(404-10112-10280 ; . . oe STHOARD FOAM wo, 64 * oar can i 4 + TO FROM SUBJECT: ’ Acting Chief, Personnel Security Division RTT TT Ko. Office Memorandum ° UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT DATE: 25 February 1960 r pane ton Nye : Deputy Chief, Clearance Branch | Bsckoround Use Onl * (1G. Nek Reproduce CROZIER, Ross Lester #112569. Reference is made to your query of 19 February as to whether Subject, a Career Agent, grade G~12, would be eligible for employment as a staff employee, contract employee or independent contractor. The record on Subject for the moment in the Office of Security is a covert file which has been reviewed at your request. Subject has had a covert affiliation with the Agency since 1919. He is 37 years of age and native born of native born parents. After withdrawing from high school in June 190, he enlisted in the US Army in August 19h0. He served in the Army Air Corps as an intelligence specialist until dis- charged in July 19:5. He returned to Panama to marry his wife in December 19:5 (he met her at an Army post exchange while stationed in the Panama Canal Zone in 193). He was employed as a civilian laborer by. the US Naval Air Station at Coco Solo, Canal Zone during the winter of 19))5-L6, re-enlisting in the USAF as an Intelligence NCO in April 1916. Upon com- pletion of his enlistment in the USAF in 1949 he. was recruited by this Agency servint in(Costa Rica) Guatemala) Cuba and currently in Mexico. He was granted a high school diploma in 1918 on the basis of GED tests, and attended universities in Costa Rica, Guatemala, and Cuba working towards a B.A. degree in’ economics. He was broughyJto the US for training in basic tradecraft during the autumn of 1953. Favorable National Agency record checks and a check of RI were com pleted on Subject in September 195). A favorable background investigation and a re-check of National Agency records was completed in May 1957. The AGO check indicated that Subject had been granted a Secret clearance by the Caribbean Air Command on 18 May 198 on the basis of a limited inves- tigation. RI checks at this time were not derogatory. A check of source K on Subject, his alien spouse and some of his alien in-laws developed in- formation covered below. Both Subject and his wife were given favorable polygraph interviews in April and May 1958. When Subject married in December 195, he acquired an alien wife and numerous alien in-laws, all Costa Rican nationals. Subject's wife, whose maiden name was Argentina CORDERO Calderon, was born 15 March 1918 in San Jose, Costa Rica. Her parents were born in Costa Rica and are deceased, her father since 192 and her mother since 1956. Her grandmother was born in Germany. She has nine siblings one of whom died as a child. She CT mn mee
14-00000 PORT ,  *_ GARTURNTO £22 “ Meine Background Use Gaiv : (Do Not Repreduce attended school until 1933. She was married to a Peé@ro MarzAl a wholesale pharmaceutical supplier and Spanish national from Novenber 1939 to December 190. In February 19h1, MarzAl married a younger Sister of Subject's wife, Gladys. At one tine during World War IT, HMarzal was included on American and British proclaimed lists as a Nazi. sympathizer and in May 19h), was jailed by Costan Rican authorities an chargss of adultering drug products. He left Costa Rica in 19)6 with Subject's sister-in-law. The field reported in August 1959 that Pedro & Gladys MarzAl have been residing in Spain. , ban fsa Qrcabctradd After her divorcéyin Decembar 190, Subject's wife worked in Local cantinas in San Jose, Costa Rica until May 1912 when she went to Panama. She workded at three different post exchanges in the Panama Canal Zone until October 193. She then worked at various cantinas in Colon, Panama as a cashier and bartender until Subject returned to Panama to marry her in 1945. In 19h, Army Intelligence ran an extensive investigation on her after it was alleged that she was sympathetic to Germany and was attempting to elicit information from servicemen across the bar. Tha allegation was proven baseless although it was developed that she could speak and erstand German, thought German men wowld make fine husbands and dislikedmost American men bacause of their immorality. For a period of a several months during 19))h-19)5 Subject's wife and a younger sister were part of a dance troupe composed of abtateless Russian, his stateless Rossrad wife and themselves. Since her marriage te Subject, her interests have been primarily domestic. She completed a beautician's course in Havana, Cuba, 1957~1958 and has worked as a beautician in Mexico City to the present. With regard to the siblings of Subject's wife, a report of ths Military Attache, American Embassy, San Jose, Costa Rica made in Nevember . 194 characterized one of Subject's brothers~in-law, Antonio, as being a sex pervert and torphine addict. He was reported by the field in August 1959 to have been jailed on a robbery charge. Another brother~in~ law, Mario, may have been a member of the Communist Party of Costa Rica. He is presently self-employed as a-shoemaker and living in a houses owned. by Subject and his wife in suburban San Jose, Costa Rica. Mario had been a staunch supporter of the Calderon party in power in Costa Rico, 19)h-19)8 which comprised a coflition of liberals, socialists and Commnists. At the time of the 19)7~1948 Revolution in Costa Rica, however, Mario fought with the Communist forces. In June 1959, the Agency was considering the possibility of recruiting Mario. The field reported in August 1959 that Mario is being regularly visited by Communists who leave printed propaganda with him, In its August 1959 report, the field reported that a third brother-in-law, Azdruval is currently employed as a shoemaker in a San Jose shop ovmed by a Communist. Azdruvalis also reported to ba sympathetic to Communism. an WH Division advises that Subject's operational capability and achievements are outstanding and point out that he received a personal commendation from the DDCI for his services on behalf of the Agency during early 1959 when he contacted Fidel Castro in the Sierra Maestra mountains of Cuba. ,
14-00000 *. ot . . . * mos a oF : 2 . 4 wo , : . te Background Use Oaly 7 So : Do Not Repreduce It is the hopa of WH Division that a tour in the United States will . enable his wife to become an American citizen. Reports fron the field also indicate that Subject's wife is witting of his work and at one time in(Costa Rica) mada his agent contacts for him when ha was sick. 16-15 In light of the information presented above, it is not believed that . Subject is eligible for staff employment or contract Type A employment. It is conceivable, however, that Subject could be utilized as an inde- pendent contractor with access to information classified through SECRET, provided his future usefulness to WH Division would not be nullified by an overt association with this Agency. It is recommended that WH Division be so advisede - oe Erwin W. Umbach ca oo at cg ea 4 f U4 CEES Ang of: D5/59 1 fm . ai i a oa . - a “EO SER EG CE oh A Ae ba aon Gitte bee NS ee 3. ot q © vw, be: fi: at eee Oe . 7  saatnpeennnneintiitnttnteeee ee ee Ae ee ten Oe ReE Get wo ERR SMNORE amt ee es aoe