Interesting and sad story about the American pilot Thomas W. “Pete” Ray who was shot down and wounded at the Bay of Pigs. He was then executed by the castro regime and his body was frozen and put on display (on and off) for 18 years.
The U.S. denied him until finally they didn’t. The CIA posthumously awarded Mr. Ray the Intelligence Star, it’s highest award. What a fucking mess that JFK created.
Anyway the son, who was interviewed for the article said castro is “a dinosaur at this point. I think at this point he’s on the verge of extinction.”
There are going to be a lot of those “Intelligence Stars” awarded to Cubans who were lied to and betrayed by the CIA over the last 48 years. What they surely will not receive is the $200 million court award given to Ray’s descendents and the descendents of other American-born victims of Castro. These monies were paid to their survivors from the funds of the Republic of Cuba which were frozen by the U.S. government at the time of the embargo. These awards, which range from $100-400 million per individual, have depleted all available Cuban funds for the reconstruction of Cuba after the fall of Communism.
Since these men were CIA agents in the service of the U.S. government and their deaths were incurred in the line of duty, why is it that Cubans must compensate them for their services? Between 100,000-200,000 Cubans have been killed by Castro and their descendents have never received one dime of compensation. The descendents of Cubans killed at the Bay of Pigs have never sued the U.S. government for compensation for their deaths. Why is it that lives of Cuban victims are worth nothing and the lives of American victims hundreds of millions of dollars?
I honor the memory of Ray and all who were killed by Castro. But their descendents, men and women in their 50s and 60s, should know that their $100+ million settlements did not come from the killer of their parents, but from his victims.
Castro’s personal assets are much bigger than the frozen assets of the Republic of Cuba. Why don’t they sue Fidel Castro for compensation? I guess because its easier to locate and loot the frozen assets of the Cuban people (to which, incidentally, Castro has no access).
Hmmm .. good point. Posthumous CIA awards, in my humble opinion, are nothing but a cheap blanket over the shivering consciences of bureaucrats trying to salvage their reputation.
As far as going after castro’s assets for compensation, perhaps the real Cuban victims should get a hold of Ray’s lawyer. On the other hand, the $$$$ for reconstruction of Cuba, if and when it happens, will most likely come out of the pockets of those of us who are eager to carry it out. I do not believe there will be a shortage of it, but I understand the principle of the thing.
On an unrelated note, after two weeks of travel without web access, it’s great to be back to the cutting edge posts of fellow babalusians; you all have a great day.