Ambassador to Bolivia
President Johnson asked Raul Castro to assume the ambassadorship of Bolivia upon the resignation of Ambassador Douglas Henderson in 1968. At that time, Bolivia was a politically volatile country with frequent skirmishes occurring between Marxist rebels and the Bolivian military. Che Guervara had been captured and executed there in October 1967. Castro was tapped for the position based on his experience in the region. While Castro was in Bolivia, a plot by Marxist rebels to kidnap his wife, Patricia, was discovered and foiled. When Richard Nixon, a Republican, was elected president in 1968 he opted to allow Castro, a Democrat, to remain as ambassador to Bolivia. Castro terminated his service as ambassador and returned to Arizona in November 1969.
