"The Cuban files [on the Kennedy assassination] add new pieces to the puzzle and give us a clearer picture of what really happened."-Oliver Stone, director of JFK

This is the first publication of the declassified Cuban report into the Kennedy assassination, instigated at the request of the US government. Fabin Escalante directed Cuba's investigation and describes how Cuban units infiltrating anti-Castro groups in Miami inadvertently uncovered a conspiracy against President Kennedy among those who had felt betrayed by the Bay of Pigs debacle-the Cuban exiles, the Mafia and the CIA.

Fabin Escalante is a former head of Cuban counterintelligence.

Published as part of the series The Secret War.

CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 5.0 based on 3 reviews)

Fresh perspective

Well-written, thoughtfully composed. If there's anyone left in the world who doubts a conspiracy (professional disinformation puppets like Gerald Posner discounted, or those who've been in a coma since before Nov. 22nd, 1963) this is one more solid nail in that coffin. The preponderance of evidence unearthed in the last 40+ years simply demolishes any specter of a disaffected lone nut. This book is written from the Cuban (non-exile) perspective with no real axe to grind (no one now seriously believes Castro was behind the plot) and Escalante has done a large amount of homework. His findings parallel those of most of the serious historians and researchers, and short of who fired the fatal shot from the knoll, is complete and satisfying. I found his timeline catalogue of actions against Cuba interesting, especially when he weaves in the "patsying" of Oswald. This book belongs on the shelf of those afore-mentioned historians and researchers. And it's not full of typos and grammatical weirdness.
May 10, 2007

JFK: The Cuba Files: The Untold Story of the Plot to Kill Kennedy (Secret War)

great
February 20, 2007

Best book ever on the case...for the informed reader

It has been said once that the truth about JFK's assassination would never be known "in our lifetime".
This short volume contradicts this statement and proves that it is still possible, provided there is a will to do so, to bring the case to justice.

For a number of years now, most serious scholars and searchers (meaning those who have no specific agenda to market, and who try to analyze the evidence without bias)of the JFK case have come to the conclusion that the murder of Kennedy was some sort of side-effect of the secret war against Castro, what would be called today a "blowback" in Intelligence parlance.
Since that war involved elements of the CIA, Military Intelligence, FBI, Mafia, Cuban exiles and their supporters (mainly business or pro-business figures), names of individuals and organizations pertaining to this loose alliance of interests have repeatedly and regularky cropped up either during the various official investigations or the work of researchers.

Unfortunately, even though some HSCA investigators started unraveling some crucial information, the official inquiry in fact buried the case (see HSCA investigator Gaetan Fonzi's book). So no real, "hard" investigation of what was still only a very compelling hypothesis (was JFK killed by people in relation with/pertaining to the secret Intelligence and Military apparatus at war with Cuba?)ever took place.
It befell to independant researchers to pour over the evidence over the years and painstakingly verify and refine the information, zeroing on the hypothesis described very sketchily above: a general overview of the conspiracy, but with some crucial elements missing to complete the puzzle.

So, just when you thought that we would have to be content with what we've got, comes this little book, which gives names, dates and places and allow the serious searcher to reevaluate previously gathered information.
What we have here is, in fact, the hard inquiry into the Anti Castro Cuban Exiles that we were hoping for, but never happened.
Well, it came to pass that some people did have a reason to be very interested in the activities of Anti Cuban Exiles at the time and did have the means and motives to obtain detailled information about what they were up to at the time of JFK's assassination: Cuban Intelligence.

Former head of Intelligence Fabian Escalante relates how, in the course of their eforts to thwarts assassination plots against Castro and prevent sabotage, they came across fragmentary information that allowed them to reconstruct the assassination in Dallas and identify some of the principals in the crime.

One of the greatest asset of the book is that people that are only alluded at in previous books are identified by name, and dates and details of specific events are clarified.Basically, who said what to whom, when and where.

Imagine having several informants deep within the most violent exile groups of the sixties,crossing paths with such notorious figues as David Phillips, Franck Sturgis, Carlos Bringuier, Guy Bannister, and the like.

Imagine analyzing all the information coming back, and starting to find, along the years, an intriguing track of evidence leading back to the events in Dallas.

Imagine capturing a senior Anti Castro exile, seriously wounded, who would start talking, after years of treatment in a Cuban hospital, of what he knew about JFK's death.

In fact, don't imagine it, because that is Escalante's story.
The book is full of details that should be taken upon and pursued by serious researchers. For instance, Escalante ponders, with good reason, about an obituary published in Dallas sometime after the assassination, and announcing the death of a group of "Exile patriots" killed in action in Cuba. Escalante states that some of the names given in the obituary do not correspond with the identity of the three men actually killed that day.

He also wonders why, of all places, this obittuary would be published in Dallas, and not Miami, the homeplace of the Anti Castro community.

The names of the "would be dead" men are given by Escalante (so go buy the book...).
It is my guess that serious inquiry of these persons would show that they were direct participants in the crime, at the action level (probably a shooter team)

Another crucial information, in my view, is that according to Cuban Intelligence, David Morales handled David Phillips, and not the other way around.

Oh, by the way, the book blows of the water the theory propounded by "ultimate sacrifice" (the only JFK book I could not finish, and I have read some real turkeys on that subject believe me..), of a coup d'état led by Che Guevara and supported by Kennedy that somehow led JFK to take unnecessary risks that day in Dallas (yes, I know, makes no sense to me either..). There is not a single mention or allusion to that supposed plot in the Cuban files.

When you know the efficiency of Cuban Intelligence, as demonstrated by Castro's endurance (see also the HSCA records for details of plots foiled by Cuban agents), if there was such a plot, it would have been penetrated and unmasked.

So five stars, and a must read for serious researchers.

On the other hand, if you are new or not very well versed in the assassination specifics or general issues of debate, I would recommand you start somewhere else.

You need a good background information to really appreciate and make sense of what is presented here

As you see, there are tons of information to be gained here, in a mere 300 pages.

November 19, 2006

SIMILAR PRODUCTS

Someone Would Have Talked: The Assassination of President John F. Kennedy and the Conspiracy to Mislead History
by Larry Hancock

The Zenith Secret: A CIA Insider Exposes the Secret War Against Cuba and the Plots that Killed the Kennedy Brothers
by Bradley Earl Ayers

Brothers: The Hidden History of the Kennedy Years
by David Talbot

Files on JFK
by Wim Dankbaar

Ultimate Sacrifice: John and Robert Kennedy, the Plan for a Coup in Cuba, and the Murder of JFK
by Lamar Waldron, Thom Hartmann