousands of concubines. 12 00:00:34,720 --> 00:00:39,320 - They were this glamourous, gun toting, sex objects. 13 00:00:39,480 --> 00:00:41,200 MAN (over radio): Fire on designated targets. 14 00:00:41,360 --> 00:00:45,320 NARRATOR: The psychological insights of the degenerate and deviant. 15 00:00:45,480 --> 00:00:48,840 WORTHEN: He was obsessed with aphrodisiacs. 16 00:00:49,000 --> 00:00:51,880 - It is typical of somebody who is sexually repressed. 17 00:00:52,040 --> 00:00:55,840 - Power can change somebody. 18 00:00:56,000 --> 00:00:58,440 - (crowd clamours) - (explosion booms) 19 00:01:08,880 --> 00:01:12,720 - He was quite happy to precipitate World War Three. 20 00:01:12,880 --> 00:01:15,480 - (air raid siren wails) 21 00:01:18,000 --> 00:01:21,440 - The entire world on the edge of their seats 22 00:01:21,600 --> 00:01:25,200 as the Cold War hurtled towards nuclear war. 23 00:01:27,560 --> 00:01:32,280 NARRATOR: For nearly five decades, Fidel Castro ruled an island nation 24 00:01:32,440 --> 00:01:36,440 just 90 miles off the coast of Miami with an iron grip, 25 00:01:36,600 --> 00:01:39,800 taunting the United States with his revolutionary zeal. 26 00:01:39,960 --> 00:01:42,160 - (speaking in Spanish) 27 00:01:42,320 --> 00:01:44,800 NARRATOR: But behind closed doors, 28 00:01:44,960 --> 00:01:46,759 another tale unfolded. 29 00:01:46,920 --> 00:01:50,280 - He was a great, charismatic, 30 00:01:50,440 --> 00:01:53,400 successful womaniser. 31 00:01:53,560 --> 00:01:55,640 - There are numerous reports that have come out 32 00:01:55,800 --> 00:01:59,759 that Castro had 35,000 lovers. 33 00:02:01,840 --> 00:02:03,680 - Is that really possible? 34 00:02:03,840 --> 00:02:06,600 How would you even have the time for that? 35 00:02:07,760 --> 00:02:09,800 - (intriguing music) 36 00:02:13,120 --> 00:02:16,680 NARRATOR: This country homestead on a vast sugarcane property 37 00:02:16,840 --> 00:02:20,880 is the birthplace of one of the world's most notorious dictators. 38 00:02:22,079 --> 00:02:23,880 His appetite for power 39 00:02:24,040 --> 00:02:26,560 matched only by his desire for sex. 40 00:02:28,040 --> 00:02:30,440 Born out of wedlock in 1930, 41 00:02:30,600 --> 00:02:33,680 he was christened Fidel Alejandro Castro. 42 00:02:34,680 --> 00:02:38,800 Castro's father, Angel, was a wealthy Spanish landowner. 43 00:02:39,920 --> 00:02:44,320 From a young age Castro realised he was different from his siblings. 44 00:02:45,200 --> 00:02:48,079 Whilst they shared the same parentage, 45 00:02:48,240 --> 00:02:52,400 he was the product of his father's affair with the family cook. 46 00:02:52,560 --> 00:02:56,200 A bastard child born into a rich family. 47 00:02:56,360 --> 00:03:01,560 Might this have shaped the way Castro regarded marriage and sex? 48 00:03:01,720 --> 00:03:05,800 - So he was growing up in a household 49 00:03:05,960 --> 00:03:08,800 where his father was sleeping 50 00:03:08,960 --> 00:03:11,240 with the servant who was his mother, 51 00:03:11,400 --> 00:03:14,800 and I believe she didn't marry him, 52 00:03:14,960 --> 00:03:18,079 she didn't marry the father until Castro was in his teens, 53 00:03:18,240 --> 00:03:20,240 around 13, 14. 54 00:03:21,320 --> 00:03:24,680 - Castro, I think, even though he would never admit it, 55 00:03:24,840 --> 00:03:29,000 never escaped the fact that he was a bastard son 56 00:03:29,160 --> 00:03:31,360 and you could see that this played a part 57 00:03:31,520 --> 00:03:34,440 in his swing towards communism 58 00:03:34,600 --> 00:03:38,160 because communism is, of course, anti-bourgeois society, 59 00:03:38,320 --> 00:03:41,400 and bourgeois society wants husband, wife, 60 00:03:41,560 --> 00:03:43,720 marriage and proper children, 61 00:03:43,880 --> 00:03:47,120 not multiple polyamorous liaisons. 62 00:03:47,280 --> 00:03:51,640 NARRATOR: But Castro was also born into a time of national turmoil. 63 00:03:51,800 --> 00:03:55,160 1930s Cuba was in chaos. 64 00:03:55,320 --> 00:03:57,840 The recession-hit government was unpopular. 65 00:03:58,000 --> 00:04:00,360 The streets of Havana unsafe. 66 00:04:00,520 --> 00:04:03,400 A rowdy coalition of the military and students 67 00:04:03,560 --> 00:04:06,360 overthrew the government in 1933, 68 00:04:06,520 --> 00:04:10,960 which began years of turmoil to which young Fidel was witness. 69 00:04:11,120 --> 00:04:14,480 - His interest in sexual domination 70 00:04:14,640 --> 00:04:17,720 map over very nicely onto his interests 71 00:04:17,880 --> 00:04:20,399 in controlling his people, 72 00:04:20,560 --> 00:04:24,200 and we can see that, sort of, each point 73 00:04:24,360 --> 00:04:28,600 of his masculinity or his machismo 74 00:04:28,760 --> 00:04:32,560 overlaps with these relationships 75 00:04:32,720 --> 00:04:36,000 over women and over the people of Cuba. 76 00:04:36,159 --> 00:04:39,320 We can't understand Fidel Castro 77 00:04:39,480 --> 00:04:44,640 without understanding that ultimate drive for power and control. 78 00:04:44,800 --> 00:04:47,000 NARRATOR: Educated at Jesuit schools, 79 00:04:47,159 --> 00:04:49,280 Castro stood out as an athlete, 80 00:04:49,440 --> 00:04:52,880 but also as a talented student with a rebellious streak. 81 00:04:53,040 --> 00:04:57,240 - He went to Catholic institutions, a Jesuit institution, 82 00:04:57,400 --> 00:05:01,720 and he was very much, I believe, affected by that in his upbringing. 83 00:05:01,880 --> 00:05:05,840 His sense of guilt, his sense of... 84 00:05:07,920 --> 00:05:11,280 ..what is normal in sexual activity 85 00:05:11,440 --> 00:05:16,080 and also his attitudes towards gays, which was negative. 86 00:05:16,240 --> 00:05:20,360 I think that was all affected by his Jesuit upbringing. 87 00:05:22,200 --> 00:05:26,040 NARRATOR: By the 1950s, post-World War Two Havana 88 00:05:26,200 --> 00:05:29,240 had become once more a party town. 89 00:05:30,160 --> 00:05:33,880 Tourists and movie stars flooded in from Miami, 90 00:05:34,040 --> 00:05:37,040 bringing American dollars, Hollywood glamour 91 00:05:37,200 --> 00:05:39,560 and their inevitable travel companions, 92 00:05:39,720 --> 00:05:42,280 the mafia and corruption. 93 00:05:42,440 --> 00:05:44,760 Organised crime was rife, 94 00:05:44,920 --> 00:05:47,800 operating under the regime of corrupt dictator 95 00:05:47,960 --> 00:05:50,040 Fugencio Batista. 96 00:05:54,320 --> 00:05:58,000 - The relationship between Cuba and the United States of America 97 00:05:58,159 --> 00:06:00,920 had historically been quite a close one, 98 00:06:01,080 --> 00:06:03,000 especially geographically, 99 00:06:03,160 --> 00:06:06,960 a matter of miles between the Cuban shoreline and Miami. 100 00:06:07,120 --> 00:06:09,840 So much so that Havana was the playground 101 00:06:10,000 --> 00:06:11,920 for the rich and famous of America. 102 00:06:12,080 --> 00:06:14,000 People would go there to the clubs 103 00:06:14,160 --> 00:06:16,160 and of course have their cigars and so on. 104 00:06:16,320 --> 00:06:19,040 So, it really was the place to be. 105 00:06:19,200 --> 00:06:21,960 REPORTER: The Monte Carlo of the Americas. 106 00:06:23,040 --> 00:06:26,760 All this and the gaiety of a tropical night in Havana. 107 00:06:26,920 --> 00:06:30,000 NARRATOR: At the same time as stars like Frank Sinatra 108 00:06:30,160 --> 00:06:33,480 were living the high life in Havana, 109 00:06:33,640 --> 00:06:37,240 Fidel Castro was studying law in the Cuban capital. 110 00:06:37,400 --> 00:06:41,040 - Castro, being the charming guy that he was, 111 00:06:41,200 --> 00:06:45,720 he quickly learned how to weaponise his power and control 112 00:06:45,880 --> 00:06:48,800 and dominate anybody 113 00:06:48,960 --> 00:06:51,480 that he interacted with, even from an early age. 114 00:06:51,640 --> 00:06:55,480 - Castro's relationships with Western women 115 00:06:55,640 --> 00:06:59,440 and his reported preference for blondes, 116 00:06:59,600 --> 00:07:05,440 I think that's part of this macho, sportsman, 117 00:07:05,600 --> 00:07:10,000 playboy-type image that he liked. 118 00:07:10,160 --> 00:07:13,680 NARRATOR: Castro's priapic reputation started early. 119 00:07:13,840 --> 00:07:18,920 At university, he juggled multiple sexual relationships simultaneously. 120 00:07:19,080 --> 00:07:22,400 It's here that Castro first earned the nickname 121 00:07:22,560 --> 00:07:25,760 "El Caballo", The Horse. 122 00:07:25,920 --> 00:07:29,400 - And even in somewhat maybe a bit of a twisted way, 123 00:07:29,560 --> 00:07:32,040 believing that he deserved that power 124 00:07:32,200 --> 00:07:36,200 and utilising that dominance through the numerous women 125 00:07:36,360 --> 00:07:39,120 that he engaged in many sexual relationships with. 126 00:07:39,280 --> 00:07:43,880 - Tyrants often deviate in their sexual behaviour 127 00:07:44,040 --> 00:07:46,120 because they can. 128 00:07:46,280 --> 00:07:50,280 Because they deviate in all their other behaviours. 129 00:07:50,440 --> 00:07:54,320 They deviate in the use of power. 130 00:07:55,200 --> 00:07:58,560 NARRATOR: But there was one woman who caught Castro's eye: 131 00:07:58,720 --> 00:08:03,320 Mirta Díaz-Balart, the daughter of a prominent Cuban politician. 132 00:08:03,480 --> 00:08:06,520 He was taken by her beauty and her influence. 133 00:08:06,680 --> 00:08:09,520 They married in 1948, 134 00:08:09,680 --> 00:08:12,120 her father paying for their honeymoon 135 00:08:12,280 --> 00:08:14,080 to the United States. 136 00:08:14,240 --> 00:08:18,040 Castro's love-hate affair with America was about to begin. 137 00:08:18,200 --> 00:08:20,680 COMMENTATOR: Oh, you'll hear much more about him later. 138 00:08:20,840 --> 00:08:22,800 - (cheering) 139 00:08:26,160 --> 00:08:28,280 COMMENTATOR: Yankee Stadium, New York. 140 00:08:30,520 --> 00:08:33,120 NARRATOR: Despite their lifelong enmity, 141 00:08:33,280 --> 00:08:35,200 Fidel Castro and the United States 142 00:08:35,360 --> 00:08:37,520 shared a love of baseball. 143 00:08:37,679 --> 00:08:40,720 He was a powerful pitcher who hated to lose. 144 00:08:40,880 --> 00:08:45,040 Even after he became Cuba's national leader in 1959, 145 00:08:45,200 --> 00:08:47,720 Castro never missed a chance to play ball. 146 00:08:47,880 --> 00:08:50,840 COMMENTATOR: The unpredictable Castro dons a baseball uniform... 147 00:08:51,000 --> 00:08:54,720 NARRATOR: And the American media always lapped it up. 148 00:08:54,880 --> 00:08:57,280 COMMENTATOR: And the game is on. Castro pitching is credited 149 00:08:57,440 --> 00:08:59,640 with striking out the three batters he faces. 150 00:09:00,560 --> 00:09:03,960 It's one game the opposition really has to be careful. 151 00:09:04,120 --> 00:09:06,440 Viva Fidel! 152 00:09:06,600 --> 00:09:10,160 - Castro, when he was growing up, when he was at college, 153 00:09:10,320 --> 00:09:13,000 absolutely loved sports, all sports. 154 00:09:13,160 --> 00:09:15,960 He excelled at them, in particular baseball. 155 00:09:16,120 --> 00:09:18,560 In fact, there is a rumour 156 00:09:18,720 --> 00:09:22,000 that he was asked to play for the New York Yankees. 157 00:09:22,160 --> 00:09:25,840 However, there's no documentary evidence to support this. 158 00:09:26,000 --> 00:09:29,200 But he still enjoyed everything to do with sport. 159 00:09:29,360 --> 00:09:31,480 NARRATOR: In 1949, 160 00:09:31,640 --> 00:09:35,280 with Castro an outspoken lawyer representing the poor, 161 00:09:35,440 --> 00:09:38,280 Mirta gave birth to their son, 'Fidelito'. 162 00:09:40,000 --> 00:09:42,880 Castro's first "official" child. 163 00:09:46,800 --> 00:09:51,240 The political turmoil in the country shows no sign of abating. 164 00:09:51,400 --> 00:09:56,400 In 1952, a military coup brings the corrupt Batista 165 00:09:56,560 --> 00:09:59,160 to power for a second time. 166 00:10:00,960 --> 00:10:04,200 REPORTER: It was all too clear that if you doubted his intentions, 167 00:10:04,360 --> 00:10:06,720 your fate would be the firing squad. 168 00:10:08,200 --> 00:10:12,360 NARRATOR: As Castro became more deeply involved in radical politics, 169 00:10:12,520 --> 00:10:15,080 he grew distant from his wife, Mirta. 170 00:10:15,240 --> 00:10:17,160 And like his father, 171 00:10:17,320 --> 00:10:20,240 openly had affairs with other women. 172 00:10:20,400 --> 00:10:23,800 - He was attractive, he was a magnet, 173 00:10:23,960 --> 00:10:25,920 he was charismatic, 174 00:10:26,080 --> 00:10:29,360 and he would have been popular with women, 175 00:10:29,520 --> 00:10:32,280 even if he had not been national leader. 176 00:10:32,440 --> 00:10:35,160 - It's not like someone just wakes up one day 177 00:10:35,320 --> 00:10:38,200 and says, "Oh, I'm gonna become a dictator 178 00:10:38,360 --> 00:10:42,600 and I'm gonna become a voracious sexual deviant." 179 00:10:42,760 --> 00:10:45,120 That's not how these things work. 180 00:10:45,280 --> 00:10:47,960 We can see a long history 181 00:10:48,120 --> 00:10:52,400 of emerging psychological and sociological impacts 182 00:10:52,560 --> 00:10:55,600 that we can trace through someone's narrative. 183 00:10:55,760 --> 00:11:00,800 NARRATOR: Fidel Castro's narrative was about to take a dramatic turn. 184 00:11:00,960 --> 00:11:04,280 In 1953, he led a rebel attempt 185 00:11:04,440 --> 00:11:06,360 to steal weapons from a barracks. 186 00:11:06,520 --> 00:11:09,000 But Batista's forces were ready for them. 187 00:11:09,160 --> 00:11:11,960 REPORTER: On July 26th, 1953, 188 00:11:12,120 --> 00:11:15,640 the fortress was attacked by 165 revolutionaries. 189 00:11:15,800 --> 00:11:18,120 Most of them were killed. 190 00:11:22,320 --> 00:11:24,520 Fidel Castro led the detachment. 191 00:11:24,680 --> 00:11:28,200 NARRATOR: Castro, the ringleader, and his brother Raul 192 00:11:28,360 --> 00:11:31,120 were captured and put on trial. 193 00:11:31,280 --> 00:11:35,120 Defiantly, he chose to defend himself. 194 00:11:35,280 --> 00:11:38,080 At that time, under Batista's regime, 195 00:11:38,240 --> 00:11:40,960 a death penalty would surely await. 196 00:11:41,120 --> 00:11:44,080 But Castro got lucky. 197 00:11:44,240 --> 00:11:46,840 His wife Mirta persuaded her father, 198 00:11:47,000 --> 00:11:49,480 a cabinet minister in Batista's government, 199 00:11:49,640 --> 00:11:51,360 to intervene. 200 00:11:51,520 --> 00:11:53,400 Instead of a firing squad, 201 00:11:53,560 --> 00:11:56,440 Castro was sentenced to 15 years in jail. 202 00:11:56,600 --> 00:11:58,880 He would serve only two. 203 00:12:01,360 --> 00:12:04,440 Castro's wife had saved his life. 204 00:12:04,600 --> 00:12:07,360 He repaid her by running into the arms 205 00:12:07,520 --> 00:12:09,640 of another man's wife. 206 00:12:12,400 --> 00:12:14,800 Her name was Natalia Revuelta, 207 00:12:14,960 --> 00:12:18,880 a charming Havana socialite whom he called Naty. 208 00:12:19,040 --> 00:12:22,800 She was said to be the most beautiful woman in the capital. 209 00:12:22,960 --> 00:12:26,400 - They had to be attractive. They had be seductive. 210 00:12:26,560 --> 00:12:29,880 I think that he wanted intelligent women 211 00:12:30,040 --> 00:12:32,160 really as a way of saying, 212 00:12:32,320 --> 00:12:35,240 "You're intelligent but I'm more intelligent than you." 213 00:12:36,280 --> 00:12:39,400 NARRATOR: But Naty was just a brief diversion. 214 00:12:39,560 --> 00:12:44,800 In 1955, Castro fled to Mexico with his brother Raul. 215 00:12:46,040 --> 00:12:47,880 It was here that Castro met a man 216 00:12:48,040 --> 00:12:50,680 who would become his most trusted ally, 217 00:12:50,840 --> 00:12:55,520 Argentinian revolutionary Ernesto 'Che' Guevara. 218 00:12:56,560 --> 00:13:00,920 - Che Guevara was a Marxist doctor, 219 00:13:01,080 --> 00:13:02,800 turned revolutionary, 220 00:13:02,960 --> 00:13:07,960 and he shared Castro's vision for anti-imperialism, 221 00:13:08,120 --> 00:13:09,840 for a revolution, 222 00:13:10,000 --> 00:13:13,480 and they called themselves the 26th of July Movement. 223 00:13:13,640 --> 00:13:17,640 This relationship between Che Guevara and Fidel Castro 224 00:13:17,800 --> 00:13:21,640 was one of the most important in modern revolutionary history. 225 00:13:21,800 --> 00:13:24,000 NARRATOR: But there was someone else 226 00:13:24,160 --> 00:13:27,960 who played a key role in Fidel Castro's ambitions. 227 00:13:28,120 --> 00:13:31,600 Celia Sanchez was Castro's political strategist 228 00:13:31,760 --> 00:13:34,760 and, rumour has it, lover. 229 00:13:35,760 --> 00:13:39,120 A year after they met, she saved Castro's life 230 00:13:39,280 --> 00:13:42,240 after his failed attempt to return to Cuba. 231 00:13:43,280 --> 00:13:46,360 While most of Castro's men were killed, 232 00:13:46,520 --> 00:13:49,160 Celia mobilised the locals to hide Castro 233 00:13:49,320 --> 00:13:52,160 and the remaining rebels lived to fight another day. 234 00:13:52,320 --> 00:13:54,560 REPORTER: Castro's plan of action? 235 00:13:54,720 --> 00:13:58,360 To fight by any means until the Batista regime is toppled. 236 00:13:58,520 --> 00:14:01,960 NARRATOR: Castro re-grouped, living rough. 237 00:14:02,840 --> 00:14:06,560 With Che Guevara, he stoked the embers of revolution 238 00:14:06,720 --> 00:14:10,840 with a propaganda campaign run from his jungle office. 239 00:14:15,640 --> 00:14:19,520 Town by town, the rebels took Cuba, 240 00:14:19,680 --> 00:14:22,400 until the final blow came 241 00:14:22,560 --> 00:14:26,800 on New Year's Eve 1958. 242 00:14:28,760 --> 00:14:31,360 Realising defeat was inevitable, 243 00:14:31,520 --> 00:14:33,640 Batista fled the country. 244 00:14:37,440 --> 00:14:41,720 Fidel Castro became the leader of a new Cuba. 245 00:14:43,760 --> 00:14:46,000 REPORTER: Then the temper of the throng changed 246 00:14:46,160 --> 00:14:48,040 and an ugly mob reigns the streets, 247 00:14:48,200 --> 00:14:50,840 its prime target the symbols of the overthrown regime. 248 00:14:51,000 --> 00:14:53,040 The gambling casinos, the parking meters, 249 00:14:53,200 --> 00:14:56,400 the homes and businesses of Batista's cohorts. 250 00:15:00,800 --> 00:15:02,880 NARRATOR: Eight days later, 251 00:15:03,040 --> 00:15:05,960 riding atop one of Batista's own tanks, 252 00:15:06,120 --> 00:15:09,920 a triumphant Fidel Castro entered Havana. 253 00:15:10,080 --> 00:15:11,680 Cuba was liberated, 254 00:15:11,840 --> 00:15:14,640 and Castro was a national hero. 255 00:15:16,560 --> 00:15:19,440 REPORTER: To the Cuban people and to the admiring world, 256 00:15:19,600 --> 00:15:22,120 there could be no better way to start the new year. 257 00:15:22,280 --> 00:15:24,760 - (singing in Spanish) 258 00:15:29,040 --> 00:15:32,680 NARRATOR: Victory Castro-style included a white dove 259 00:15:32,840 --> 00:15:36,400 that settled on his shoulder as he addressed his people. 260 00:15:36,560 --> 00:15:40,280 Was this a sign from above or a stunt? 261 00:15:40,440 --> 00:15:42,920 - He is this charismatic, 262 00:15:43,080 --> 00:15:47,320 heroic, Cuban Castro, 263 00:15:47,480 --> 00:15:51,000 with doves landing on him as a signal 264 00:15:51,160 --> 00:15:53,120 that he is the chosen one. 265 00:15:54,160 --> 00:15:56,880 REPORTER: Fidel Castro with the doves of peace 266 00:15:57,040 --> 00:16:00,440 sitting on his shoulders as he surveys the crowd 267 00:16:00,600 --> 00:16:04,120 that is tonight celebrating Cuba Libre. 268 00:16:04,280 --> 00:16:08,560 - Now, what better image than this great man 269 00:16:08,720 --> 00:16:11,560 who's now taken over from the bad dictator 270 00:16:11,720 --> 00:16:13,840 and has doves landing on him? 271 00:16:14,000 --> 00:16:16,760 - And this was taken as a sign by many people 272 00:16:16,920 --> 00:16:19,800 of some kind of supernatural event. 273 00:16:19,960 --> 00:16:21,920 What they didn't know 274 00:16:22,080 --> 00:16:24,560 was that Castro and his girlfriend at the time 275 00:16:24,720 --> 00:16:26,920 had practised this 276 00:16:27,080 --> 00:16:30,040 and trained the doves to land on him. 277 00:16:30,200 --> 00:16:32,440 So it was a staged event. 278 00:16:34,280 --> 00:16:37,480 NARRATOR: But the new dictator wasn't interested in peace. 279 00:16:37,640 --> 00:16:40,920 He was interested in retribution and revenge. 280 00:16:41,080 --> 00:16:44,480 Soon after seizing power in 1959, 281 00:16:44,640 --> 00:16:46,840 Fidel Castro went to work, 282 00:16:47,000 --> 00:16:51,360 staging a mass public trial of former regime officials. 283 00:16:51,520 --> 00:16:54,440 REPORTER: In Havana's sports palace the Castro Regime's controversial 284 00:16:54,600 --> 00:16:58,440 showpiece trials get underway before a turbulent throng of 18,000. 285 00:16:58,600 --> 00:17:02,440 NARRATOR: Castro did not attend the kangaroo court. 286 00:17:02,600 --> 00:17:05,880 He was preoccupied with other matters. 287 00:17:07,280 --> 00:17:10,440 - Since men have been in power, 288 00:17:10,599 --> 00:17:14,920 over thousands of years, acted as dictators, 289 00:17:15,079 --> 00:17:18,680 their political power 290 00:17:18,839 --> 00:17:22,520 has translated into sexual power. 291 00:17:22,680 --> 00:17:26,720 NARRATOR: Even as his captured enemies pleaded for their lives, 292 00:17:26,880 --> 00:17:30,000 Castro's sexual conquests mounted. 293 00:17:30,160 --> 00:17:32,280 REPORTER: Batista aide Major Sosso Blanco, 294 00:17:32,440 --> 00:17:35,680 charged with 200 murders, faces a military tribunal. 295 00:17:35,840 --> 00:17:39,440 Three judges still wearing the revolutionary jungle battle dress. 296 00:17:41,240 --> 00:17:45,280 NARRATOR: During the trial of Major Blanco, a colonel in Batista's army, 297 00:17:45,440 --> 00:17:49,120 a 12-year-old boy was brought forward as a witness. 298 00:17:49,280 --> 00:17:51,440 The crowd, whipped into a frenzy, 299 00:17:51,600 --> 00:17:54,960 erupted with chants of, "Kill him! Kill him!" 300 00:17:56,440 --> 00:17:58,520 REPORTER: Emotions climb in the nine-hour trial 301 00:17:58,680 --> 00:18:00,760 as the testimony piles up. 302 00:18:00,920 --> 00:18:03,280 This woman charges Blanco murdered her husband. 303 00:18:04,560 --> 00:18:06,640 The decision is death. 304 00:18:06,800 --> 00:18:09,680 NARRATOR: The world reacted with outrage. 305 00:18:09,840 --> 00:18:12,800 REPORTER: The executions, some 250 to date, 306 00:18:12,960 --> 00:18:16,520 have been widely criticised by many as too hasty and summary. 307 00:18:17,360 --> 00:18:20,360 - Fidel Castro treated his enemies brutally. 308 00:18:20,520 --> 00:18:23,280 They were imprisoned, tortured. 309 00:18:23,440 --> 00:18:25,920 They were put on public show trials. 310 00:18:26,080 --> 00:18:28,600 They were even executed in public. 311 00:18:28,760 --> 00:18:31,880 And his private police force, the G2, 312 00:18:32,040 --> 00:18:34,480 became feared throughout the country. 313 00:18:34,640 --> 00:18:37,920 REPORTER: Says Castro, the Cuban Revolutionary Government 314 00:18:38,080 --> 00:18:41,200 has no reason to offer explanations to America or to anyone. 315 00:18:43,080 --> 00:18:46,800 This is the biggest gathering and demonstration in Cuba's history. 316 00:18:46,960 --> 00:18:49,120 Almost a million people are here. 317 00:18:49,280 --> 00:18:51,520 There is Fidel Castro, the leader 318 00:18:51,680 --> 00:18:54,120 and the cause of this demonstration. 319 00:18:54,280 --> 00:18:57,280 The purpose of today's gathering is to show the whole world 320 00:18:57,440 --> 00:19:00,120 that all Cubans are united in the rebel victory 321 00:19:00,280 --> 00:19:03,000 and that all of them support the executions. 322 00:19:03,160 --> 00:19:06,040 NARRATOR: Foreign leaders condemned the executions, 323 00:19:06,200 --> 00:19:08,520 but that simply played into his hands. 324 00:19:08,680 --> 00:19:11,840 Right or wrong, Castro now had their attention, 325 00:19:12,000 --> 00:19:15,040 a formidable player on the world stage. 326 00:19:17,440 --> 00:19:19,880 NARRATOR: Fidel Castro, now in power, 327 00:19:20,040 --> 00:19:23,800 set up headquarters in the plush Havana Hilton. 328 00:19:25,120 --> 00:19:29,120 The revolutionary leader now had a brand new propaganda plaything: 329 00:19:29,280 --> 00:19:31,360 American television. 330 00:19:31,520 --> 00:19:35,120 - We are against all kind of dictator. 331 00:19:35,280 --> 00:19:37,360 That is our idea. 332 00:19:37,520 --> 00:19:40,520 Nevertheless, class dictator, military dictator. 333 00:19:40,680 --> 00:19:43,720 That is why we do not agree with communism. 334 00:19:43,880 --> 00:19:46,840 NARRATOR: Communism was a dirty word in the United States 335 00:19:47,000 --> 00:19:49,480 and Castro was happy to lie to their faces 336 00:19:49,640 --> 00:19:52,720 if it meant victory in the court of public opinion. 337 00:19:52,880 --> 00:19:54,640 - Dr Castro, 338 00:19:54,800 --> 00:19:58,440 Senator Smathers of Florida says 339 00:19:58,600 --> 00:20:03,480 that you have many communists in your government. Is that so? 340 00:20:32,920 --> 00:20:35,360 NARRATOR: The charm offensive worked. 341 00:20:35,520 --> 00:20:39,040 On a visit to New York, only four months after his victory, 342 00:20:39,200 --> 00:20:44,040 the 32-year-old revolutionary received a rockstar welcome. 343 00:20:44,200 --> 00:20:46,400 - In the end, he had to get an armed guard. 344 00:20:46,560 --> 00:20:50,960 It took over 20 minutes to go 100 metres to the hotel doors 345 00:20:51,120 --> 00:20:53,880 because everybody wanted a piece of Castro. 346 00:20:54,040 --> 00:20:56,800 They wanted to meet him and talk to him and greet him. 347 00:20:56,960 --> 00:20:59,560 NARRATOR: Castro was cool, 348 00:20:59,720 --> 00:21:04,080 even if his dress sense was not everyone's idea of a statesman. 349 00:21:04,920 --> 00:21:06,680 - What do you think of Castro? 350 00:21:06,840 --> 00:21:09,200 - I think that if he follows through with the plans 351 00:21:09,360 --> 00:21:13,600 that he said he will follow through, I think he will be an excellent 352 00:21:13,760 --> 00:21:16,240 example of modern democracy. 353 00:21:16,400 --> 00:21:19,640 However, I have one objection. I did see him on the street 354 00:21:19,800 --> 00:21:22,600 the other night in front of the Times Building. 355 00:21:22,760 --> 00:21:25,280 I think that he should come dressed like a gentleman 356 00:21:25,440 --> 00:21:28,000 like the other government representatives do. 357 00:21:28,160 --> 00:21:30,760 - You think he should wear a tie and perhaps a jacket, huh? 358 00:21:30,920 --> 00:21:32,560 - Yes, I do. I really do. 359 00:21:32,720 --> 00:21:34,880 NARRATOR: Castro loved the attention, 360 00:21:35,040 --> 00:21:37,920 and now he had the ear of the world. 361 00:21:38,080 --> 00:21:42,520 - Castro, just like all tyrants, was an extreme narcissist. 362 00:21:42,680 --> 00:21:45,080 He was an egomaniac. 363 00:21:45,240 --> 00:21:49,160 He was self-indulgent, hedonistic. 364 00:21:49,320 --> 00:21:53,640 He would have indulged in the news stories themselves. 365 00:21:53,800 --> 00:21:56,000 - Good evening, my fellow citizens. 366 00:21:56,160 --> 00:21:58,120 NARRATOR: The United States soon had 367 00:21:58,280 --> 00:22:01,400 its own charismatic young leader, John F. Kennedy. 368 00:22:01,560 --> 00:22:03,240 He didn't trust Castro 369 00:22:03,400 --> 00:22:05,680 and his closening ties with the Soviet Union. 370 00:22:05,840 --> 00:22:09,520 Cuba was starting to look every bit a communist state. 371 00:22:09,680 --> 00:22:13,160 - It wasn't really until he took control of Cuba 372 00:22:13,320 --> 00:22:16,080 that these socialist leanings started to show, 373 00:22:16,240 --> 00:22:18,960 and really, that was as a reaction to the way 374 00:22:19,120 --> 00:22:23,840 that the United States reacted to him coming into power. 375 00:22:24,000 --> 00:22:26,320 So it's almost like one fed the other. 376 00:22:26,480 --> 00:22:30,320 Their distrust of him made him build his socialist leanings, 377 00:22:30,480 --> 00:22:32,680 which made them ever more distrustful. 378 00:22:32,840 --> 00:22:36,200 NARRATOR: The Cold War was in full swing 379 00:22:36,360 --> 00:22:39,280 and tensions between the US and the Soviet Union 380 00:22:39,440 --> 00:22:41,760 were at an all-time high. 381 00:22:41,920 --> 00:22:44,080 - So Castro realised 382 00:22:44,240 --> 00:22:47,480 that to really get the reins of power, 383 00:22:47,640 --> 00:22:49,600 which would have been quite insecure 384 00:22:49,760 --> 00:22:52,400 if he'd followed the path that was predicted, 385 00:22:52,560 --> 00:22:54,120 turned to the communists. 386 00:22:54,280 --> 00:22:58,680 - The politics of Cuba changed and Cuba became communist, 387 00:22:58,840 --> 00:23:01,800 and of course, during the Cold War, that was a dirty word, 388 00:23:01,960 --> 00:23:03,880 especially for the Americans. 389 00:23:04,040 --> 00:23:08,400 And so tensions started to grow between Cuba and the United States, 390 00:23:08,560 --> 00:23:11,560 and at times, all eyes were on Cuba. 391 00:23:12,440 --> 00:23:16,720 NARRATOR: The United States suddenly had an unpredictable dictator 392 00:23:16,880 --> 00:23:19,440 with close ties to the Soviet Union, 393 00:23:19,600 --> 00:23:22,440 just 90 miles from their shores. 394 00:23:22,600 --> 00:23:25,680 Cuba was now a ticking time bomb. 395 00:23:25,840 --> 00:23:29,280 President Kennedy decided Castro had to go. 396 00:23:30,680 --> 00:23:34,880 In 1961, the CIA, working with Cuban exiles, 397 00:23:35,040 --> 00:23:38,040 began training an invasion force. 398 00:23:38,200 --> 00:23:41,720 The mission? To overthrow Castro 399 00:23:41,880 --> 00:23:45,360 and restore a government sympathetic to the United States. 400 00:23:45,520 --> 00:23:49,240 The landing location? The Bay of Pigs. 401 00:23:49,400 --> 00:23:51,760 - (explosions boom) 402 00:23:51,920 --> 00:23:55,320 REPORTER: On Monday April 17th, in the early hours of the morning... 403 00:23:55,480 --> 00:23:57,960 NARRATOR: The invasion was a disaster. 404 00:23:58,120 --> 00:24:00,480 Castro's forces were ready for them. 405 00:24:00,640 --> 00:24:04,120 He captured or killed nearly all who landed, 406 00:24:04,280 --> 00:24:06,400 including American personnel. 407 00:24:06,560 --> 00:24:08,480 REPORTER: The National Revolutionary Militia 408 00:24:08,640 --> 00:24:10,640 took the last positions the invaders held. 409 00:24:12,800 --> 00:24:15,280 The revolution was victorious, 410 00:24:15,440 --> 00:24:17,760 but the victory was bought with precious lives. 411 00:24:17,920 --> 00:24:23,200 - Castro's readiness was rather unexpected by the American forces 412 00:24:23,360 --> 00:24:26,480 and it was just completely unexpected 413 00:24:26,640 --> 00:24:28,800 that America would be defeated 414 00:24:28,960 --> 00:24:31,760 and that Castro would rise triumphant. 415 00:24:31,920 --> 00:24:35,560 And it really consolidated his position on the world stage 416 00:24:35,720 --> 00:24:38,280 that he and Cuba were ready for anything. 417 00:24:38,440 --> 00:24:41,080 NARRATOR: To the Cuban people, Castro's victory 418 00:24:41,240 --> 00:24:43,720 made him an even greater hero. 419 00:24:43,880 --> 00:24:47,600 He had humiliated the mighty United States. 420 00:24:49,240 --> 00:24:51,600 REPORTER: The enemy suffered complete defeat. 421 00:24:51,760 --> 00:24:54,240 The mercenary remnants give up their arms. 422 00:24:54,400 --> 00:24:57,640 - I have decided in the last 24 hours 423 00:24:57,800 --> 00:25:00,360 to discuss briefly at this time 424 00:25:00,520 --> 00:25:02,480 the recent events in Cuba. 425 00:25:02,640 --> 00:25:06,360 - America was completely humiliated at the Bay of Pigs. 426 00:25:06,520 --> 00:25:10,480 It made Castro CIA enemy number one. 427 00:25:10,640 --> 00:25:14,160 NARRATOR: Castro seemed to be enjoying his notoriety, 428 00:25:14,320 --> 00:25:16,720 hiding in plain sight. 429 00:25:16,880 --> 00:25:19,320 While in private, his sexual conquests 430 00:25:19,480 --> 00:25:21,960 continued at a frenetic rate. 431 00:25:22,120 --> 00:25:25,640 - Fidel had a voracious sexual appetite. 432 00:25:25,800 --> 00:25:29,800 There are even reports that he would sleep with 433 00:25:29,960 --> 00:25:32,280 at least two women a day; 434 00:25:32,440 --> 00:25:34,800 one at lunch, one at dinner, 435 00:25:34,960 --> 00:25:37,040 sometimes even breakfast. 436 00:25:37,200 --> 00:25:39,560 Some of these women would come willingly. 437 00:25:39,720 --> 00:25:43,160 He was very charming, charismatic. 438 00:25:43,320 --> 00:25:47,440 Women would sort of fawn after him because of his charm. 439 00:25:48,280 --> 00:25:51,800 But if they weren't, no bother to him 440 00:25:51,960 --> 00:25:56,920 because he would just have his men scour the community for women 441 00:25:57,080 --> 00:25:59,160 and bring them back to him. 442 00:25:59,320 --> 00:26:02,120 - Well, I think he epitomised the macho male 443 00:26:02,280 --> 00:26:05,760 in that he liked having lots of mistresses. 444 00:26:05,920 --> 00:26:08,040 He didn't treat them very well. 445 00:26:08,200 --> 00:26:11,320 And the kind of women he went for are... 446 00:26:11,480 --> 00:26:14,360 well, what would you call them? They were good trophies. 447 00:26:14,520 --> 00:26:17,120 They were beautiful. They were often women 448 00:26:17,280 --> 00:26:19,880 you couldn't normally get in Cuban society. 449 00:26:20,040 --> 00:26:24,760 Like, they could be American or they could be wealthy and glamorous. 450 00:26:24,920 --> 00:26:27,680 So, all of this was to boost the image 451 00:26:27,840 --> 00:26:30,200 of the super macho male. 452 00:26:31,280 --> 00:26:34,680 NARRATOR: Having humiliated the United States in the Bay Of Pigs, 453 00:26:34,840 --> 00:26:39,680 Castro then pursued as many American women as he could. 454 00:26:39,840 --> 00:26:43,480 - And it sort of was a way of 455 00:26:43,640 --> 00:26:47,920 tweaking the tail of giant America. 456 00:26:48,080 --> 00:26:51,040 Saying that, "Look, I can have your women." 457 00:26:52,400 --> 00:26:55,640 And it was something that I think he liked to do. 458 00:26:55,800 --> 00:26:58,760 NARRATOR: As if to thumb his nose at the United States 459 00:26:58,920 --> 00:27:03,000 and almost as if in competition with his young rival in the White House, 460 00:27:03,160 --> 00:27:06,720 Castro mixed with some of Hollywood's biggest stars. 461 00:27:06,880 --> 00:27:09,280 None bigger, at the time, 462 00:27:09,440 --> 00:27:13,840 than screen seductress, Ava Gardner. 463 00:27:22,760 --> 00:27:24,760 - Because of that complicated relationship 464 00:27:24,920 --> 00:27:27,360 with Cuba and the United States, 465 00:27:27,520 --> 00:27:32,280 many of the women that he sought after to dominate 466 00:27:32,440 --> 00:27:36,000 were Hollywood starlets, American women 467 00:27:36,160 --> 00:27:40,800 that he was able to realise as a symbol for his power. 468 00:27:40,960 --> 00:27:42,960 - Castro, like all dictators, 469 00:27:43,120 --> 00:27:46,360 image and symbolism was terribly important, 470 00:27:46,520 --> 00:27:49,120 and you have to keep showing this to the world. 471 00:27:49,280 --> 00:27:53,240 NARRATOR: Ava Gardner had a long-standing love affair with Cuba. 472 00:27:53,400 --> 00:27:56,600 She and Frank Sinatra had honeymooned there, 473 00:27:56,760 --> 00:27:59,040 and Gardner was a regular house guest 474 00:27:59,200 --> 00:28:02,360 at Ernest Hemmingway's residence in Havana. 475 00:28:02,520 --> 00:28:04,280 A political junkie, 476 00:28:04,440 --> 00:28:07,360 Gardner was drawn to the charismatic leader 477 00:28:07,520 --> 00:28:10,480 on her visit to Cuba in 1959. 478 00:28:12,840 --> 00:28:15,320 One complication: 479 00:28:15,480 --> 00:28:19,400 Castro was already living with another lover half his age, 480 00:28:19,560 --> 00:28:21,960 German-born Marita Lorenz. 481 00:28:22,120 --> 00:28:26,800 - Well, of course you've got to look at the women that Castro had. 482 00:28:26,960 --> 00:28:28,880 There were always overlaps. 483 00:28:29,040 --> 00:28:33,200 Cuban society gossips as much as any others, possibly even more. 484 00:28:33,360 --> 00:28:37,600 So everybody had their ideas of who was doing what with whom. 485 00:28:37,760 --> 00:28:39,560 They were always measuring themselves 486 00:28:39,720 --> 00:28:42,880 not only against the dictator, but against the competitors. 487 00:28:43,040 --> 00:28:45,680 And where do I stand and who is going to knock me off 488 00:28:45,840 --> 00:28:49,160 and what have I got to do to maintain my position? 489 00:28:49,320 --> 00:28:52,280 NARRATOR: The story goes that Marita confronted her rival 490 00:28:52,440 --> 00:28:56,360 Ava Gardner in the lobby of the Havana Hilton. 491 00:28:56,520 --> 00:28:59,000 It's not clear who slapped who, 492 00:28:59,160 --> 00:29:02,160 but Castro's guards had to separate them. 493 00:29:02,320 --> 00:29:04,800 Marita fled the country. 494 00:29:04,960 --> 00:29:09,840 In 1960, the CIA tracked Marita down in Miami 495 00:29:10,000 --> 00:29:14,600 and recruited her to attempt an assassination of her former lover. 496 00:29:14,760 --> 00:29:19,120 The plan was for Marita to regain Castro's trust, 497 00:29:19,280 --> 00:29:23,240 and then to slip a vial of poison into his drink. 498 00:29:23,400 --> 00:29:26,520 Marita did return to Castro's bedroom, 499 00:29:26,680 --> 00:29:29,280 but Castro saw through the plot. 500 00:29:29,440 --> 00:29:32,760 The story goes that he handed her a gun and said, 501 00:29:32,920 --> 00:29:36,080 "If you are going to kill me, do it now." 502 00:29:36,240 --> 00:29:38,200 She couldn't go through with it. 503 00:29:38,360 --> 00:29:41,560 - It's almost as if he couldn't handle the amount of power 504 00:29:41,720 --> 00:29:43,840 that he had ultimately, 505 00:29:44,000 --> 00:29:46,520 and this pushed him over the edge 506 00:29:46,680 --> 00:29:50,040 into a spiralling existence 507 00:29:50,200 --> 00:29:53,840 as an egomaniac, a narcissist, 508 00:29:54,000 --> 00:29:56,240 a power-hungry person. 509 00:29:56,400 --> 00:29:59,040 NARRATOR: The Cuban dictator's appetite for Western women 510 00:29:59,200 --> 00:30:02,120 was matched only by his hunger for power. 511 00:30:02,280 --> 00:30:05,520 But instead of building an alliance with the United States, 512 00:30:05,680 --> 00:30:09,720 Castro chose to make friends with his enemy's greatest enemy. 513 00:30:09,880 --> 00:30:12,360 - He encouraged the Soviets 514 00:30:12,520 --> 00:30:16,000 to bring the nuclear bombs to Cuba. 515 00:30:16,160 --> 00:30:19,680 NARRATOR: The Cold War was more than a conflict of ideologies. 516 00:30:19,840 --> 00:30:24,160 In the early 1960s, it was a fast, escalating arms race, 517 00:30:24,320 --> 00:30:26,880 with intercontinental nuclear technology 518 00:30:27,040 --> 00:30:30,760 now at the fingertips of US President John F. Kennedy 519 00:30:30,920 --> 00:30:34,200 and Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev. 520 00:30:34,360 --> 00:30:36,760 As the world held its breath, 521 00:30:36,920 --> 00:30:41,880 it was Fidel Castro with his finger on the trigger of World War Three. 522 00:30:43,920 --> 00:30:46,040 In October 1962, 523 00:30:46,200 --> 00:30:49,000 Khrushchev and Castro made their move. 524 00:30:50,320 --> 00:30:52,880 A civilian freight ship was heading towards Cuba, 525 00:30:53,040 --> 00:30:55,400 secretly carrying nuclear missiles. 526 00:30:55,560 --> 00:30:58,760 Soviet technicians and military construction 527 00:30:58,920 --> 00:31:01,960 were detected on the island by US spy planes. 528 00:31:02,120 --> 00:31:07,120 America was suddenly in striking distance of a nuclear attack. 529 00:31:07,280 --> 00:31:09,480 - Within the past week, 530 00:31:09,640 --> 00:31:12,960 unmistakable evidence has established the fact 531 00:31:13,120 --> 00:31:16,360 that a series of offensive missile sites 532 00:31:16,520 --> 00:31:19,680 is now in preparation on that imprisoned island. 533 00:31:19,840 --> 00:31:23,280 NARRATOR: With US naval forces blockading Cuba, 534 00:31:23,440 --> 00:31:26,360 Castro remained defiant. 535 00:31:26,520 --> 00:31:30,120 WORTHEN: He wanted to be the big guy. That was his goal. 536 00:31:30,280 --> 00:31:34,240 And that meant controlling the people and controlling his women. 537 00:31:34,400 --> 00:31:36,600 REPORTER: As in the past, these rallies are designed 538 00:31:36,760 --> 00:31:41,320 to whip up hate of what Castro calls "Yankee imperialistic war mongers." 539 00:31:41,480 --> 00:31:44,560 To suggestions that a UN team inspect missile sites, 540 00:31:44,720 --> 00:31:47,400 Castro has said that they had better come ready for combat. 541 00:31:47,560 --> 00:31:50,080 He went on to call President Kennedy a pirate 542 00:31:50,240 --> 00:31:52,320 for setting up the quarantine. 543 00:31:52,480 --> 00:31:54,600 NARRATOR: On October 14, 544 00:31:54,760 --> 00:31:58,640 a ballistic missile was detected at a Cuban launch site. 545 00:31:58,800 --> 00:32:02,320 The world reached a nuclear flashpoint. 546 00:32:03,280 --> 00:32:06,120 - It shall be the policy of this nation 547 00:32:06,280 --> 00:32:09,800 to regard any nuclear missile launched from Cuba 548 00:32:09,960 --> 00:32:12,680 against any nation in the Western Hemisphere 549 00:32:12,840 --> 00:32:16,840 as an attack by the Soviet Union on the United States 550 00:32:17,000 --> 00:32:20,080 requiring a full retaliatory response 551 00:32:20,240 --> 00:32:22,160 upon the Soviet Union. 552 00:32:22,320 --> 00:32:25,640 NARRATOR: Castro put his entire population on notice. 553 00:32:25,800 --> 00:32:28,880 America could invade at any moment. 554 00:32:30,400 --> 00:32:34,120 But at the eleventh hour, behind Castro's back, 555 00:32:34,280 --> 00:32:36,880 Kennedy and Khrushchev struck a deal. 556 00:32:37,040 --> 00:32:40,440 The Soviets would remove their nuclear missiles from Cuba 557 00:32:40,600 --> 00:32:44,160 in exchange for the US promise not to invade the island 558 00:32:44,320 --> 00:32:47,800 and the removal of US missiles in Turkey. 559 00:32:47,960 --> 00:32:52,160 The Soviet Union had sold Castro out. 560 00:32:52,320 --> 00:32:55,200 - When the Soviets started saying, "Look, we're pulling back 561 00:32:55,360 --> 00:32:57,680 after the whole business," 562 00:32:57,840 --> 00:32:59,960 he was the one who wanted them to stay. 563 00:33:00,120 --> 00:33:02,440 REPORTER: Under Navy surveillance, 564 00:33:02,600 --> 00:33:04,520 the missiles that had threatened the US 565 00:33:04,680 --> 00:33:07,160 went back where they came from. 566 00:33:09,240 --> 00:33:12,880 NARRATOR: Castro was left in the cold by his Soviet paymasters 567 00:33:13,040 --> 00:33:14,760 and now vulnerable. 568 00:33:14,920 --> 00:33:19,200 - The effective truce between Khruschev and Kennedy 569 00:33:19,360 --> 00:33:23,520 was made without Castro's knowledge or say so, 570 00:33:23,680 --> 00:33:25,320 and Castro was furious. 571 00:33:25,480 --> 00:33:30,560 How had he been effectively left out of this international decision? 572 00:33:31,520 --> 00:33:34,080 NARRATOR: Feeling betrayed, he lashed out, 573 00:33:34,240 --> 00:33:35,960 calling the Soviets weak 574 00:33:36,120 --> 00:33:39,840 and demanding a nuclear strike against the US. 575 00:33:40,000 --> 00:33:43,200 A move that alarmed both Washington and Moscow. 576 00:33:44,200 --> 00:33:48,160 - He was quite happy to precipitate World War Three 577 00:33:48,320 --> 00:33:52,800 because that fitted with his self-image of megalomania. 578 00:33:52,960 --> 00:33:55,680 He didn't know any restraint in that sense. 579 00:33:55,840 --> 00:33:58,840 - He was quite happy to be the person who started World War Three 580 00:33:59,000 --> 00:34:01,440 and almost who pressed that button. 581 00:34:01,600 --> 00:34:05,600 But that control was taken away from him by the super powers. 582 00:34:05,760 --> 00:34:08,320 NARRATOR: Castro was more than an upstart despot. 583 00:34:08,480 --> 00:34:11,639 He had led the United States and the Soviet Union 584 00:34:11,800 --> 00:34:13,960 to the brink of a World War, 585 00:34:14,120 --> 00:34:16,800 and given the chance, would do it again. 586 00:34:21,000 --> 00:34:23,600 NARRATOR: Through the 1960s and 70s, 587 00:34:23,760 --> 00:34:26,199 the CIA is believed to have orchestrated 588 00:34:26,360 --> 00:34:30,239 more than 600 plots to kill Fidel Castro. 589 00:34:30,400 --> 00:34:35,440 - The CIA's attempted assassinations of Castro are interesting 590 00:34:35,600 --> 00:34:39,679 not only because of the numerous attempts made on his life, 591 00:34:39,840 --> 00:34:43,080 but the rather interesting and varied ways in which 592 00:34:43,239 --> 00:34:46,280 they tried to take his life. - (cigar explodes) 593 00:34:46,440 --> 00:34:49,280 - Yeah, somebody said, "Hey, you know, he smokes cigars. 594 00:34:49,440 --> 00:34:52,320 What if we can smuggle some cigars that will explode in his face?" 595 00:34:52,480 --> 00:34:53,760 Hey, let's look at it. 596 00:34:53,920 --> 00:34:56,840 Yes, there were a lot of plots that came on the table. 597 00:34:57,000 --> 00:35:00,080 NARRATOR: A poison-laced, flesh-eating wetsuit. 598 00:35:00,240 --> 00:35:02,720 - He was a big diver, he loved scuba diving. 599 00:35:02,880 --> 00:35:05,440 You know, they figured they knew the area where he would go, 600 00:35:05,600 --> 00:35:08,960 that they could, you know, find some way to poison the air in his tank 601 00:35:09,120 --> 00:35:11,320 or cause an embolism or God knows what. 602 00:35:11,480 --> 00:35:15,720 NARRATOR: The attempts were as farcical as they were ingenious. 603 00:35:16,640 --> 00:35:19,800 - These are all things that get tabled in the Agency. 604 00:35:19,960 --> 00:35:22,240 You know, when people sit around and they're brainstorming, 605 00:35:22,400 --> 00:35:24,360 there's a lot of stupid stuff that comes out. 606 00:35:24,520 --> 00:35:26,560 There's a lot of brilliant stuff that comes out. 607 00:35:26,720 --> 00:35:28,680 REPORTER: Also reports CIA involvement 608 00:35:28,840 --> 00:35:31,800 in eight assassination plots against Castro. 609 00:35:31,960 --> 00:35:34,520 NARRATOR: With his life in danger every day, 610 00:35:34,680 --> 00:35:37,560 Castro's political life became more frantic, 611 00:35:37,720 --> 00:35:40,400 and so did his sex life. 612 00:35:40,560 --> 00:35:44,040 - As Castro's tenure extended, 613 00:35:44,200 --> 00:35:47,880 you would expect his paranoia increased and it did increase. 614 00:35:48,040 --> 00:35:50,800 You can see it from the repression of Cuba in general. 615 00:35:50,960 --> 00:35:53,760 And the same thing would apply to his women. 616 00:35:53,920 --> 00:35:56,120 He would have his affairs, 617 00:35:56,280 --> 00:35:58,800 but I would think he would be more distant 618 00:35:58,960 --> 00:36:00,920 and quicker to dispose of them, 619 00:36:01,080 --> 00:36:03,680 and certainly have less trust in them. 620 00:36:03,840 --> 00:36:08,800 And any suspicion that they are dealing with the other side and that 621 00:36:08,960 --> 00:36:12,480 would really lead to a lot of hostility. 622 00:36:12,640 --> 00:36:15,200 NARRATOR: Somehow, Castro survived. 623 00:36:15,360 --> 00:36:19,440 Among the very few people he trusted was his second wife. 624 00:36:19,600 --> 00:36:23,800 Someone he kept from public view for four decades. 625 00:36:23,960 --> 00:36:27,480 A schoolteacher named Dalia Soto del Valle. 626 00:36:28,480 --> 00:36:31,720 Few people knew Dalia even existed. 627 00:36:32,920 --> 00:36:35,080 But throughout their relationship, 628 00:36:35,240 --> 00:36:39,640 Castro's affairs continued in numbers that defy belief. 629 00:36:39,800 --> 00:36:42,560 - It's been said that 630 00:36:42,720 --> 00:36:46,280 Castro slept with 35,000 women, 631 00:36:46,440 --> 00:36:50,200 and it's mathematically possible. 632 00:36:50,360 --> 00:36:54,800 And if we go back to Genghis Khan and genetic testing 633 00:36:54,960 --> 00:37:00,880 that has shown that Genghis Khan really did sleep with enormous... 634 00:37:01,040 --> 00:37:03,040 tens of thousands of women, 635 00:37:03,200 --> 00:37:05,400 yes, it's possible Castro did the same, 636 00:37:05,560 --> 00:37:08,080 but I doubt it, I doubt it very much. 637 00:37:08,240 --> 00:37:10,160 - Is that really possible? 638 00:37:10,320 --> 00:37:12,360 How would you even have the time for that? 639 00:37:12,520 --> 00:37:14,760 - Where do they get these numbers? Who knows? 640 00:37:14,920 --> 00:37:18,120 It's not as if somebody was having a tally mark or a tick box 641 00:37:18,280 --> 00:37:20,480 each time one of these women came through. 642 00:37:20,640 --> 00:37:25,600 But it speaks to the exorbitancy of his life, 643 00:37:25,760 --> 00:37:28,280 just the ultimate self-indulgence 644 00:37:28,440 --> 00:37:31,240 that was Castro. 645 00:37:31,400 --> 00:37:34,480 - Look at this man. What a man he is, 646 00:37:34,640 --> 00:37:38,720 and of course how these acolytes would put it out to everybody. 647 00:37:38,880 --> 00:37:42,000 This is part of his image. He's a superman. 648 00:37:44,000 --> 00:37:47,920 NARRATOR: Whatever her reasons, Dalia stuck by Castro. 649 00:37:48,080 --> 00:37:51,640 They married 20 years into their relationship 650 00:37:51,800 --> 00:37:54,400 and she bore him five sons. 651 00:37:55,280 --> 00:37:57,280 By 1980, 652 00:37:57,440 --> 00:38:00,160 Castro's Cuba was crumbling. 653 00:38:00,320 --> 00:38:03,640 US sanctions crippled Cuba's economy. 654 00:38:03,800 --> 00:38:06,560 Food and basic supplies were scarce. 655 00:38:06,720 --> 00:38:08,760 Frustration grew. 656 00:38:10,160 --> 00:38:12,360 REPORTER: Every day in Miami, 657 00:38:12,520 --> 00:38:15,440 Cuban Americans stage their anti-Castro rallies, 658 00:38:15,600 --> 00:38:18,600 hoping this crisis might lead to his downfall. 659 00:38:18,760 --> 00:38:22,720 - So there was a growing air of dissent in Cuba. 660 00:38:23,640 --> 00:38:26,880 Castro wanted to get rid of these people, 661 00:38:27,040 --> 00:38:29,800 basically saying, "If you don't like it here, 662 00:38:29,960 --> 00:38:32,240 go to the United States, go to Miami." 663 00:38:34,040 --> 00:38:36,160 NARRATOR: But Castro doubled down. 664 00:38:36,320 --> 00:38:38,400 In April 1980, 665 00:38:38,560 --> 00:38:41,280 with thousands of Cuban citizens seeking asylum 666 00:38:41,440 --> 00:38:43,720 at the Peruvian embassy in Havana, 667 00:38:43,880 --> 00:38:46,280 Castro made a stunning announcement: 668 00:38:46,440 --> 00:38:48,680 anyone who wanted to leave Cuba 669 00:38:48,840 --> 00:38:51,600 could do so from the Port of Mariel. 670 00:38:51,760 --> 00:38:55,280 But as always with Fidel, there was a catch. 671 00:38:55,440 --> 00:38:59,000 - He was very calculated in the people that he sent, 672 00:38:59,160 --> 00:39:02,000 and effectively emptied his prisons 673 00:39:02,160 --> 00:39:05,760 and sent the ne'er-do-wells 674 00:39:05,920 --> 00:39:08,680 from Cuba to the United States. 675 00:39:08,840 --> 00:39:11,640 It was an enormous embarrassment for the States, 676 00:39:11,800 --> 00:39:14,480 and had a real long-lasting effect 677 00:39:14,640 --> 00:39:17,080 on the political landscape there. 678 00:39:17,240 --> 00:39:21,720 - He clears his jails of the most violent criminals that they had. 679 00:39:21,880 --> 00:39:25,200 You know, until then, I had never seen a person with a tattoo on their 680 00:39:25,360 --> 00:39:28,640 face or on their lips or something like that. That didn't exist. 681 00:39:28,800 --> 00:39:32,480 And all of a sudden, you have thousands of these guys 682 00:39:32,640 --> 00:39:34,840 coming in with some legitimate refugees, 683 00:39:35,000 --> 00:39:38,480 because there were a lot of legitimate people that came. 684 00:39:40,000 --> 00:39:43,920 NARRATOR: Over the next five months, more than 125,000 Cubans 685 00:39:44,080 --> 00:39:47,640 set sail on makeshift craft for the United States. 686 00:39:47,800 --> 00:39:50,680 REPORTER: It's estimated up to a third of the Cubans 687 00:39:50,840 --> 00:39:53,960 who put to sea drowned. Now there are 50 coast guard 688 00:39:54,120 --> 00:39:56,320 and Navy vessels patrolling the waters 689 00:39:56,480 --> 00:39:58,960 and 30 planes are dropping food and water 690 00:39:59,120 --> 00:40:00,680 to the refugees below them. 691 00:40:00,840 --> 00:40:03,240 - It was known as the Mariel boatlift, 692 00:40:03,400 --> 00:40:06,960 and all of a sudden, America had a very big problem. 693 00:40:07,120 --> 00:40:10,520 - The level of criminality in South Florida 694 00:40:10,680 --> 00:40:13,600 quadrupled within a few months. 695 00:40:13,760 --> 00:40:16,120 And within three or four years, 696 00:40:16,280 --> 00:40:19,600 the majority of those hoods were either dead or in jail. 697 00:40:19,760 --> 00:40:21,640 So there's a movie called Scarface, 698 00:40:21,800 --> 00:40:23,760 which is kind of tres surjoue, 699 00:40:23,920 --> 00:40:27,120 but the Hollywood version of what was going on. 700 00:40:27,280 --> 00:40:29,200 But it wasn't too far-fetched either. 701 00:40:31,080 --> 00:40:33,400 NARRATOR: It was an international stunt 702 00:40:33,560 --> 00:40:35,920 with far-reaching consequences. 703 00:40:36,080 --> 00:40:38,880 Castro, without an international ally, 704 00:40:39,040 --> 00:40:42,080 was now an empty shell of a dictator. 705 00:40:42,240 --> 00:40:44,120 The tyrant was fading. 706 00:40:44,280 --> 00:40:48,160 But the sexual predator was still at large. 707 00:40:48,320 --> 00:40:52,240 - He had sort of a bit of a revolving door to his bedroom. 708 00:40:52,400 --> 00:40:56,400 He, Castro was not interested in investing in relationships 709 00:40:56,560 --> 00:40:58,880 with women for the most part, 710 00:40:59,040 --> 00:41:02,840 and once he was done with them, they would go on their way. 711 00:41:03,000 --> 00:41:05,800 So in terms of valuing women, 712 00:41:05,960 --> 00:41:09,480 Castro had a value for them, but it was short-lived 713 00:41:09,640 --> 00:41:12,840 to, in many cases, a singular sexual experience. 714 00:41:13,000 --> 00:41:18,440 He ultimately couldn't handle the amount of power that he had 715 00:41:18,600 --> 00:41:20,800 and he fed into it, 716 00:41:20,960 --> 00:41:25,400 and became this monster to the people around him, 717 00:41:25,560 --> 00:41:27,680 surely that nobody could recognise 718 00:41:27,840 --> 00:41:32,080 if they had met the young university student in the years prior. 719 00:41:32,240 --> 00:41:35,280 NARRATOR: In the end, ill health finally did 720 00:41:35,440 --> 00:41:38,480 what no bullet or political coup had managed. 721 00:41:38,640 --> 00:41:41,240 After nearly five decades in power, 722 00:41:41,400 --> 00:41:44,920 Fidel Castro handed over the reins to his brother Raul 723 00:41:45,080 --> 00:41:46,920 in 2008. 724 00:41:47,760 --> 00:41:51,240 He died eight years later at the age of 90. 725 00:41:52,120 --> 00:41:55,200 - Castro's story reminds us that 726 00:41:55,360 --> 00:41:58,920 power can change somebody. 727 00:41:59,080 --> 00:42:03,120 It can turn somebody into an egomaniac, 728 00:42:03,280 --> 00:42:06,080 a person that lacks empathy, 729 00:42:06,240 --> 00:42:10,920 and can feed into a very scary narrative, 730 00:42:11,080 --> 00:42:13,640 and we see that with Castro. 731 00:42:13,800 --> 00:42:17,600 - He was a revolutionary who became a staunch Marxist, 732 00:42:17,760 --> 00:42:20,760 public enemy number one to the CIA, 733 00:42:20,920 --> 00:42:24,840 but in the end, basically a bit of a failure. 734 00:42:27,080 --> 00:42:30,240 NARRATOR: Whether he slept with 35,000 women, 735 00:42:30,400 --> 00:42:34,120 bedded Hollywood starlets, or as he liked to portray, 736 00:42:34,280 --> 00:42:37,080 enjoyed the simple life with his schoolteacher wife, 737 00:42:37,240 --> 00:42:40,520 the line between notoriety and mythology 738 00:42:40,680 --> 00:42:45,160 are never more blurred than when it comes to Fidel Castro. 739 00:42:45,320 --> 00:42:49,200 - He lived the life of an elite in Cuba. 740 00:42:49,360 --> 00:42:52,080 But in terms of what he did for Cuba, 741 00:42:52,240 --> 00:42:54,400 I believe it was a failure. 742 00:42:54,560 --> 00:42:58,160 He couldn't control behaviour the way he thought he could, 743 00:42:58,320 --> 00:43:02,080 and so in the end, Cuba is nowhere near 744 00:43:02,240 --> 00:43:04,520 the society he wanted it to be. 745 00:43:04,680 --> 00:43:09,120 - He must have known, as his last days approached, 746 00:43:09,280 --> 00:43:12,320 that on the surface he had stood up to America 747 00:43:12,480 --> 00:43:16,120 and kept it going, but at another level, 748 00:43:16,280 --> 00:43:18,760 he knew it wasn't going to last. 749 00:43:18,920 --> 00:43:21,400 No thousand-year Reich here. 750 00:44:00,080 --> 00:44:03,080 Subtitles by Sky Access Services