Cuban-American In Book V of the final report of the Senate Select “Committee to Study Governmental. Operations on the performance \ of the intelligence agencies in the investigation of the assassination, the FBI and CIA are criticized for their apparent failure to fully pursue leads surrounding the assassination of President Kennedy and then to fully report to the Warren Commission the results of the investigations they did undertake. . One such lead concerned the travel from Texas to Mexico City of ap-unidentiftea Cuban- ee American on November 23, 1963, and then his flight to Havana on | November 27. 1/ The lead was made more "interesting" by the fact that the Cuban-American reportedly attended a meeting of the Tampa chapter of the Fair Play for Cuba Committee on November 17, 1963. 2/ The House Select Committee on Assassinations examined the documents connected to that lead to determine: (a) whether the facts which were known by the FBI and CIA about that individual warranted further investigation and what investigation was undertaken; (b) whether any of that information was reported to the Warren Commission; and (c) whether the known facts suggest any involvement in the assassination of President Kennedy. ep -1O\4-L0 W499
Cuban-American...page 2 A chronology of the activities ofthe FBI and CIA on this lead amplifies information which was. in the possessij the two agencies. CIA Investigation The first information on the travel of the Cuban- ; i Chingy os American appeared on becenber 1963. At that time the Mexico LLOF station of the CIA sent a classified. message to CIA headquarters that a source ¢dentified as LITEMPO/4) had Or agentified as LITE requested of the Mexico CieY Chief of Station at 1300 hours on that date "urgent traces on U.S. citizen-Gilberto P. Lopez." 3/ The source said Lopez arrived in Mexico on November 23 en route to Havana and that Lopez had disappeared with no record of his trip to Havana. According to the nessage, Lopez had a tourist card, carrying number 24553, which he obtained in Tampa on November 20, 1963 and his passport number was 310162. The message stated that Lopez left Mexico for Havana on November 27 via Cubana (Airlines). te The classified message listed the cryptonym LIFIRE as cheep dl source of information on Lopez's travel. It indicated the Mexico ner" asa Station had no- traces on him. 4/ 3 (tha tA SAE, meee te eer eee In another classified message Gated December 3n 1963) from the Mexico CF station to CIA headquarters, the station reported also that the FBI office in Mexico city had been advised: by Mexican authorities that Lopez entered Mexico on November 27 at Nuevo Laredo. 5/
Cuban- American...page 3 In another classified message Gated December 4, 1963 f to the Mexico OF station from CIA headquarters, the Agency reported that the State Department check on Lopez had produced ndthine. | yet because of the difficulty in tracing records using only a name and passport number. 6 The message contained this Ne passp 2 paragraph: S. We assume you have not told etme Dewace] that Lopez flew to Cuba on 27 November — because you do not want to blow the | LIFIRE operation. This problem is up to you. 7/ The LIFIRE operation referred to in the classifi d message thiohthaedy of om Onan ab od to the Mexico Station involved (cooperation between the xi apnea ne ne et iM CLA. and Mexican federal officials who participated in alu. ° plan of. photographing! passengers of flights departing for Havana. oN aint A tg eee eee a Minin na Ta eR ” eee vo nee ee Lo Cand obtaining the. passenger lists. of the e > Cubana Slignts:—S “Mexican officials. ‘also had their own program to photograph the oN \ passports « of the passengers | arriving from ‘Havana, 8/ On December 5, 1963 the Mexico City Station reported nt secmite ve roa that the camo 71) source had stated that Gilberto Lopez. had eet crossed the Mexican border at Laredo, Texas on November 23, 1963 and registered in the Roosevelt Hotel ‘in Mexico City on he niporring Sout ee November 25 at 1600 hours in Room 203. 9/ —LETEMPO7also- eported that Lopez departed on a Cubana flight on ” ..
Cuban- “American. --page 4 November 27 for Havana. That classified message stated FO ER or Ceutel. additionally that GITENBO7D had 4a good photograph of Lopez. 10/ | The photograph of Lopez contained in his CIA 201 file has "27 November 1963" stamped on the back. In the photograph Lopez is shown wearing dark glasses and the background in the photograph is dark and jndistingaishable. the LM owing SAY Ina dispatch Gated “Decébér 5, 1963 Jf£rom the Chief of Station in Mexico KEE to headquarters, copies of the photograph of Lopez were attached and the dispatch stated ae nn - Tenereervenart wet ge ee F ne nba tin eo Sg temp meen: tym ene, eeigeee gpm on st pis ats weenie: “To 6 rd 1963 at the Mexico | City ‘airport. ‘by Mexican authorities as agen Hage Borba ere tenn i St ae Sh wiley cen Lopez was boarding _ a Cubana flight.; ay The dispatch gave the previously reported information of the numbers of Lopez's passport and tourist card and his entry into and departure from Mexico. The dispatch contained the additional information that Lopez was (ister the only passenger on Cubana Elight #465 on November 27, 1963 to Havana; the flight contained a crew of nine Cubans. It said he used a U.S. passport and a Cuban courtesy visa. 12/ The dispatch had the following message: "Source states the timing and _ circumstances surrounding subject's travel through Mexico. and departure for Havana are suspicious." 13/ The dispatch said also that the source "urgently" requested all available data on the individual. snare yee
Cuban~American...page 5 . She Sabres of x c 7 Also on (ecmek er 5, _1963 CIA headquarters cabled the Mexico City station and identified this Cuban- ~American as- Gilberto Policarpo Lopez, who was born on January 26, 1940. 14/ \ It stated also that Lopez was not identical with a Gilberto Lopez who had been identified as active in pro-Castro groups in Los-Angeles. 15/ .  _ eA “=e we es OF y Babyea- heed ALce, vel COP March 19,1964, the {he Monterrey Station senDa ne ote Ae Ree eaten ME REET rod 8 ho mine wns. classified message (to peaaquavter that Enrique Ruiz Montalvo, > informed the CIA Dthat one of Ruiz's contacts reported in late February, 1964, that an American citizen named Gilberto Lopes was involved in the Kennedy assassination. 16/ The message said Ruiz's contact reported that Lopes entered Mexico on foot from Laredo, Texas about 1200 hours on November 13 carrying U.S. passport #319962, which was issued July 13, 1960. l7/ According to the dispatch, the contact related also that Lopes proceeded by bus to Mexico City "where he entered Cuban embassy"; it said that he left the Cuban Embassy on November 27 and was the only passenger for Cuba on flight #465. 18/ It said the contact ‘reported that Lopes was issued Mexican travel form B, #24553, Nuevo Laredo. 19/ According to the dispatch, Ruiz reported that he could not verify the contact's information, but thought it might be of interest to the United States government. 20/
Cuban-American...page 6 The cable stated also that backyroynd information | een [pert concerning the (Montefrey base' 's 5 contact._w with Ruiz) was Sip t Cum ~ contained in a, dispatch dated March 18 which was being pouched co. to headquarters,jon March 20? 21/ The. wWOXT AO & On March ~ qrhe Deputy Chief of the Mexico Eity Station cabted a classified message to headquarters in which it was stated that the information contained in the earlier dispatch which discussed “ears Contacts "jibes fully with that provided [Cseuncsq — station by (CITEMPO D early December 1963." 22/ A 201 file was opened on Gilberto Policarpo Lopez by Agency headquarters on December 16, 1963. 23/ At that time his records indicated that no earlier 201 file had existed. . The file contains a "Review of 201 file on U.S. Citizen" by en CBarry Gibsonmp an operations officer for the LAM/FI component of the Agency. 24/ In that review the file was classified as a "counterintelligence case (i.e., involving a foreign intelli- gence or security service)." 25/ The date of entry of that category in Agency records is indicated as January 22, 1975) in 3 Lopez's file. 26/. “FBI Investigation In a report dated August 26, 1964, the FBI documented the results. of its investigation on Gilberto Policarpo Lopez
orp murat mann annie Ea ea Meret an ten pane ag ee amet Cuban-American...page 7 - which had been carried out in Key West, Florida. The report stated that Lopez's counsin, Guillermo Serpa Rodriguez, told the. FBI that Lopez came to the United Stated for the first time some time after Castro first came to power. 27/ He stayed approximately one year and then returned to Cuba. 28/ Rodriguez stated that Lopez returned to Cuba because he was homesick and missed his family; he had parents and four brothers who still resided in Cuba. 29/ | . Rodriguez stated also that Lopez's brother Selito was a member of the Cuban militia at that time. 30/ Another | brother, Raimundo Policarpo Lopez, had reportedly been sent to the Soviet Union to study by the Cuban government, according to Rodriguez. 31/ Rodriguez told the FBI that Lopez returned to the United States in 1960 or 1961 because he was afraid he would be drafted into the Cuban militia if he remained in Cuba. 32/ The FBI learned that Lopez married an American woman in Key West in August, 1962. 33/ According to Lopez's wife, he worked for a time with the Pepsi Cola Co. in 1962 and at the Molina and Murgia Bakery in Key West, which was owned by cousins. 34/ She said that he also worked for a construction company in Tampa in. June, 1963. 35/
Cuban-American...page 9 Rodriguez told the FBI that Lopez left Key West in. late 1963 to go to Tampa with the hope of being able to return to Cuba. 48/ Rodriguez said he believed Lopez wanted ‘to return to Cuba because he was afraid of being drafted into the U.S. military. 49/ Rodriguez said Lopez was not involved in any pro-Castro activity while~living in Key West, but that Lopez was "definitely" pro-Castro. 50/ Rodriguez recounted that in one instance he and Lopez actually had a fist-fight over Lopez's pro-Castro sympathies. 51/ | In a report in March 9, the FBI reported that Lopez had attended a meeting of the Tampa Fair Play for Cuba Committee 63 on November 20, Loge. 52/ The report also stated that at a _Imeeting of the group on November 17, 1963, Lopez stated that he had been refused travel back to Cuba. He said at that time that he was waiting for a phone call from Cuba to get word on his departure to Cuba. 53/ According to that report in March, 1964, a member of the Tampa FPCC stated that she called a friend in Cuba on December &, 1963 and. was told that ‘Lopez had arrived safely. 54/ The member had attempted to locate Lopez in Cuba through Friends there because Lopez had not delivered gifts to persons in Cuba from people in Florida as he had promised to do. 55/ The member stated also that the Tampa chapter of the FPCC had given Lopez approximately $190 for the return trip to Cuba. 56/ The member said that Lopez had gone to Cuba by way of Mexico because he did not have a passport. 57/
Cuban-American...page 10 The March 1964 FBI report listed Lopez's passport as #310162, which had been issued in January, 1960, and his Mexican tourist card as "M8~-24553, issued November 20, 1963 in Tampa. 58/ It stated that Lopez entered Mexico. by private auto at Nuevo Laredo on November 23, 1963 and departed for Havdna on November 27 as the only passenger on a Cubana flight, carrying a Cuban courtesy visa. 59/ | According to the FBI file, Lopez's mother, Esperanza Rodriguez, was born in Key West, Florida. 60/ The file listed three cousins and four uncles who resided and worked in ‘the Key West area with their families. 61/ Lopez's FBI file contains a memo from the Tampa office dated October 26, 1964 which states: It is felt that information developed regarding the subject is not sufficient to merit consideration for the Security Index. 62/ The only information transmitted by the FBI to the Warren Commission on Lopez concerned a check at the Passport Office. 63/- The information the Bureau did send to the Commission a bout the — Tampa chapter of the FPCC did not include any information on Lopez's activities. 64/ The CIA apparently did not provide any information on Lopez to the Warren Commission: As pointed out in the Senate report, this omission is made more egregious
Cuban- American...page 11 ' by the fact that sources had reported within a few days of Lopez's departure for. Havana and of the assassination that the circumstances surrounding his travel: seemed "suspicious" and that in March, 1964, while the Warren Commission was underway into its work into the investigation of the assassination, Lopez had reportedly been involved in Kennedy assassination. ras KLEE AS a well the In the 1977, xepertof-the-Enspeston-Goneral-of-the “GFA; the Agency attempted to refute several "inaccuracies" in the Senate report regarding the reporting on Lopez's travel. That is apparently the only follow-up by the Agency on the lead after the Senate report pe Mar Inthe first plase, Fhe corrected the statement in the Senate report that sources reported that Lopez appeared "suspicious" when he was surveilled in Mexico. 65/ The T@—-*epext explained that the efAly internal CIA document of, December 1963 which characterized the man as suspicious was merely “cryptic and impressionistic rather than constituting a tangible basis for dramatic activity or final conclusions." 66/— The report stated additionally that the March. eet RTT cet I Mt KE neh 1964 cable €rom the Nonverréy } bas® ) which recounted the information on Lopez Grom t the “contact of the ‘Mexican and claimed Lopez was involved in the assassination _polide ae was
ee ie tt Ane, OR 9 aR: paca mien Aum ty mm Gein ret Da 9 ates a reignite MAORALCAN Ney AAC Me Cuban-American...page 12 incorrect on several points: Lopez's name was misspelled "Lopes"; it stated that Lopez entered .Mexico on foot when the CIA repeated the FBI's conclusion that he had traveled by auto; it gave incorrect digits in Lopez's passport number; it stated that the Mexican tourist visa was issued in Nuevo Laredo/and not Tampa; and it reported that he ‘stayed at the Cuban Embassy. 67/ Based on these inaccuracies, TE the imspector~Gereral concluded that "the source patently was extensively misinformed." 68/ Based on that observation, Tae _ AIAACAK the inepeetor-Gereral completely discounted the,cable : va wa by the Deputy Chief of Station in Mexico €itypenfarch 20, ¥ = LR) 1964) that the Mexican police source information "jibed" with what had earlier been reported by the CIA's source. 69/ _Pregunably the discrepancies pointed out by the a ; Ss 1 are meant to explain the fact that the CIA did not take more aggressive investigative steps to ascertain whether there might have been some connection between Lopez and the assassination. In that regard, the 1977 thepectdedenerel report explains that the Agency. had no other means of- investigating Lopez at his disposal and had carried ‘the lead as far as it was able by questioning a Cuban defector about Lopez. While the fact - £ the CIA's lack of access to further information about
Cuban-American...page 13 Lopez may well be the case, that fact does not explain either the failure-of the CIA to take more seriously the suspicions of the sources, or most importantly, to report whatever information it had to: ne Warren Commission. In that TER regard, the attempts of the tnspeetor—Generatr” to denigrate the value of the information prowided on Lopez do not aipinish the apparent negligence of the Agency #7 seriously pursu€se the information as it was received. The Agency is not to be faulted for the strength of its intelligence gathering, but rather for the judgment which kept that intelligence from the governmental body, the Warren Commission, which was mandated to pass on the strength of exactly that ‘kind of information. From the information collected by the FBI, there Pll bL2 appear to be wett-exetetned reasons both for Lopez's desire to return to Cuba and his solicitation of the help of a “local FPCC chapter for that travel. His contacts in Florida appear on their face to be innocent and-nonpotities: and not in any way connected with the assassination. -pespite the suggestion by the Senate report of suspicion in the fact that Oswald “may” have been ‘in touch with that same FPCC dhs. #IC4 foncl chapter, ,no evidence appears to suggest that Oswald was actually in touch with the Tampa FPCC, or that Lopez was connected in any way with Oswald or Dallas.
Cuban~American...page 14 Despite what is now. known about Lopez, the Warren ‘Commission may well have wanted to lay to rest suspicions which would remain about Lopez, and satisfy itself that these circumstances in no way indicate foreign involvement in the assassination. The CIA has contributed to those suspicions by not airing the matter and explaining circumstances which could shed light on otherwise sinister appearing events. The Committee has documented instances where the CIA decided to forego passing information to. the Warren Commission out of a desire to not lay bare extremely sensitive sources and methods of intelligence. The LIFIRE operation. certainly falls within that category and as soon as the CIA began receiving information that LIFIRE was the source of the information about Lopez's travel, the cables and messages reflected the desire to not reveal that method. .. It also seems plausible that the FBI likewise chose not to divulge what it had learned about Lopez because in doing so, it would have had to reveal the sensitive CIA operation which generated the initial information on Lopez's travel to Cuba on November 27.
The Investigation of the Assassination of President Performance of the Intelligence Agencies, Book V, Select Comm. to Study Governmental Operations, 4/23/76, p.61, Senate Report No. 94-755. John F.- Kennedy: Id. - Classified Id. Classified Classified Id. Classified Id. Classified Td.. Id. Classified Id. Classified Id. Id. Td. Td. (Id. Classified Cuban-American. footnotes CIA “CIA CIA CIA CTA CIA CIA CIA Document Mexi 8740, Document Mexi IN 72615, 3 Dec. Document Mexi IN 72829, 3 Dec. 1963. Document Mexi 7253, IN 74227, 12/5/63. Document HMMA-22579, , 0 Dec. 1963. Document MNTY 0829, IN 43194, 19 Mar. 1964. IN 43940, 20 Mar. 1964.
Cuban-American footnotes...page 2 24/ 25/ 26/ 21/ 28/ 29/- 30/ 31/ 32/ 33/ 34/ 35/ 36/ 37/ 38/ Classified CIA Document, Personality File Action Request, 16 December 1963, #201-741600. Classified CIA Document. Id. Id. FBI Report, 8/26/64, Serial 105-126109-12, p. Ibid. at Ibid.-at. . Ibid. at Ibid. at Ibid. at Ibid. at
Cuban-American footnotes...payge 3 50/ 51/ 2/ 54/ 55/ 56/ 51/ 58/ 59/ 60/ 61/ 62/ 63/ ew 65/ 66/ oT/ 68/ 69/ 33/ Ibid. at According to Lopez! s FBI file, he registered with the Selective Service at Key West on July 29, 1960 and was classified 4-F on February 23, 1962 due toa language barrier. FBI Report, 3/31/64, Serial 105~-126109-9. Ibid. at Ibid. FBI Report, 10/26/64, Serial 105-126109-13. Senate Report, The Investigation of the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy, Book V, p.63. Id. See Senate Report, p.104. TASK force CIA Classified Document, 1977 Enspector_Ceneralts Report, Tab B, p.1l6. Id. Id. Tbid. at 17.