HW 50529 AGENCY RECORD NUMBER RECORD SERIES AGENCY FILE NUMBER JFK ASSASSINATION SYSTEM IDENTIFICATION FORM | AGENCY INFORMATION CIA 104-10102-10212 JFK 80TO1357A DOCUMENT INFORMATION AGENCY ORIGINATOR FBI FROM KELLEY, CLARENCE M., FBI TO DCI TITLE MEMO: INTERNAL SECURITY - CUBA. DATE 06/06/1977 PAGES 4 SUBJECTS VECIANA WITHHELD DOCUMENT TYPE PAPER CLASSIFICATION SECRET RESTRICTIONS 1B 1c CURRENT STATUS RELEASED IN PART PUBLIC - RELEASED WITH DELETIONS DATE OF LAST REVIEW : 07/20/93 COMMENTS JFK34 : F22 : 1993.07.20.13:18:55:210630 DUPLICATE OF 1041010310172 [R] - ITEM IS RESTRICTED 104-10102-10212 DoclId: 32356760 Page 1
CIA HAS NO OBJECTION TO DECLASSIFICATION AND/OR RELEASE OF THIS DOCUMENT __ . Pen” fame Ate ly pase OFFICE OF THE DIRECTOR SECRET i UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION | | WASHINGTON, D.C. 20535 oe BY LIAISON - Date: . June 6, 1977 : To: Director’ of Central Intelligence From: _ Clarence M. Kelley, Director ONETOy % (ican, ; %e, Ne yn” 2 4 P7g.ngt? HW 50529 Docld: 32356760 Page 2 Subject: » OCELOT; x INTERNAL. SECURITY ~ CUBA ‘This is to advise of pertinent developments in a double agent operation, assigned the code name "Ocelot," which involves a meeting between our asset and Cuban Intelligence Officers (CIO's) in Mexico on May 19, 1977. We learned, after debriefing the asset upon his return from Mexico, that the format of the meeting had unex- _pectedly involved a videotaped interview of our asset by Cuban technicians concerning his knowledge and partici- pation in anti-Castro Cuban exile activities. (5S) ae The asset developed in this operation first became of investigative interest to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). in November, 1976, when allegations were received that he was in contact with known CIO's in Jamaica during October and November, 1976. Subsequent investigation, coordinated closely with the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) ,. confirmed_an active relation-—_ ship with Cuban officials in Jamaica, Panama and Mexico. A successful interview of asset was effected on April 8, 1977, which resulted in establishing a double agent operation. At that point, the asset furnished details of seven previous meetings with CIO's in Jamaica, Panama and Mexico. In addition, asset furnished a typewritten “note containing instructions for his next meeting in Mexico City, on May 19, 1977, which involved a coded telephone call to the Cuban Embassy, Mexico City, to activate the scheduled meet at a pre-determined time and place. The purpose of this meeting, according to the asset, was for the passage of additional information concerning the activities of Cuban exile groups in the United States and Latin America, as had. been done at previous meetings. (S) , _. SECRET Classified by 5182 - Oo Exempt from GDS, Categories 2 and 3 | ae Date of Declassification, Indefinite a
WW 50529 DocIa: pied by two Cuban technicians. The asset was then asked — 32356760 Page 3 patter to the Director of central Intelligence Re: Ocelot. “The asset has advised that he was transnorted by automobile from the meet site in Mexico City to a r hotel room equipped with videotape equipment and occu- questions: by CIO’s and his responses were recorded on videotape. They assured the asset that this tape would ot be shown to high Cuban officials, including Fidel Castro, and that it would not be made public. There is, however, |. obvious propaganda value in this film which could be | utilized by the Cuban Government. Asset was specifically - advised by CIO's that Premier Fidel Castro has a forth- — coning television news interview with an unnamed U. Ss. news commentator, and that they wanted Castro to see this. videotape prior to nis interview. (5) oo According to the asset, the interview began with questions regarding his family life in Cuba pefore the Castro revolution, after which he was asked to coment a , on the former Batista Regime in Cuba. Ye was then asked to name the political movements of which he had been a member. Ue told the interviewer that in 1964 he had worked with Alpha 66, 2 militant anti-Castro organization head- quartered in Miami, Florida, in helping approximately twenty-eight Cuban exiles and arms pass tarough Puerto Rico to Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, for use against Cuba and that all but four of these Cuban exiles had. returned to Puerto Rico. The four who did not return are now in Cuban jails. (5) Asset was also asked about his participation in an assassination attempt of Pidel Castro in Chile in 1971. The asset stated that he nad participated in the attemot © with Antonio Veciana, a Cuban exile now residing in tilami. ‘When asked if Veciana had been employed by the CLA, he replied that he did not know, however, assumed that he was, based on the fact that Veciana had used a2 car with ‘gnited States diplomatic License plates to transport the necessary arms and equipment from Rolivia, where Veciana SECRET --2-
Bt i 4 4 Hy t 4 i Letter to the Director of Central Intelligance Re: Ocelot — - was employed in the United States Embassy, to. Chile. This pian was aborted by other Cuban exile participants at the last minute. Asset. had previously furnished this. infor- mation to CIO's during other meetings. _ (S)- . Asset was also questioned about a 1961 assassi- nation attempt directed at Castro in Cuba, in which the asset participated. He acknowledged that he, Veciana, and Bernardo Pradreres had at that time tried to kill Castro with a bazooka. They waited in an apartment, which was rented in Havana, Cuba, by Veciana's mother~in~law, for Castro to appear at the nearby Cuban capitol. Pradrereg had hired two other individuals not known to the asset to ‘do the actual firing, but when Castro finally appeared the bazooka failed to fire due to its deteriorated state from having been buried for an extended period of time. ‘The Cuban authorities later discovered the bazooka, which had \ -been left in the apartment, and were then able to identify — all of the participants. (S) During the initial interview of asset on April 8, 1977, he made available a photograph obtained from Antonio Veciana, which Veciana claimed to depict Lee Harvey Cswald in attendance at an Alpha 65 meeting in Dallas, Texas, in 1963. Another photograph depicted Veciana as a speaker at this meeting. The asset had made this information available to CIO's at previous meetings. In the last segment of videotaping in Mexico, the asset was confronted with enlarged photographs of the alleged Alpha 66 meeting and was asked to point out . the individual similar in description to Oswald, after which the videotaping was concluded. The whola taping process lasted approximately 90 minutes. and. consumed almost three reels of videotape. (S) , Photographs mada: available by > ‘the asset were. examined by FBI agents familiar with the Oswald investi-. gation and it was determined that Lee Harvey Cswald is not depicted in these photographs. It is noted that - DocId: 32356760 Page 4 ; -. Se
Dee TS attire eae i ws SECE fers ter to the Director of Central _Intelligence--—. ... Re Ocelot Jack Anderson's colunn in the Washington Post on May 5, 1977, claims that Antonio Vecilana has testified before the House Assassinations Committee that he was in con- tact with Lee Harvey Oswald ' in Dallas, ‘Texas, in August y 1963. @) _. The above asset has furnished other sensitive intelligence information, including the identities of 4 previously unknown CIO's, and it is anticipated that he 5 will be of future value to our foreign counterintelligencsa A. effort. Any effort by the Cuban Government to exploit : the propaganda value of information obtained from this recently develored asset over the period of seven previous meetings would necessarily cost their intelligence service the public identification of several CIO's currently in Jamaica and Mexico. You are being made aware of the above developments since it is recognized that the Cuban Govern- ment may elect to publicize this videotape for propaganda purposes and that such an event could impact upon current policy decisions. (S) . This information is also being furnished to the. Secretary of State, the Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs, and the Attorney General. se HW 50529 DBocld:32356760 Page 5