Francesco/who-killed-jfk huggingface dataset:
[180-10110-10484.pdf — page 271]
Classification:(This form is to be used for material extracted from CIA-controlled documents.)- 209 -her story to Eunice Odio. 84/![Top Secret stamp]The Committee has no been able to determine if Elena Garro told Ms. Odio the story personally or if Ms. Cobb related the story :o Ms. Odio who relayed it to "Tichborn." 825/The story is not as detailed as the 10/5/64 version. There is no mention of Deba Garro Guerrero Galvan.The story, perhaps because it is third hand, differs from the previous story in wo areas: It states that the party was at the Cuban Embassy, as opposed to Ruben Duran's; and that Elena talked to a Cuban Embassy official instead of her cousins about the three Americans.Attached to the memo was a note from Flannery to the Chief of Station, Winston Scott, which read, "Do you want me to send the gist of this to Headquarters?" Scott then noted that the memo should be filed. 826/ The file indications show that the memo went into the Oswald "P" file and the Elena Garro "P' file. 827/3. November 24, 1964 CIA Informant ReportOn November 24, 1954 a Central Intelligence Agency agent 823/ reported information 829/ derived from an asset, "LICHANT/T." 820/ The agent asserted that June Cobb wasClassification:![classified by derivation]NW 48327 DocId:32263889 Page 272
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Classification: ____________(This form is to be used for material extracted from CIA-controlled documents.)- 210 -an "American Communist" who rented a room from Elena Garro. 831/ In addition, the informant claimed that Elena had also told her story to an American official at the Embassy, who claimed to represent the Warren Commission. 832/ The Chief of Station noted that he had asked LICHANT/1 to pursue the story 833/ but there is no indication that the Chief of Station followed through with the request. 834/4. November 24, 1964 Elena Garro meeting with Mexico City Legal Attache officersElena and her daughter reported their story to the Mexico City Legal Attache on November 24, 1964. 835/ (The Legal Attache in 1964 was Clark Anderson.) They recounted the same story previously given to June Cobb Sharp in October 1964. 836/ Elena gave the date of the party as September 30, October 1 or October 2, 1963. 837/ The agent who wrote the report 838/ noted that Lee Harvey Oswald could not have been identical with the American 839/ allegedly observed by Mrs. Paz at the party if this party were held on the evening of October 1 or October 2, 1963. 840/Elena was questioned regarding the identity of other persons attending the party at the Ruben Duran homeClassification: ____________
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Classification:(This form is to be used for material extracted from CIA-controllec documents.)- 211 -TOP SECRETwho might have been in a position to observe the threeAmericans. 841/ Elena stated that in the course ofthe party her daughter met a young man named "Alejandro"at the party and danced with him. 842/ He was apparentlyquite smitten with the daughter and tried to call heron several occasions after the party. 843/ The daughterdid not take the calls and as a result "Alejandro" wroteseveral letters to the daughter. 844/ Ms. Garro exhibitedtwo of the letters, as well as a business card whichidentified the young man as Ario Alejandro LavagniniStenius. 845/The letter which Ms. Garro said was the firstwritten by the young man to her daughter bore the dateSeptember 1, 1963 and the Mexico City Post Office post-mark dated September 2, 1963. 846/ When this was pointedout to Ms. Garro she commented that the Communists pro-bably had facilities for falsifying postmarks. 847/To investigate Ms. Garro's story further, repre-sentatives from the Legal Attache's office interviewedArio Alejandro Lavagnini Stenius on November 27, 1964. 848/Lavagnini recalled that there were approximately thirtypeople at Ruben Duran's party, few of whom he knew. 849/He recalled having met a Mexican girl who had recentlyClassification:2000303378Classified by derivation:NW 48327 DocId: 32263889 Page 274
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Classification:(This form is to be used for material extracted from CIA-controllec documents.)- 212 -returned from living in France. 850/ He was unable to fix the date of the party but felt it was probably early in September because of a heavy rain which occurred as they were leaving the party about 2:00 a.m. 851/Lavagnini said that 10 Americans were present at this, party. 852/ He was familiar with the physical description of Lee Harvey Oswald because of publicity following the assassination of President Kennedy, but otherwise had no knowledge of him and had never seen him except for news photographs following the assassination. 853/Lavagnini was the only person interviewed by the Legal Attache representatives who attended parties at the Duran house in the September-October time frame.There is no indication in the FBI document that this information was given to the Central Intelligence Agency's Mexico City Station. 854/5. Charles Thomas' frst meeting with Elena Garro where Lee Harvey Oswald is discussedOn 12/10/65, Charles Thomas, a political officer at the American Embassy, write a memorandum about a conversation with Elena Garro de Paz. 855/ The meeting with Elena had been about other matters 856 abut she men-
[180-10110-10484.pdf — page 275]
Classification: TOP SECRET(This form is to be used for material extracted from CIA-controlled documents.)- 213 -tioned knowing Oswald. 857/ Thomas noted that she was reluctant to talk but did. 358/Elena's story reported here is the same as that given in the LICOOKIE memo dated 10/5/64, but with more details. She said that General Jose Jesus Clark Flores (a friend of Ruben Duran's), Silvia Duran, Eusebio Azcue, Emilio Carballido (a pro-Communist writer-friend of the Durans), and a Latin American Negro man with red hair (unidentified) were at the party. 859/ A marginal comment by this entry in Wx-7241 says, "How did Elena know about a red-haired Negro?" 860/ Elena also told Thomas that she had later learned that "Silvia Duran had been Oswald's mistress while he was there." 861/ A note by this entry in Wx-7241 says, "How did Elena Garro know about Silvia being the mistress of Oswald? This is 1965." 862/ The Mexico City Station did not hear about the Oswald-Duran "affair" until July 1967 when a CIA asset, LIRING/3, reported it. 863/Elena told Thomas that she and her daughter had gone to the Cuban Embassy on November 23, 1963 and shouted "Assassins" and other insults at the Embassy employees. 864/According to Elena, that same day, a friend, Manuel Calvillo, whom the Garros thought in theClassification TOP SECRET
[180-10110-10484.pdf — page 276]
Classification: TOP SECRET(This form is to be used for material extracted from CIA-controlled documents.)- 214 -Gobernacion, took her and her daughter to a small hotel in the center of Mexico City. 865/ Calvillo kept Elena Garro and her daughter there for eight days under the pretext that they were in danger of being harmed physically by Communists. 866/ Elena claimed she told Calvillo her story and that she wanted to tell it to the American authorities at the U.S. Embassy 867/ but that Calvillo dissuaded her by telling her that the American Embassy was full of Communist spies. 868/ Elena said that some of the other people who had been at the party were taken to Veracruz where they were "protected" by Governor Lopez Arias. 869/ She said that Ruben Duran, reportedly "protected" by General Clark Flores, was very prosperous and was driving a big car. 370/ Elena also claimed that Ruben Duran told her months after the assassination that he was not really a Communist and that killing Kennedy had been a mistake. 871/ Ruben Duran claimed he had no reason to tell Elena that killing Kennedy had been a mistake since he had no involvement. 872/Charles Thomas circulated a copy of his memorandum concerning Elena's allegations in the American Embassy including the Central Intelligence Agency's Mexico City Station to aid them in their investigation of the JohnClassification: TOP SECRET
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Classification TOP SECRET(This form is to be used for material extracted from CIA-controllec documents.)-:15-F. Kennedy assassination. 873/ The COS wrote a note on the memo: "What an imagination she has!?! Should we send to Headquarters?" 874/ The Officer replied, on the memo, "Suggest sending. There have been stories around town about all this, and Thomas is not the only person she has talked to...If memory serves me, didn't LICOOKIE refer to Oswald and the local leftists and Cu-bans in one of her squibs?" 875/The Mexico City Station cabled the information in Thomas' 12/10/65 memorandum of conversation to CIA Headquarters. 876/ The cable reported that Elena's story would be checked with LICHANT/1, against the production from the Cuban surveillance operation "and other sources." 877/ Winston Scott wrote, next to the routing indications on the cable, "Please ask Charles Thomas if he'll 'follow up.' Get questions from Ann G. 878/ Please let's discuss. Thanks." 879/After the December 10 memorandum of conversation, Winston Scott 880/ and Natran Ferris 881/ called Charles Thomas for a meeting. 882/ They asked him to get a more detailed account of Ms. Garro's story. 883/ At this meeting, Winston Scott made it clear that the FBI had full responsibility for any further investigation in theClassification: TOP SECRETNW 48327 DocId: 32263889 Page 278
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Classification:(This form is to be used for material extracted from CIA-controllec documents.)- 216 -Oswald case. 884/# 6. Charles Thomas' Meeting with Elena Garro on## December 25, 1965Thomas met with Elena again on December 25, 1965. On that date, he wrote a memorandum of conversation which provided a much more detailed restatement of Ms. Garro's alleged encounter with Lee Harvey Oswald. 885/Elena admitted that she had spoken to two men at the Embassy, "presumably from the Legal Attache's Of- fice." 886/ Elena said that she did not tell them the complete story because "the Embassy officers did not give much credence to anything she and Elenita said." 887/She stated that the party had been at Ruben Duran's home. 888/ She was unclear about the date of the party. 889/ She thought it had been a few days before the Soviet Astronaut, Gagarin, visited Mexico; she thought that this would put the party around September 2 or 3, 1963. 890/ She believed that the party was on a Monday or Tuesday because it was an odd night for a party. 391/ Elena could not check her calendar to refresh her memory at the time of this interview because the calendar was in a desk that had been stored away. 892/Classification:
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Classification: ______(This form is to be used for material extracted from CIA-controlled documents.)- 217 -![TOP SECRET stamp]During the conversation, Elena described Oswald and his companions. 893/ The man who she thought was Oswald wore a black sweater. 394/ She said he was quiet "and stared a lot at the floor." 895/ One of his companions "was very tall and slender and had long blond hair and a rather long protruding chin." 896/ The other companion was also tall, with short, light brown hair and no distinguishing characteristics. 897/ The three Americans did not dance or mix with the other guests. 898/ Elena saw the same three men on the street the next day. 899/Elena was certain that Eusebio Azcue, Horacio Duran, Silvia Duran, Lydia Duran, Deba Guerrero, General Clark Flores and his mistress, a doctor from Dalinde Hospital, a young American couple who were honeymooning in Mexico, and several other people were at the party. 900/ She said that Ricardo Guerra, whom she claimed converted Horatio Duran to Communism, and his wife, Rosario Castellanos, were supposed to be at the party but did not attend. 901/Elena alleged that the red-haired man and Emilio Carballido were not at the party that Oswald attended but at another party where Carballido and Azcue got intoClassification: ______![Classification label]Classified by derivation:
[180-10110-10484.pdf — page 280]
Classification:(This form is to be used for material extracted from CIA-controlled documents.)- 28 -TOP SECRETa heated argument about Pre: ident Kennedy. 902/ "They came to the conclusion that the only solution was to 903/ kill him." 904/ Elena was not clear on whether this party was before or after the pary where she met Oswald. 905/ Eusebio Azcue stated that this conversation never occurred. 906/Elena reitereated that the incident at the Cuban Embassy, where she and her daughter shouted "assassins," etc., at the Embassy employees, occurred on November 23 at or about 3:00 p.m. 907/ Elena and Elenita were driven to the Cuban Embassy by Elena's brother who was embarrassed by their behavior. 908/ This occurred before they had seen photographs of Oswald. 909/Ms. Garro claimed that later in the day she and Elenita were visited by Manuel Calvillo who told them that they were in serious danger from the Communists and that he would take them to a small hotel, where they would be safe for a few days. 910/ Elena said she trusted and believed Calvilo because he was a known undercover agent for the Mexico Government. 911/ He was also a friend of Noe Peomares 912/and of President Gustavo Diaz Ordaz. 913/ Calvillo also told Elena and her daughter that Silvia Duran had been arrested. 914/2000331 ClassificationsNW 48327 DocId: 32263889 Page 281
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Classification:(This form is to be used for material extracted from CIA-controlled documents.)- 219 -Duran's arrest was not public information at that time. [^1]Elena could not remember the name of the hotel so that same day (12/25/65) she took Thomas to the section of Mexico City where she thought it was. [^2] They found the hotel, the Hotel Vermont. [^3] Elena said that she assumed that Calvillo had registered them as relatives or friends from San Luis Potosi. [^4] They stayed at the hotel until the following Friday, November 30, 1963, hardly leaving their rooms. [^5]Elena claimed that while she and Elenita were at the hotel they saw the photos of Oswald and realized that he had been the man at Ruben Duran's party. [^6] When Calvillo visited them at the hotel, Elena told him that she wanted to report her story, which she related to Calvillo, to the American Embassy. Calvillo, however, dissuaded her by saying that the American Embassy was full of Communists. [^7] Elena stated that when she returned home, guards were posted outside her house. [^8]Elena alleged that after she returned home she saw her sister, Deba Guerrero, who had independetly come to the conclusion that Lee Harvey Oswald had been at Ruben Duran's party. 92:/ Deba was "terrified" because approximately two morths after the assassinationClassification:[^1]: 915/[^2]: 916/[^3]: 917/[^4]: 918/[^5]: 919/[^6]: 920/[^7]: 921/[^8]: 922/
[180-10110-10484.pdf — page 282]
Classification:(This form is to be used for material extracted from CIA-controllec documents.)- 220 -two "Communists" personally warned her never to reveal that she had been to a party with Oswald. 924/ Deba, consequently, would not accompany Elena to the American Embassy to tell her story on November 24, 1964. 925/Elena stated that it was "common knowledge" that Silvia had been Oswald's mistress. 926/ When asked who could verify the allegation, she could only remember one person who had told her this. 927/ Elena claimed that person was Victor Rico Galan, 928/ a "pro-Castro journa- list." 929/ (See Section VI, A, 2, a, above.)Subsequent to December 25, 1965, Elena found her calendar and reconstructed the date of the party as late September and not early September. 930/ When Thomas went to Ferris' office and informed him, Ferris replied that Elena had given the late September date when she had originally reported her story at the American Embassy. 931/ However, Mr. Ferris explained to Thomas that someone who had been at the twist party had stated that there were no Americans there. 932/ Mr. Ferris did not tell Mr. Thomas that Aria Alejandro Lavagnini Stenius had provided this information in 1964. 933/Mr. Ferris suggested that it was not necessary for Thomas to pursue Elena's allegations since he considered the2000333Classification:Classified by derivetion:NW 48327 DocId:32263889 Page 283
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Classification: ___________(This form is to be used for material extracted from CIA-controller. documents.)- 221 -TOP SCORETOswald case closed and had neard all the rumors before. 934/Thomas forwarded (the same day) a copy of his memorandum to the Central Intelligence Agency's Mexico City Station to aid in its investigation of the John F. Kennedy assassination. 935/ On the first page of the memorandum of conversation, Winston Scott wrote,"Shouldn't we send to Headquarters?" Someone responded, "Of course." 936/The Mexico City Station sent a cable to Headquarters on December 12, 1955, reporting that it was "following up" and would caple the results. 937/7. December 27, 1965 Legal Attache Memo to the United States Ambassador re Elena GarroOn December 27, 1965 Nathan Ferris wrote a memo to the Ambassador reporting that Elena and her daughter were interviewed on 17 and 24 November 1964 by the Legal Attache's office in Mexico City. 938/ The memo recorded that Elena and her daughter had furnished information similar to the information reported in Thomas' 12/10/65 memo. 939/ The memo further stated,"Inquiries conducted at that time (liovember 1954), however, failed to substantiate theClassification: ___________TOP SEADETositiedClassified by derivation:NW 48327 DocId: 32263889 Page 284
[180-10110-10484.pdf — page 284]
Classification:(This form is to be used for material extracted from CIA-controlled documents.)- 22 -TOP SECRETallegations made by Mrs. Garro de Paz and her daughter. In view of the fact that Mrs. Garro de Paz' allegations have been previously checked out without substantiation, no further action is being taken concerning her recent repetition of those allegations. 940/The Legal Attache forwarded a copy of the memorandum to the Central Intelligence Agency's Mexico City Station 941/ prior to 12/23/65. 942/A cable written by Anne Goodpasture on December 29, 1965 reporting the Legat interview with Elena and the Legat Office's failure to substantiate Elena's story was sent to Headquarters. 943/ The cable promised to keep Headquarters advised if any further information was to developed. 944/LICOOKIE's 10/5/64 memo is attached to the 12/29/65 cable. Wx-7241 expiained this in a marginal comment, "This document by LICOOKIE was not in (Oswald's file), but was copied from (a project file) and attached to MEXI 5741, 29 Dec. 65." 946/A note stapled to this cable by Allen White stated, "I don't know what FBI did in November 1964, but the Garros have been talking about this for a long time and she is said to be extremely bright." 947/ Anne Goodpasture wrote that the FBI had found Elena's allegationsClassification:![classification]Classified by derivation:
[180-10110-10484.pdf — page 285]
Classification: _______(This form is to be used for material extracted from CIA-controlled documents.)- 223 -unsubstantiated but that "we will try to confirm or refute Ms. Garro de Paz' information and follow up." 948/Win Scott wrote, "She is also 'nuts.'" 949/8. CIA Investigation of Elena's allegation that she created a disturbance at the Cuban Embassy on November 23, 1963On February 3, 1966, Anne Goodpasture forwarded Thomas' December 25, 1965 memo to the Cuban section at the Mexico City Station with an attached note asking the Section to check whether Elena was "seen creating such a disturbance as they claimed in front of the Cuban Embassy." 950/One Cuban section officer responded, "No bells ring with me." Another one wrote, "Me neither." The third officer wrote, "Nc pictures either." 951/ There is no indication, after reviewing CIA files, that the penetration agents in the Cuban Embassy were queried about Elena's allegation: 952/ That there are no pictures is reasonable since Elena claimed that the event happened: 1) on a Saturday at 3:00 p.m. when the Cuban Embassy was not normally photographically surveilled: 953/ and 2) the "disturbance" occurred inside the Cuban compound. ASCA examination of the CIAClassification:336NW 48327 DocId: 32263889 Page 286
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Classification:(This form is to be used for material extracted from CIA-controllec documents.)TOP SECRETCuban Embassy photographic surveillance showed no surveillance on 11/23/63. 954/ The Committee found that Central Intelligence Agency made no other effort to corroborate Ms. Garro's allegations.9. Legal Attache 2/23/66 Memo to the United States Ambassador Regarding Elena Garro's AllegationsOn 2/23/66 the Legal Attache wrote a memo to the Ambassador reporting that "extensive investigation" failed to disclose that Oswald had traveled to Mexico prior to September 26, 1963 and that no information had developed that would show that he had not been in New Orleans in the early part of that month. 955/ The memo reiterated that no further action was being taken by the FBI because Elena's allegations had not been substantiated by it. 956/ The Legal Attache forwarded a copy of this memo to the Central Intelligence Agency's Mexico City Station. 957/ A marginal comment made by Raymond Rocca next to this entry in Wx-7241 says, "How can it be ascertained that Cswald did not travel to Mexico prior to eariy September 1963? There must be some basis for Elena's reporting." 958/Classification
[180-10110-10484.pdf — page 287]
Classification:(This form is to be used for material extracted from CIA-controlled documents.)- 22! -10. Legal Attache Merio to Winston Scott re Elena'sAllegation that She Had Stayed at the HotelVermont from the Day After the AssassinationUntil November 30, 1963On 10/13/66, the Legal Attache wrote a memo to Win Scott reporting that a reliable confidential informant had reported that the records of the Hotel Vermont disclosed that one "Elena Paz, housewife from San Luis Potosi," had registered at the Hotel Vermont on November 23, 1963. 959/ She left on November 30, 1963. 960/The memo said, "The above ir dividual may or may not be identical with Elena Garro de Paz." 961/ The House Select Committee on Assassinations has been unable to determine why the Central Intelligence Agency and the Federal Bureau of Investigations waited until 1966 to investigate this aspect of Elena's story.Charles Thomas' 12/24/65 memo stating "She and her daughter did not personally register at the hotel. She thinks Calvillo registered them as relatives or friends of his from San Luis Potosi, " corroborates Elena Garro's presence at the Hotel Vermont. 962/ TheClassification:NW 48327 DocId: 32263889 Page 288
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Classification: TOP SECRET(This form is to be used for material extracted from CIA-controllec documents.)- 226 -entry for the 10/13/66 Legat memo in Wx-7241 bore the notation, "This is what Elena claimed and no one would believe her."[^963]11. Charles Thomas' September 30, 1969 Letter to State Department and Legal Attache's ResponseNo further report on Elena's story was generated until 1969 when Charles Thomas was "selected out" of the United States Foreign Service.[^964] At that time, he wrote a memorandum to the Secretary off State which included a cover letter stating, "Since I was the Embassy Officer in Mexico who acquired this intelligence information, I feel a responsibility for seeing it through to its final evaluation."[^965]Charles Thomas' memorandum stated that "he got no reaction from Nathan Ferris and Winston Scott" regarding his memorandum of December 25, 1965.[^966] In addition, Thomas wrote that the only person to speak to him about the December 25, 1965 memorandum, Clarence Boonstra[^967] told him that Oswald had not been in Mexico on the date given for the party.[^968] Thomas noted that even when he reiterated that Elena had not changed herClassification:Classified by derivation:NW 48327 DocId:32263889 Page 289[^963]: [^964]:[^965]: [^966]:[^967]: [^968]: