Iosif Grigulevich

Argentina After the failed attempt to assassinate Trotsky, Grigulevich and two of his accomplices (Laura Araujo Aguilar and Antonio Pujol Jimenez) were helped by Pablo Neruda to escape from the Mexican police. After Ramón Mercader killed Trotsky, Grigulevich was awarded with the Order of the Red Star.

United States During the late 1940s, Grigulevich's background as a Lithuanian-born Karaite and a polyglot who had lived outside of the USSR for most of his life marked him out as a target of the Stalinist campaign against "rootless cosmopolitans". In 1948, Grigulevich's Mexican-born wife was taken hostage by his Soviet bosses. While his wife was imprisoned, Soviet intelligence officials demanded several loyalty tests from Grigulevich, who was sent to operate a dead drop for another Soviet spy, Rudolf Abel, in New York City. Grigulevich later declared that, during this time, he was in constant fear for his life. Grigulevich pretended to be the illegitimate son of a wealthy Costa Rican coffee producer, already deceased, and styled himself Teodoro B. Castro (using a middle initial in the "American manner"). He successfully established an import-export business in Rome and made extensive personal contacts with business figures and prelates of the Catholic church.

Castro also became a friend and business partner of former Costa Rican president José Figueres, who promoted his appointments in the Costa Rican diplomatic corps. In 1951, Castro became chargé d'affaires of the Costa Rican embassy in Rome, serving also as advisor to the Costa Rican delegation to the sixth session of the General Assembly of the United Nations, in Paris. In 1952, he officially became the Costa Rican ambassador to both Italy and Yugoslavia. In Rome, he befriended Prince Giulio Pacelli, a nephew of Pope Pius XII who served as Costa Rica's representative to the Holy See. In 1953, Castro was inducted as a knight of the Catholic Order of Malta. At the same time, he was secretly granted membership in the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. ), Grigulevich met with Tito on several occasions. However, the death of Stalin in March 1953 prevented the assassination plans from going forward. At this time, Alexander Orlov, who had once managed Grigulevich in the Soviet spy network and who had later defected to the US, began to publish The Secret History of Stalin's Crimes. For fear that his identity would be exposed by Orlov, Grigulevich was summoned back to Moscow. In Rome, the sudden disappearance of the Costa Rican ambassador, along with his wife and daughter, created a stir, with rumors of Mafia involvement circulating in diplomatic circles.