due to the sensitivity of Agency sources and methods. Similarly, the possible disclosure of the photosurveillance operations to the Warren Commission had also begun to cause concern within the Agency. On March 5, 1967, Raymond Rocca wrote in an internal memorandum to Richard Helms that "we have “en — a problem here for your determination. Rocca outlined Angleton's desire not to respond directly to Rankin's request of February 12 regarding the CIA material forwarded tothe Secret Service since bt November: 23, 1964. Rocca then stated: "Unless you feel otherwise, Jim would prefer to wait out the Commission on the matter covered by paragraph 2 (of the above-referenced February 12 letter to McCone requesting access to CIA reports provided the Secret Service after November 22, 1963, / (JFK Doc. 3982). If they come back on this point he feels that you, or someone from here, should be prepared to go over to show the Commission the material rather than pass ‘them to them in copy. Incidentally, none of these items are of new substantive interest. We have either passed the material as \ in substance to the Commission in response to ~ = earlier levies or the items refer to aborted 2 leads, for example, the famous six photographs Se which are not of Oswald..." (CIA Doc. FOIA —-~"~ #579-250, 3/5/64; see also HSCA Classified /Deposition of James Angleton, 10/5/78, pp. 93i-( 32 Classification: hfs | 0005548 | Classified by derivation: Classification: (This form is to be used for material extracted mio weet ES from ClA—controlled documents.) Ss 0B Ti GoR agi _C. Berk ™
Classification: sooth | wi See (This form is to be used for material extracted from ClA—controlled documents.) ~44a- wherein he states that the only reason for not providing the Warren Commission with access to CIA surveillance materials was due to the Agency's concern for protection of its sources and methods) Classification: a z Classified by derivation:
On March 12, 1964, representatives of the Warren Commission and the CIA confered regarding the February 12 request for the materials forwarded — to the Secret Service by the Agency. (Letter of od. Lee Rankin March 16, 1964, JFK Doc. # 3872, Slawson . Memorandum, March 12,.1964) | The record indicates that the Commission at the March 12 meeting pressed for access to the wpa He g 3 i se poy Shaws Memorandum , shee Secret Service materials: ‘Rankin wrote to Helms on March 16. that it was his understanding that the CIA would supply the Commission with a paraphrase of each report or communication pertaining to the Secret Service materials "with all indications of your confidential communications techniques and confidential sources deleted. You will also afford members of - our staff working in this area an opportunity to review the actual file so chat they may give assurance that the paraphrases aré complete." (Letter OF Jo tee" “Rankin, March 16, 1964, paragraph 2, JFK Doc. No. 3872) “Senses Rankin further indicated that the same procedure was to be followed regarding any material in the possession of the CIA prior to November 22,
1963 which had not as yet been furnished because it concerned sensitive sources and methods. {Ibid.,. / par. 3) ‘Helms responded to Rankin's March 16 letter on March 24 (FOIA 2 622-258) by two separate communications. (CIA Doc. DDP4-1554, hereinafter CDF631, — (3/24/64, CIA Doc., pDP4-1555, 3/24/64, CD 674 hereinafter) CD 631 provided the Commission with a copy of the October 10, 1963 CIA dissemination to FBI, State Dept., INS and Navy Dept. (and to the Secret Service on 22 Nov.) regarding Lee Harvey Oswald and Aig presence ‘ wi a at the Soviet Consulate in Mexico city’ the response further revealed that’ on October 23, 1964, CIA had ; com the Navy “4 requested two copies of the most recent photograph © of Oswald in order to check the identity of the person seis _ believed to be Oswald in Mexico City? “rurthermore, the CIA stated, though it did not indicate when, that it had determined that the photograph shown to Marguerite Oswald on November 22, 1963 did not refer to Lee 1. Harvey OswaldThe Agency explained that it had checked the photograph against the press photographs of Oswald generally a ' available on November 23, 1963, eid CD 674 reveals that on Nov. 22, 1963 immediately followir
the assassination, and cn Wovember 23, 1963, three cabled reports were received at CIA headquarters from the CIA Mexico City Station regarding photographs of an unidentified man who had visited the Cuban and. Soviet Embassies during October and November 1963.C€ cou7) Paraphrases of these cables, not revealing sensitive ti bis : : . ew | sources and methods, were attached to Ch 574. “the Agency wrote. that the subject of the photo referenced Cvedd - , in these cables was not Oswald. “It was further stated that: "In response to our meeting of 12 March and your memo of 16 March, Stern and Willens will review at Langley the original copies of these 3 disseminations to the Secret Service and the cables on which they were based,.as well as the photos of the unidenti- fied man." es 5—-CD6F4A; 24 “March 1964) (C+ 4.4) os On March 26, William Coleman wrote in a memorandum for the record: "The CIA directed:a memorandum to J. Lee Rankin on March 24, 1964 (Commission Document No. 631) in which’ it: set-forth :the dissemination of the information on Lee Harvey Oswald. I realize that this memorandum is only a partial answer to our inquiry to the CIA dated March 16, 1964 and I hope that the complete answers will give us the additional information we requested." (Memorandum of William Coleman, March 2b, 1964) Coleman went on to state: "As you know, we are still trying to get an explanation of the photograph which the FBI showed Marguerite Oswald soon after the 000679
assassination. I hope that paragraph 4 of the memorandum of March 24, 1964 (CD 631) sent Mr. Rankin by the CIA is not the answer which the CIA intends to give us as to this inquiry." (Ibid. ) Maren Ty The following day, as agreed by Warren Commission and Agency representatives, Samuel Stern of the Commission visited CIA headquarters in Langley, - . virginia. i Mewmepacter of Samoel STEN Here 27) ite Sterns’ memorandum Cf -hicnbedt reveals pnet he reviewed Oswald's file with Raymond rocea Y Stern “indicated that Oswald's file contained those materials furnished previously to the Warren Commission by ppie the CIA. The file also contained: "Cable reports of November 22 and November 23 from the CIA's Mexico City Station relating to the photograph of the unidenti- fied individual mistakenly believed to be Lee Harvey Oswald and the reports on those cables furnished. on November 23, / 1963 to the Secret Service by the CIA." eee of, Samuel _Stexra,—March 21,1964) Stern noted that these messages were accurately paraphrased in the attachments* to CD 674 provided the K Parageagoh dof Cd O31 s tected that CIA concludsck he Wo an dentif1 ea \ dividual Aid rot d€pict~ Beate see pon ‘press photo Posh of pare BuNe oan oble on November Ges greg 000071
(sos) Warren Commission on March 24, 1964. He also reviewed the October 10, 1963 cable from CIA's Mexico City Station to — CIA headquarters reporting Oswald's contact with the Soviet Embassy ; er) in Mexico City. In addition, Stern examined the October 10, 1963 cable from CIA headquarters to the Mexico City Station reporting background infor- mation on Oswald." (Ibid.) Stern recorded that . these messages were | paraphrased accurately as set forth in the CIA's January 31 memo to the Warren Commission reporting Oswald's Mexico City trip. C48 | | “Lastly, Stern noted that Rocca provided him for his review a computer printout of the references to Oswald -related documents located in the Agency's mi electronic data storage systeme” He stated "there is no item listed on the printout which the Warren Com-. mission has not been given either in full text or. paraphrased." (Ibid..) | Thus, by the 27th of March, a Warren Commission representative had been apprised of the circumstances surrounding the mysterious photograph. Za i . a00g72
Luisa Calderon Approximately five hours after President Kennedy's assassination a Cuban government employee in Mexico City named "Luisa" received a telephone i cali* from an unidentified man speaking Spanish. (CIA Doc. m gasestied nen epnkvy femtahs This call had been intercepted and recorded by the CIA's Mexico City: Station as the result of its LIENVOY (tel. tap) operation. (Ibid.) ‘The Mexico ' City Station,as subsequently reported to CIA headquarters, identified the Luisa of the conversa-~ tion as Luisa Calderon, who was then employed in the Commercial Attache's office at the Cuban Consu- late. (Ibid.) During the course of the conversation, the | unidentified caller asked. Luisa if she had heard ~ , yet _ (of the assassination) IK the latest news. Luisa | replied in a joking tone :) "Vos, of course, “T. knew almost before Kennedy." (Ibid.) CIA's Paraphrasing the telephone intercept transcript, it states that the caller told Luisa . the person 00867
CIA HAS NO ORJECTION TO DECL_ASSIFICATION ANDYOR fen RELEASE CF THIS DOCUMENT apprehended for Kennedy's slaying was the "President of one of the Committees of the Fair 4 Play for Cuba." b¥Gisa replied that she also knew tbe, . ; this.°" Luisa inquired whether the person being held for the killing was a "gringo." “The unidenti- fied caller replied, "yes."-“Tuisa told her caller that she had learned nothing else about the assassina- tion and that she had learned about the assassination bid only a little while ago.-“The unidentified caller commented: We think that if it had been or had seemed...public or had been one, of the segregationists or against intergration who had killed Kennedy, . then there was, let's say, the , possibility that a sort of civil war would arise in the United States; that contradictions would be sharpened... who knows © ioe Luisa responded: Imagine, one, two, three and now, that makes three. (She laughs.) {Ibid, p. 2) LE Raymond Rocca, in response to a 1975 Rocke- feller Commission request for information on a ’ possible Cuban conspiracy to assassinate President Kennedy wrote regarding Calderon's comments:
Classification: __Secret (This form is to be used for material extracted from ClA—controlled documents.) ~55- Latin hyperbole? Boastful ex post facto suggestion of foreknowledge. This is the only item in the intercept coverage of the Cubans and Soviets after the assassina- tion that contains the suggestion of fore- knowlege of expectation. (CIA Doc., Memorandum of Raymond -Rocca for DC/OPS, 5/23/75, Pp. 15)* (gee ps Sa. Sor’) Standing by itself, Luisa Calderon's cryptic comments do not merit serious attention. Her words may indeed indicate foreknowledge of the assassina- tion but may equally be interpreted without such a Sinister implication. Nevertheless, the Committee has determined that. Luisa Calderon's case should have merited serious attention in the months following the assassination. 7 In connection with the assassination, Luisa Calderon's name first surfaced on November 27, 1968 in a cable sent by then Ambassador Mann to the State Department (CIA Doc. DIR’85573, 11/27/63). In that cable Mann stated: ".|..Washington should urgently consider \ feasibility of requesting Mexican authorities to arrest for interrogation: Eusebio Azcue, Luisa Calderon and Alfredo Mirabal. The two men-~dre Cuban national and Cuban consular officers. Luisa Calderon is a secretary in Cuban Consulate here." (ibid.) od Classification: Secret “ MASS : | Classified by derivation: _o- Ber
Cueh oe ae 4a Classification: __Secret (This form is to be used for material extracted from ClA—controlled documents.) -55a- *Regarding the issue of whether Calderon's comments could reasonably be interpreted to indicate possible foreknowledge, the CIA position is as follows: a rae wb he CE During the Rockefeller Commission inquiry, Calderon's conversation was identified as a possible item of information from the Agency's Cuban and Soviet telephone intercepts that might suggest foreknowledge of a plot to assassinate the American Presi- dent. This involves a faulty translation of an answer Calderon gave to her caller. In answer to the latter's question as to whether’ she had heard the latest news, Calderon said: The verb entere is mistranslated. Me entere (the first person of the verb enterarsede, past tense) should be translated as ".f.I found out (or I learned) /about it -- the assassination/ almost before Kennedy /did/." In other words, — Calderon was saying she heard about the shooting of Kennedy almost at the time the event took place..." (CIA Doc., Memorandum Regarding Luisa Calderon conversation, p.l). The Committee fundamentally disputes the narrow interpretation of Calderon's comments assigned by the Agency. It is the’ Committee's position that translation of Me Entere as either "I found out" or "I learned about" does not foreclose interpretation of Calderon's comments as a suggestion on hér part of possible foreknowledge of President Kennedy's assassination. The yniter pretation, mang éverk , should h awe boen | e+ to the j ck theoarren Comm 63% ion et tha C/A Classification: 000078 | Classified by derivation:
Classification: _ssee (This form is to be used for material extracted from ClA—controlled documents.) ~56— This cable does not state the basis for Libt? arresting Calderon.* However, the CIA's copy of this cable bears a handwritten notation on its routing Vals yee. Dee S672, ufrfed page. That notation states: "Info from Amb Mann for Sec Rusk re: ...persons involved with Oswald in Cuban Embassy." Mann went on to state in urgent terms: “They may quickly be returned to Havana in order to eliminate any possibility that Mexican government could use them as witnesses." (Ibid.) According to CIA files, Calderon made reservations to return to Havana on Cubana Airlines on December 11, 1963, less than four weeks after the assassination. (CIA Doc. CSCI-316/01783-65, 4/26/63) Calderon, Azcue and Mirabal were not arrested nor detained for questioning by the Mexican federal police. However, Silvia Duran, a friend and associate of Calderon's and the one person believed to have ‘It is the Committee's belief that Mann was prompted to request the arrest of Calderon on the basis of Gilberto Alvarado Ugarte's allegation that Calderon -was present at the Cuban Embassy when Oswald was allegedly given a sum of money presumably to carry out the assassination of President Kennedy. (CIA Doc. DDP4-2741, 1 June 1964, Attachment C) 4 ; g vs 9 Classification: QO007 yy ws . Berk , ’ Classified by derivation: c £
Classification: | (This form is to be used for material extracted from ClA—controlled documents.) ~57a- ties to Cuban intelligence were reported to the Warren. Commission on June 18, 1964. (CIA Doc. FOIA 4739-319, 6/19/64) However, the Committee has determined from its review that the CIA did not provide Calderon's conversation of November 22 to the Warren Commission. Consequently, even though the Warren Commission was aware that Classification: . beh EE Bes Classified by derivation:
Calderon had connections to intelligence work, as did other Cuban Embassy officers, the vital Link between her background and her comments was never established for the Warren Commission by the CIA. The Agency's oversight: in this. regard may have forclosed the Commission from ~ actively pursuing a lead of great significance. Calderon's.201 file reveals that she arrived in Mexico City rom Havana on January 16, 1963, carrying Cuban Passport E/63/7. Her date of birth was believed to be 1940 (CIA Doc. Dispatch HMMA21612, no date given) Calderon's presence in Mexico City was first reported by the CIA on July 15, 1963 in a dispatch from the CIA's Miami field office to the CIA's Mexico City station and to the Chief of the CIA's Special Affairs Stafé (for Cuban operations). (CIA Doc. Dispatch, JFCA-10095, 7/15/63) That dispatch had attached to ita report containing biographic data on personnel then assigned to the Cuban Embassy in Mexico City. At page three of the attached report Luisa Calderon was listed as Secretary of the Cuban Embassy's commercial office. The 008680
notation indicated that a report was pending on No such report is present Calderon. (Ibid., p. 3 of attachment) ‘The in Calderon's _ a 201 File. | Agency has attempted, without success, to locate , _the report. | Luisa Calderon's association with the Cuban DGT was first recorded by the CIA on May 5, 1964. . (CIA boc.“Biind Memorandum of Harold Swenson, ~ FOIA 68-290 5/5/64) AE that time, Joseph Langosch, Chief of Counterintelligence for the Special Affairs Staff, reported the results of his debriefing of the Cuban defector, AMMUG-1l. The .memorandum stated “that AMMUG-1 had no direct knowledge of Lee Harvey _ Oswald or his activities but was able to provide | items of interest based upon the comments of certain Cuban Intelligence Service officers. (Ibid.). Specificaliy, -AMMUG-1 was asked if Oswald was known to the Cuban intelligence services before November 23, 1963. AMMUG-1 told Langosch "Prior to October 1963, Oswala visited the Cuban Embassy. in Mexico City on two or three. occasions. Before, during and after these visits, Oswald was in contact with the Direccion rer) os rr) cn CL
General De Intelligencia (DGI), specifically _ with Luisa Calderon, Manuel Vega Perez, and Rogelio Rodriguez Lopez." (Ibid.) Langosch thereafter wrote that Calderon's ‘precise relationship to the DGI was not clear. AS a comment to this statement he set forth the CIA cable and dispatch traffic which recorded her arrival in Mexico during January 1963 and departure for Cuba within one month after the assassination. (Ibid.) On May 7, 1964, Langosch recorded additional information he had elicited from AMMUG-1 regarding Oswald's possible contact with the DGI. (CIA Doc FOIA 687-295, attach. 3, 5/7/64) Paragraph 3 of this memorandum stated in part: “"a. Luisa Calderon, since she returned _ to Cuba, has been paid a regular salary by the DGI even though she has not performed any services. Her home is’in the Vedado section wnere the rents are high. b. Source (AMMUG) has known Calderon for several years. Before going to Mexico, she worked in the Ministry of Exterior Commerce in the department which was known as the "Empress Transimport." Her title was Secretary General of the Communist Youth in the department named in the previous sentence. (Ibid.) eben gsr aS
On May 8 Langosch further disclosed AMMUG's knowledge of the Oswald case. (Ibid, attach. 5) Langosch paraphrased ANMUG's. knowledge of Calderon as follows: I thought that Luisa Calderon might have had contact with Oswald because I learned about 17 March 1964, shortly before I made a trip to Mexico, that she had been. involved with an American in Mexico. The information to which I refer was told to me by a DGI case officer... I. had commented. to (him) that it seemed strange that Luisa Calderon was receiving a salary from the . DGI although she apparently did not do any work for the Service. . (The case officer) told me that hers was a peculiar case and that he himself believed that she had been recruited in Mexico by the Central Intelligence Agency although Manuel Pinheiro, the Head of the DGI, did not agree. As I recall, (the case officer) had investigated Luisa Calderon. This was because, during the time she was in Mexico, the DGI had intercepted a letter to her by an American who signed his name OWER (phonetic) or something Similar. As you know, the pronunciation of Anglo-Saxon names is difficult in Spanish so I am not sure of how the name mentioned by Hernandez should be spelled. It could have been "Howard" or something different. As TI understand the matter, the letter from the American was a love letter but indicated that there was a clandestine professional relationship between the writer and Luisa Calderon. \ I also understand from (the case officer) that after the interception of the letter she had been followed and seen in the company of an American. I do not know. if this could have been Oswald... (Ibid.)
On May ll, Raymond Rocca wrote a memorandum to Director Richard Helms regarding the information Swenson had elicited from AMMUG (CIA Doc. FOIA 687-295, 5/11/64, Rocca Memorandum) - Rocca proposed that "the | DDP in person or via a designee, perferably the former, discuss the AMMUG-1 situation on a very restricted basis with Mr. Rankin at his earliest “convenience either at the Agency or at the Commission headquarters. Until this takes place, it is not desirable to put anything in writing. (Ibid. p. 2) On May 15, 1964, Helms wrote Rankin regarding AMMUG's information about the Dex, indicating its sensitivity and operational significance. (CIA Doc. FOIA 697-294, 5/15/64, Helms Memorandum) Attached to Helms' communication was a paraphrased accounting of Langosch's May 5 memorandum. (Ibid.) In that attachment the intelligence associations of Manuel Vega Perez and Rogelio Rodriguez Lopez were set forth. However, that attachment made no reference whatsoever to Luisa Calderon. Howard Willens of the Warren Commission requested as a follow-up to the May 15 memorandum, 000624