Veciana - 12 Kennedy.“ Although they discussed the assassination in general, Veciana did not specifically ask him about Oswald. "I was not going to make the mistake of getting myself involved in something that did not concern me," he testified. ’> Also, he said, "...That was a very difficult situation because I was afraid. We both understood. I could guess that he knew that I was knowledgeable of that and I learned that the best way is not to know, not %o get to know things that don't concern you, so I respected the rules and I didn't mention that ever." ° (p42 Bishop himself, however, did suggest to Veciana the possibility of some involvement. At the time: there were newspaper reports that Oswald had met with some Cubans during his visit to Mexico. Veciana said that Bishop was aware eot—ete Sees. that he had a relative, Guillermo Ruiz, who was a high-ranking officer in Castro's intelligence service stationed in Mexico city. /? Bishop told Veciana that if he could get in touch with Ruiz he would pay Ruiz pa large amount of money to (publiclyysayWehat it was him and his wife who had met with oswala. 78 Veciana agreed to make the attempt to contact Ruiz because, as he testified, "tT knew that Ruiz would be tempted with money; he liked money."/? Veciana, however, was never successful in contacting Ruiz and when. he mentioned it to Bishop a couple of months later, Bishop told him to forget it. 29 That was HW 53060 Docld:32273595 Page 63
HW 53060 Veciana - 13 the last time Veciana ever spoke about the Kennedy assas- Sination or Lee Harvey Oswald to Bishop, and, he testified, he never told anyone about seeing Oswald until questioned by Senator Schweiker's investigator. °? (143) In assessing Veciana's testimony, the Committee made an attempt to evaluate his general credibility and, concurrently, take the necessary steps to determine if there was a Maurice Bishop or someone using that name and, if there was, With whom he was associated. (/44) 10 retrospect, the timing and circumstances of that initial interview with Veciana by Senator Schweiker's investigator may be a factor in determining his credi- bility. Two weeks prior to the interview, veciana had been released from the Federal penitentiary in Atlanta after serving 27 months on a narcotics conspiracy con- viction.°? Veciana, although having served his time, insisted he was innocent, but claimed that the case against him was so well fabricated that the Federal prosecutor actually believed he was guilty. °3 Accord- ing to Senator Schweiker's investigator, Veciana appeared confused and frightened by the situation in which he found himself, but said he believed that in some way his legal problems were related to his previous association 85 with Bishop, although he did not know exactly how. The investigator speculated that Veciana felt that by reveal- Docld: 322773595 Page 64
HW 53080 Veciana - 14 ing his association with Bishop to an official repre- sentative of the U. S. Government, he would be providing himself with an element of security. °° Much later, 'however, Veciana apparently changed his position and decided that Castro agents, not Bishop, were responsible for his drug arrest. °/ This is inconsistent with in- formation provided to the Committee by one of Veciana's- closest associates, who said that Veciana told him that he thought the CIA framed him because he wanted to go ahead with another plot to kill Castro. 88 This associate, Professor Rufo Lopez-Fresquet, Castro's former Minister of Finance, said, however, he was not aware that Veciana had had any association with anyone like Maurice Bishop and that he, himself, could not identify Bishop. °° C/ 43) we Committee conducted numerous interviews of other key anti-Castro associates or former associates of Veciana, not only as part of its efforts to locate Bishop but also to further aid in assessing Veciana's credibility. Generally, Veciana's reputation for honesty and integrity was excellent. A former associate, who worked with him when Veciana was chief of sabotage for the MRP in Havana, said: "Veciana was the straightest, absolutely trustworthy, most honest person I ever met. I would trust him explicitly." ' Sees not one of his associates -- neither those who worked with him in anti-Castro activity in Cuba nor those who were associated Docld: 322773595 Page 65
Veciana - 15 with him in Alpha 66 -- said they were aware of any American directing Veciana or of anyone who had the characteristics of Maurice Bishop. (46) Nevertheless, there were many aspects of Veciana's story Wadssle the Committee attempred=to cor- roborate. Veciana's claim, for instance, that he was the principal organizer of the attempt on Castro's life in Havana in October, 1961, was documented ina 91 Cuban newspaper report at the time. Early in their relationship in Miami, Bishop asked Veciana to monitor the activities of an anti-Castro operation called "Cellula Fantasma." Veciana said he attended a few meetings of the group and described the operation as a leaflet-dropping mission over Cuba which involved known soldier-of-fortune Frank Fiorini Sturgis.?° Veciana said he did not know why Bishop would have been interested in the operation, but the Committee reviewed files which confirmed the existence and mission of the group and the involvement of Frank Fiorini Sturgis at the time. 7" C+) While Veciana was still in Cuba, among those at the American Embassy Bishop suggested he contact for aid in anti-Castro operations was a Colonel Sam Kail. The Committee ascertained that there was a Colonel Samuel G. Kail at the American Embassy in Havana in 1960 at the time Veciana said he contacted him. Kail, now retired, was located and interviewed in Dallas. HW 53060 Docld:32273595 Page 66
HW 53060 Veciana - 16 (44) co1onel Kail served as the U. S. Army attache at the United States Embassy in Havana from June 3, 1958 until the day the Embassy closed, January 4, 1961.76 His primary mission as a military attache was that of intelligence.’ Later, in February, 1962, he was transferred to Miami where he was in charge of the unit which debriefed newly-arrived Cuban refugees. Although he reported directly to the Chief of Army Intelligence in Washington, Kail said he assumed his unit was actual- ly functioning for the CIA. "I suspect they paid our bil /s,"' emily," he said. ?® (144) Kail said that prior to the American Embassy closing in Havana, there was a "constant stream” of Cubans coming through his office with anti-Castro schemes, including assassination plans, asking for American assistance in the form of weapons or guarantees of escaping. "We had hordes and hordes of people through there all the time," he said. For that reason, he said, he did not specifically remember Veciana visit- ing him. "I think it would. be a miracle if I could recall him," he said, but does not discount the possi- bility that he did meet hime” oy (139) (fovever Kail saia Magents of the CIA would frequently use the names of other Embassy staff person- nel in their outside contacts without notifying the Docld: 32273595 Page 67 LES PRAOTES ERBES RCN ETRE