"Ode 010240145 SILVIA TIRADO BOZAN DE DURAN é Personal information taken from her interrogations on 23 and 28 November 1963: "Silvia Tirado de DURAN stated she is Mexican by birth, 26 years old, married, no religion, employed, address in Dept. 3, house no. 143 Constituyentes, Mexi- co City; that she has been married to Hotacio DURAN Navarro since 5 November 1958 and that they have a daughter named Patricia three and one-half years old; that in July or August of 1961, she was offered em- ployment as coordinator at the Mexican-Cuban Institute of Cultural Relations, then headed by Lic. Augustin Cue CANOVAS. That since that time she had frequently visited officers of the Cuban Embassy, having personal friendship with Ambassador PORTUONDO, the cultural attaches Teresa PROENZA and Luis ALVERU as well as with other employees. Her contacts were principally with Maricarmen OLAVARRI, Secretary to Consul Eusebio AZCUE, a Spaniard and relative of AZCUE,. and who re- ceived 500 pesos monthly. oe "In December 1961 she and her husband made a trip to Havana by plane. They paid for their own tickets, but all other expenses of their visit to all the is- lands were paid. by the Cuban Institute of Freindship bone with the Peoples (Instituto Cubano de Amistad con los Pueblos - ICAP) and the Cultura ouse. "She sympathized with the Cuban movement since its beginning; that she was a coordinator of the Mexican- Cuban Institute of Cultural Relations since July or August 1961 and that she studied for the career of an English-Spanish secretary at the Escuela Bancaria. She mastered English, knows some French, and is study- ing philosophy. She has a leftist ideslogy, by con- viction, and is in accord with communism, but does not belong to any political group nor has she participated in meetings or acts of this nature. That officers of the Cuban Embassy, including the Consul, have been in her home; that she knows almost all the prancipal lef- tists in Mexico without being a friend of them; that except for one visit to Brownesville, Texas, she has not been in the United States." [Memorandum for Mr. J. Lee RANKIN, dated 21 February 1964, from Richard HELMS, Deputy Director for Plans; Subject: Translations of Interrogation Reports of Silvia DURAN. ] "She said she knew Carlos LECHUGA Hevia who was Cuban Ambassador in Mexico and who arrived here when she was working as Coordinator in the Mexican-Cuban Institute of Cultural Relations. She became friendly with this person but she never did any personal work for him. She said that this Ambassador came to her house to visit her on the occasion of a party which she held. She considers him as a friend and she saw him frequently "She said that while she was working in the afore- mentioned Institute, and before working as a secretary in the Consulate she went to the Cuban Embassy to help Teresa PROENZA. The help she rendered there consisted of answering the telephones and doing secondary tasks. B RETURN TO CIA ackground Use Only Do Not Reproduca /
FA-00000 “lve - 2 - SP oe SECRET é The Cultural Attache PROENZA never assigned her any work outside the Embassy. She said that she had Guerrero, the husband of DURAN's Sister-in-law, who died about three and a half years ago. :It was through FLORES that DURAN met PROENZA. 7 "She stated that she has had her present ideology for about five years, and that it is base on convic- tion and studies, She said she had not belonged nor does she belong to any student groups. "DURAN indicated she was acquainted with the Leninist Spactacus League (Liga Leninista Espartaco) but that she is not in agreement With 1t, and that her husband shares her opinion. They admire Jose REVUELTAS aS a writer but not as a politician Since they are in disagreement with his book entitled “The Headless Pro- letariat" (Proletariado sin Cabeza) in which he tries to prove the inexistence of the exican. Communist Party (Partido Communista Mexicano, PCM) while it is obvious that this party does indeed exist, although it is dis- Organized. She Said that she had not belonged to this Organization but that she is friendly with its leaders Such as Jose REVUELTAS and the two LIZALDES. "She disclaimed membership in the PCM, and said -She had not tried to joon it because she was in disa- greement with it except for its support of Cuba." [Memorandum for Mr. J. Lee RANKIN, dated 21 February 1964, from Richard HELMS, Deputy. Director for Plans; Subject: Translations of Interrogation Reports of Silvia DURAN. ] Consul Eusebio AZCUE, who left Mexico on 18 November 1963 after having been replaced by Alfredo MIRAVAL Y DIAZ. ; -DURAN's duties included the preparation of visas and the handling of visa applications which were for- warded to the Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs for approval. {[MEXI-7065 (IN 67737), 25 November 1963; FBI Report, dated 18 May 1964.] Horacio DURAN Navarro - Mexican by birth; an industrial designer, forty years Old, and lives in Mexico City at Constituyentes , Dept. 3. He lived the first eight years of his life in Los Angeles, California; he then lived in Chile for one and a half years before returning to Meixco. He received a degree from the Escuela Nacional de Artes Plasticas. Formerly married to LucilTe > ut divorced her on 5 November 1958 after six years of marriage. He then married his present wife Silvia Tirado de DURAN, [DIR 85668, 29 November 1963. ] SEERET
14-00000 o - 2a - Cn ay e° “4 26 November 1962 : : (Date of dissemination) A usually reliable and sensitive source in Mexico City reported that on 26 November 1962 Gladys LECHUGA, wife of Carlos LECHUGA, Cuban Ambassador to the United Nations, formerly Cuban Ambassador to Mexico, said that she had received two letters from her husband 4n New York. ie asked for separation and said that the person in whom he is interested is Silvia T..—-de DURAN: that—she is lof. his ideas" and was willing to go to Cuba. According to Source, Teresa PROENZA, Cultural Attache at the Cuban En- bassy in Mexico City said that DURAN had never been a Marxist or a communist. cen Another usually reliable source with good contacts in the Cuban Embassy in Mexico City reported in November 1962 that LECHUGA and. DURAN did have an affair.. The Cuban Embassy. was aware of it, but efforts were made to keep it from be- coming known. Information from a source whose reliability could not be judged reported that LECHUGA had offered to marry DURAN , a Mexican married woman, after divorcing his wife, since she (Silvia DURAN) was ready to accompany him to Cuba. -[DIR 84950, 25 November 1963; dissemination to the FBI. ] SECRET
14-00000 27 September 1963 | In mid-afternoon, Silvia DURAN informed the Soviet Embassy that a male American citizen had requested a visa to transit Cuba on his way to the Soviet Union. She wan- ted to know who the American had talked with at the Soviet Consulate. Also, she indicated that the Cuban! consulate could grant him the visa and arrange immigration details if the concession of a Soviet visa were assured. [Memorandum for Mr. J. Lee RANKIN, dated 31 January 1964, from Richard HELMS, Deputy Director for Plans; Subject: Information Developed by CIA on the Activity of Lee Harvey OSWALD in Mexico City, 28 September - 3 October 1963.] 27 September 1963 At 1605 hours (Mexico time) on Friday, 27 September -1963, Silvia DURAN, a Mexican national, a local employee | 7 of the Cuban Embassy, Consular Section, a receptionist [sic] speaks with an unknown male at the Soviet Embassy. Silvia DURAN tells the man that the American citizen was there, the one who wants a visa for Cuba on his way to the Soviet Union, and he wanss to know with whom he was talking there because she (Silvia DURAN) had sent him to the Soviet Em- — bassy saying that if they accepted him and gave him a visa,- then the Cubans (Embassy) would also give him a visa without further paper work, only advising immigration in Cuba. The --American, she says, wants to know with whom he had talked there because he says he was told there would be no problem. The man in the Soviet Embassy says to wait a moment. A different Soviet speaks, and Silvia DURAN explains the same thing to him. This man says to leave a name and telephone number and says he will call back. Silvia DURAN gives the telephone number 11-28-47 (Cuban Consulate). She also takes advantage of the conversation and stated she haS moved and wants to advise the Soviet Embassy of hér change of address so that she can receive the Soviet Embassy's bulletin. The man says to call KOUKHARENKO to give her new address, then SECRET _
14-00000 cs - 4 - “of d he asks the name of the cob EGR or Cultural Attache. Silvia DURAN says the name is Teresa PROENZA and the telephone num- ber if 14-13-26. The man says thanks. . [Memorandum for Deputy Chief, Operations Staff, dated 2 May 1975, from Raymond G. ROCCA; Subject: Review of Agency Holdings Regarding Photograph of Unidentified tndividual in Mexico City Published hy the Warren Commission. ] 27 September 1963 : Pursuant to her inquiry, Silvia DURAN received a con- firmation from the Soviet Embassy that the American had been to the USSR installation. He had shown then. a letter from the Soviet Consulate in Washington indicating that he had been long awaiting a visa for himself and his wife to go to the USSR. No answer had come from Washington ; _ however, the . waiting period was sometimes four or five months. “The Ameri- can also had a letter attesting that he was a member of a pro-Cuban organization but he had claimed that the Cubans would not give him a visa unless he had already received a Russian visa. a a Although the American was still at the Cuban . Consulate, Silvia DURAN repeated that she could not give him a transit visa unless a Soviet visa was forthcoming, notwithstanding the American's wish to go to Cuba to wait there for his So- viet visa. According to DURAN, the American knew no one in Cuba and she intended to annotate appropriately the American's card. The Soviet official echoed her statement that the American was not known. (Memorandum for Mr. J. Lee RANKIN, dated 31 January 1964, from Richard HELMS, Deputy Director for Plans; Subject: Information Developed by CIA on the Activity of Lee Harvey OSWALD in Mexico City, 28 September - 3 October 1963.] 27 September 1963 _ 2. mo, At 1626 hours (Mexico time) on Friday, 27 September 1963, an unidentified male, a Soviet, calls the Cuban Con- sulate, asks Silvia DURAN if the American had been there. Silvia DURAN says he is there now. The Soviet says the SronE) of
14-00000 : American showed papers from the Consulate in Washington, that he wants to go to the Soviet Union and be there for a long time with his wife, who is Russian, but'the answer has not come from Washington in respect to this problem,. and according to this procedure it takes four to five months, but without peraission from the soviét lunion they should ask, or better said, they cannot issue a visa there without asking Washington. However, according to this man, he showed a letter indicating he was a member of an organi- “zation in favor of Cuba and that the Cubans said that they cannot issue a visa without his having a visa for the Soviet Union, and now he (the Soviet) does not know what to do with him (the American), because they have to wait for an answer from Washington. Silvia DURAN agrees the same problem exists. with the | Cubans, that the problem with him (the American) is that he does not know anyone in Cuba and therefore if that is true it will be difficult for him to get a visa for Cuba, be- cause he was thinking of processing his visa (for the Soviet Union), because he knew it would require waiting a long time . for his visa to the Soviet Union while in Cuba, and from there go to the Soviet Union. The Soviet said the thing is that if his wife right now were in Washington she would re- ceive her visa right now, or permission, from the Soviet Union, to return to her country, she is going to receive her visa in Washington but having this visa, she could communicate to any place this permission, for example here or any place she could receive it (visa or permission) , but right now they do not have them. Silvia DURAN says certainly and they can- not give a letter either because they do not know if the visa will be approved. The Soviet says he cannot give a letter or recommendation either because he does not know him (the American) and asks to be excused for bothering her. Silvia Says that's all right and many thanks. [Memorandum for Deputy Chief, Operations Staff, dated 2 May 1975, from Raymond ROCCA; Subject: Review of Agency Holdings | SECRET PP Aa nese peo
14-00000 my . SECRET Z Regarding Photograph af Unidentified Individual in Mexico City Published by the Warren Commission. ] 28 September 1963 . Silvia DURAN was again visited at the Cuban Embassy in Mexico City by the American seeking a Cuban transit visa. Mrs. DURAN contacted at least two menbers of the Soviet Embassy and facilitated a direct conversation between one of the So- viets and the American. - Conversing in poor Russian, the Am- erican stated that he already had been to the Soviet Consu- late and had left an address. The Soviet official replied that he was aware of that. The American Suggested that he had not known his address then, and he had gone to the Cuban Embassy to ask for the address, because they had it. The American then acceded to the Soviet official's invitation to come by and give them the address. [Memorandum for Mr. J. Lee RANKIN, dated 31 January 1964, from Richard HELMS, Deputy Director for Plans; Subject: _Information Developed by CIA on the Activity of Lee Harvey _ OSWALD in Mexico City, 28 September - 3 October 1963.] 28 September 1963 : At 1151 hours (Mexico time) on Saturday, 28 September 1963, Silvia DURAN calls the USSR Embassy and talks to an unidentified Soviet. She Says that in the Cuban Embassy there if a North American who was at the Soviet Embassy. The Soviet says wait a minute. Silvia DURAN speaks English with someone - and comments in Spanish that they gave APARICIO telephone number 14-12-99 and to take the number down - Silvia DURAN then says the American citizen is going to talk with you, i.e., the Soviet. The American first speaks Russian and the Soviet speaks English. They continue in English. The American talks broken Russian and Says I was in-your Embassy and spoke to your Consul. Just a minute. A Soviet takes the phone and asks the American in English what does he want. The American says please speak Russian. The Russian says what else do you want? The American says I was just now at SECRET
14-00000 -7- your Embassy and they soo CRET The Soviet says I know that. The American, in hardly recognizable Russian, says I did not know it then. I went to the Cuban Embassy to ask them for my address, because they have ‘it. The Soviet says why don't you come again and leave’ your address with us, it is not far from the Cuban Embassy. | The American says I'll be there vight away. : [Memorandum for Deputy Chief, Operations Staff, dated 2 May 1975, from Raymond G. ROCCA; Subject: Review of Agency Hold- ings Regarding Photograph of Unidentified Individual in Mexico City Published by the Warren Commission. ] 23 November 1963 | : Mexico Station suggests to the Ministry of Gobernacion that Silvia DURAN, who is a Mexican employee at the Cuban Embassy and.who put Lee OSWALD on the telephone from the Cu-.. ban Embassy to talk to the Soviet Embassy on 28 September, be arrested immediately and held incommunicado until she gives all details relating to OSWALD known to her. ([MEXI-7029 (IN ), 23 November 1963.] 23 November 1963 LIC. Luis ECHEVARRIA informed the Chief of Station at +1800 Mexico time that Silvia DURAN and her husband had al- ready been arrested. They are presently under interrogation by Gobernacion authorities. The Chief of Station asked ECHEVARRIA to take measures requested in DIR 84916 {see below]. ECHEVARRIA promised to try to keep arrest secret. He definitely promised all information obtained from DURANS. First report should be ready by 2000 Mexico time. Station added that it will not be possible to keep arrest from her family and from Cuban Embassy very lone. [MEXI-7037 (IN 67236), 24 November 1963.] 23 November 1963 -: ‘(ate pf dissemination) a Headquarters disseminates to the Federal Bureau of Investigation information regarding Silvia DURAN, arrested SESRET
14-00000 wee 7 8e @ . . é by Mexican authorities » SER Toc p.m. on 23“November 1963 for interrogation. [DIR 84950, 25 November 1963.] 23 November 1963 Headquarters tells Mexico City Station that the arrest “of Silvia DURAN is an extremely serious matter, which ‘could prejudice United States Government freedom of :action on the entire question of Cuban responsibility. With full regard for Mexican interests, Headquarters requests the Station to ensure that her arrest is kept abselutely secret, that no + information from her is published or leaked, that all such information is cabled to Headquarters, and that. the fact of her arrest and her statements are not spread to leftist or disloyal circles in the Mexican Government. [DIR 84916, 23 November 1963.) ew 23 November 18963 . At 1915 hours (Mexico time), the Mexico City Station advised the Legal Attache of Silvia DURAN's arrest and of Headquarters’ desire for secrecy. The Legal Attache_had not heard of the arrest although he had talked to Gobernacion | contacts several times during the last hour. The Station indicated that it had also informed the Ambassador. (MEXI-7042 (IN ), 23 November 1963.] 23 November 1963 Silvia DURAN was arrested at home with her husband and members of the family who were having a party. All were taken to jail. Since she had told not only her husband but other members of the family about OSWALD's visits after she read the name and saw his picture on television, she attribu- ted her arrest to a denounciation by a cousin whom she does not like. The Station then indicates that the source of the Mexican Government's knowledge: (of ‘her contact with OSWALD) “has not been revealed to her. [MEXI-7054 (IN 67378), 24 November 1963.] SECRET
14-00000 Ro tee Lt Tm ee et See gti yee OE . “ we "oe SECRET é Silvia DURAN had the impression that OSWALD had or be- 23 November 1963 lieved he had made arrangements in Washington whereby in- structions would be sent to the Soviet Embassy in Mexico to issue a Soviet entry visa in a manner which would not require him personally to visit the Soviet Embassy. "Fdilure of his 4 real or imagined instructions to work smoothly :caused him to _become rude to the Soviets. Her impression was that he was .. Simply a "comrade" who could not live confortably under the rigors of capitalism and wished to return to his spiritual home in the USSR. If OSWALD talked to anyone else in the Cuban Embassy, she was unaware of it. (MEXI-7054 (IN 67378), 24 November 1963.] 23 November 1963 . According to source, the staff meeting at the Cuban Embassy on 23 November was very short and somber. The general impression was one of shock and disbelief. (MEXI-7115 (IN 69636), 28 November 1963.] 24 November 1963 : Luis ECHEVARRIA told the Chief of Station that Silvia DURAN was completely cooperative and gave a written state- ment attesting to two visits by OSWALD. She could not remem- ber the exact dateg but said it was the latter part of Sep-_ tember. OSWALD showed her a. American passport showing a long stay in the USSR. OSWALD said he was a communist and an admirer of CASTRO. He wanted her help to get a transit visa to Cuba in order to go to the USSR.: She said she could only arrange transit through Cuba if he already had a Soviet visa. The Soviets told her that they had further checking to do before they could issue avisa. DURAN did not know why he returned to the United States without a visa. DURAN told Gobernacion that. she had recognized OSWALD on the tele- vision on -22 November 1963. The Chief of Station has told the Ambassador of DURAN's arrest and will brief the Legal Attache at 0930, 25 November, | SECRET
14-00000 “SRT «= at a meeting in the Ambassador's office. [MEXI-7046 (IN 67278), 24 November 1963.] 24 November 1963 | Luis ECHEVARRIA is aware of the United States Govern- ment's concern regarding any leaks and has warned Silvia DURAN about talking. He feels, however, that at least the fact of the arrest may well be leaked by other’ menbers of her family who were picked up at the same time. The Chief of Station will continue to push the need for secrecy. DURAN and her husband will be released but will be kept under close surveillance. [MEXI-7054 (IN 67378), 24 November 1963.] 24 November 1963 a Headquarters asks the Mexico Station that.when jLee OSWALD was in Mexico City in late September and early October to get a Soviet visa and a Cuban transit visa, did he want to travel to Cuba right away, alone, or have his wife join him there _and then leave later? Although it appears that he was then __thinking only about a peaceful change of residence tq the Soviet Union, it is also possible that he was getting docu- mented to make a quick escape after assassinating the Presi- dent. [DIR 84920, 24 November 1963.] 25 November 1963 : Headquarters asks that{ LrrAirt/9 |be queried as to his knowledge regarding Lee OSWALD's contacts with the Cuban and Soviet Embassies. [DIR 84926, 25 November 1963.] 25 November 1963 _- : The Mexico City Station responds that{ LITAMIL/9|was asked this point during the night of 23 November, but he dis- claimed any knowledge of OSWALD's visits. The Station has instructed him to report any new facts or significant reactions of his associates. . | [MEXI-7065 (IN 67737), 25 November 1963. ] SECRET a