Castro: An enigma even for death

"If surviving assassination attempts were an Olympic event, I would win the gold medal," Castro liked to tell interviewers. He lived much of his long life in the spotlight -- and much of it in the crosshairs -- surviving a half century of assassination plots (634 in total) enduring 11 hostile US presidents. Over the decades Castro became one of the longest-ruling heads of state in the world, but the plots against him never abated. Here are few of the bizarre assassination attempt targeting the revolutionary leader:  

Exploding cigar: This idea was thought up by a New York police officer and would have contained enough explosives to blow Castro's head clean off.

Hair removal: Yes, really. The plan was that Castro might seem weak if all his facial hair were to fall out, so the Americans thought about trying to slip chemicals into his cigar or shoes.

Poisoned milkshake: This was apparently the closest to taking Castro's life, but the poisoned poll destined for the drink stuck to the freezer and ripped open when the waiter-cum-assassin tried to rip it off.

Femme fatale: Marita Lorenz, one of Castro's many mistresses, is alleged to have made a deal with the CIA to feed him capsules of poison. She hid them in her face cream, but they dissolved.

Poisoned wetsuit: There was a plan to offer Castro a wetsuit filled with deadly spores and bacteria during the Bay of Pigs invasion, but the CIA's plot was again foiled.

Exploding shell: This attempt tried to take advantage of Castro's love of scuba diving by putting an explosive device in a conch shell in the sea. They made it especially attractive in the hope the Cuban leader would be drawn to it.

Another deathly cigar: The CIA tried to slip Castro a cigar filled with a poisonous toxin called Botulin. They hired a double agent who chickened out of the attempt.

Deadly pen: The plan was to rig a pen with a hypodermic needle so fine that someone could prick him with it and he would never notice until he died.

LSD: This was more an effort to bring him down in from of his people, but the plan was to spray an LSD-like substance into a studio during a radio interview, which would make him act strangely and worry the Cuban people.