180-10142-10081 ? When the Central Intelligence Agency forwarded to the Warren Commission a copy of Duran's signed state- ment. It read as follows: -..She remembered... (that Lee Harvey Oswald) ‘was the name of an American who had come to the Cuban Consulate to obtain a visa to travel to Cuba in transit to Russia, the latter part of September or the early part of October of this year, and in support of his application had shown his passport, in which it was noted that he had lived in that country for a period of three years; hs labor card from the same country written in the Russian ; “language; and letters in that same language. He had presented evidence that he was married to a Russian woman, and also that he was ap- parently the leader of an organization in the city of New Orleans called "Fair ***(Play) for Cuba," claiming that he should be accepted as a "friend" of the Cuban Revolution. According- ly, the declarant, complying with her. duties, took down all of the information and completed the appropriate application form; and the declarant, admittedly exceeding her responsi- bilities, informally telephoned the Russian con- sulate, with the intention of doing what she could to facilitate issuance of the Russia visa to Lee Harvey Oswald. However, they told her. that there would be a delay of about four months -in processing the case, which annoyed the appli- cant since, according to his statement, he was in a great hurry to obtain visas that would , _ enable him to travel to Russia, insisting ‘on . ae his right to do so in view of his background and his loyalty and his activities in behalf. of | -o<the Cuban movement. The declarant ‘was unable to recall accurately whether or not the appli- cant told her he was a member of the Communist ~- “Party, but he did say that his wife***was then of o,,in’New York City, and would follow him, *** - "(Senora Duran stated) that when Oswald -under- 7 vw, Stood that. it was not possible to give him a. L » Cuban visa without his first having obtained - the Russian visa,***he became very excited or
We angry, and accordingly, the affiant called Consul Ascue (sic),*** (who) came, out and began a heated discussion in English with Oswald, that concluded by Ascue telling him that "if it were up to him, he would not give him the visa," and "a person of his type was harming the Cuban Revolution rather than helping it," it being understood that ‘in their conversation they were talking about the Russian Socialist Revolution and not the Cuban. Oswald maintained that he had two rea- ' Sons for requesting that his visa be issued promptly, and they were: one, that his tourist permit. in Mexico was about to expire; and : the other, that he had to get to Russia as ' quickly as possible. Despite her annoyance, the declarant gave Oswald a paper***in which she put down her name, "Silvia Duran," and the number of the telephone at the consulate, which is "11-28-47" ana the visa application Was processed anyway. It was sent to the Ministry of (Foreign) Relations of Cuba; from ' which a routine reply was received some fif- teen to thirty days later, approving the visa, but on the condition that the Russian visa be obtained first, although she does not re- . Call whether or not Oswald leter telephoned “her at the Consulate number that she gave him T* qe my The Central Intelligence Agency ‘had relied on Duran's statements but had delted Duran's description re ; oo Fol ; a Of Oswald as blonde and short. (amg) It had also . _. excised -Duran's statement, "The only aid she could give Oswald was advising that he see the Soviet ‘Consul, and calling the. person in charge of that office" which late. | alluded. to Oswald asking for some type of aid at the ” Cuban. Consu He Warren Commissn § eee , Lov ot haeue +r “4 e Conelusion §
The Warren Commission Staff was not completely. Satisified with Ms. Duran's ten page signed statement obtained by the Mexican authorities. Ww, David Slawson wrote: We then discussed ... the problem of (inter- viewing) Silvia Duran. We pointed out that our only interest in-witnesses (in Mexico) other than Duran was to get their formal testi-. ¥ mony for authentication purposes....This was not true Of Duran, however, because She had been interviewed only by the Mexican police and we considered that interview inadequate. (I should point out that we do not consider i . it totally inadequate, however. It is only On details such as Oswald's physical appearance, - Side comments or remarks he may have made, etc.,- that we would like to interrogate Mrs. Duran further. On the essential point of whether or not his contacts with the Embassy consisted of anything other than an attempt to travel to Cuban, Silvia Duran's knowledge has probably been exhausted.) * 70¢ best acaeyqeyecenn er ae - Dor ecrerrtretsrea 1 in the-eniginel . The Warren Commission staff's attempts to interview Ms. Duran never succeeded.” (demormminn Sar t Pai to idee _ : n, i 7/2276tr) Ms. Duran: was’ not interviewed by Americans © until 1976, when two reporters from the Washington Post. - ee UNO RO OSE ed her. pee) On June 6, 1978, representatives wean. MOUSE Select Committee on Assassinations’ inter- "viewed Ms. Duran’ in Mexico city.
Wott ecieee STAT Tn te eee ne ee, ny * ‘VIL "Information not available at the ‘time of the ’ a Warren Commissi n Teedo lore pen, Oe , Ay 7 l. House Select Committee on Assassinations 6/6/78 ‘ : interview of. Silvia Tirado Ts. 1 Tirado ua divorced Horatio Duran in 1968) © was never questioned by American officials in 1963. Thus, the Committee established contact with the Mexican go- "vernment and requested that the Mexican government make Qu ye Silvia Triado available for an interview. ere Creme Rene ECR ISRO Ce SED) i The Mexican government complied On 6/6/78. Ms. Tirado told the House Select Committee on Assassinations the following: Lee Harvey Oswald visited the Cuban Con- sulate thrée times on September 27, 1963, not twice as the Warren Commission previously re~ pI . _| Ported.” ~ thowea her some "documents, then, left to ob- - a 7 ain photographs needed for his application. : ey . .
6 0 yy. _. After explaining to Oswald that he had to ac- quire a Russian visa before he could receive a Cuban visa, Tirado jotted her name and business phone number On a piece of paper and gave it to Oswald who then left we UE to get his Russian visa. GPhone ) J Oswald returned to the Cuban Consulate between 5:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m., which was after normal working 12> + hours, 310:00 to 2:00 p.m.¥ thtdey—prmbids ) The guard called Tirado, stating that someone who did not speak 7ty ot Spanish was at the gate inquiring about a visa. (ibid... ~Pinevlindutinfes, ) AS routine procedure, she asked the guard , Wty y ‘to escort the individual to her office. (Tobi speedy. ) 7th Oswald told her that he had acquired a Russian visa. LLiviedigepenippminied .) = Since he did not produce it when asked, 907 .. ~ She called th¥Russian Consulate. (totdsy-07 7) The | ! Consul told Duran that Oswald had been to the Consulate requesting a visa and had been told that the reply would. 92Y¥ a ; take approximately four months. Zbit psa ) When she relayed the message to Oswald, he got very excited, insisting that. as a person, who had - been in jail. because - 227 oy Of” ‘the: Cuban Revolution, he should receive a visa. *ttbide, ~~ © pater Oswald. stated that he could, not wait that long 23° af "because. his Mexican visa “expired in three days. ~tbid. , 7 ato) “At this point, Ms. Tirado informed Consulg2
~206- 73! Eusebio Azcue of the situation. oa a ro) Azcue had ‘been in his private office which he shared 33? with his upcoming replacement, Alfredo Mirabal. (=e , Ses ) Azcue politely explained the requisites for an intransit visa to Oswild. teipieeey—permbaiimpmmiin! . ) When he noticed that Oswald was a stubborn man he cold Os- wald that he was obviously not a friend of the Cuban revolutiongs because he would otherwise understand that Cuba had to be extremely careful with the people it al- “a4 lowed in the country. (Setoprsod=,) Azcue and Oswald aot yelled at each other. ( “7 De *) Then Azcue went 136 to the door, opened it and asked Oswald to leave. (¢$bicd., pe-5S4.) Oswald did not revisit or telephone the Consu- 7197 late. (Berdvy7"pyv ss) Ms. Tirado described Lee Harvey SPPRSE Oswald as approximately he feet six, with’ blonde hair, ferviweighing about 125 pounds, QW iW vay Dae ? (Petey p- -) 2. CIA information not available at the time of the Warren Commission investigation. a.[LIRING/3 [allegation. “In 1967 a report that Silvia Buran had had intimate relations with Lee Harvey Oswald came to the attention of the Central Intelligence Agency's Mexico City Station. 7 Ties : ith firncnerar terse ioor ) The source, [LERING/3, fm OPEGL the-Gtirerted—exhuenety~reiteiske ) stated that he had recently | Te
~207~ ie bid: received a call from Silvia Duran. ~ [A telephone tap on vu yor call (ULrRING/3's s te1ephone] confirmed that the eadL had been Levies] a ~made . eae [LIRING/3 reported that he)haa visited , WNt age Silvia to renew acquaintances, ideas.) During the visit, , LS ' Duran told[LIRING/3 Jehat she¢nady met Lee Harvey Oswald Seong at the Cuban Consulate when he applied | for a visa and had dated him on several Occasions. (idem) Duran admitted that she natin imate relations with Oswald 749 but insisted that she had no idea of his plans (Since ) d In addition, Duran told{ LIRING/3 }ehat when the news of the assassination became public knowledge, the Mexican government arrested her and during the interrogation beat her until she admitted that she had had an affair a4 ae 79% with Lee Harvey Oswald, abet ) [Rowton (BERTH H5 cave~eSticertepsemionym) counseled LIRING/3 against any further contact with Duran because the Cubans or the Mexican police might become Suspicious of him a? 7 {Diese ') There is no indication in] Rowton' s report as to why contact with Silvia Duran would make ‘the Mexican Police suspicious] of the agent. } The report also notes that Ms. Duran says that she has not had congect with . YS & (perth, ) the Cubans since the time of the assassination. / There is no indication in the report as to why[LIRING/3's ] contact with Duran would make the Cubans suspicious. The CIA Mexico City Station reported this information to Headquarters: First that Silvia Duran had sexual intercourse a
-208= with Lee Harvey Oswald on several occasions when the latter was in Mexico is probably new, but adds little to the Oswald case. Second the Mexican police did not report the extent of the Duran-Oswald relationship: to this Station. ¥ 74% of such a relationship between Oswald and Duran. Elena This was not the first report Ne nade ; ; Garrotreported the same information to Charles Thomas a # 9S in 1965.  plinneanGnperninesmpenbhiiopnGopmioerinen . ) AGES In That the Mexican government did not disclose all the un AMLMCAN Autkorirings information in hei possession to EER caises one of two possibilities: 1) the Mexican government did not want to disclose that | rey anal Te ; : . . ‘ one of ¢théeiyn citizens had had intimate relations with aaa the assassin of John Kennedy; or L. 2) Silvia Duran was a Mexican penetration agent in the Cuban Consulate and the Mexican government was protecting ane pif Ctheir sinformant by minimizing her relationship with- mre! . b. The possibility that Silvia Duran was an agent for either American, Mexican or Cuban Intelligence. Since the publication of the Warren Commission - Report in September 1964, critics have written about the possibility that Silvia Duran was an intelligence
‘name from the/ telephone intergcept | transcripts. ~209- agent@ for either the Americans, Mexicans or Cubans. ASSEY oR Sovmece (1) was Silvia Duran an agent, VFor Mexican or > American intelligencege- ° In an effort to resolve this question, the House 0 Pessassivations Select Committeevreviewsd the United States investigative Ive agencies' files on Silvia Duran. The Committee found no evidence in this file review that Silvia Duran was either an American or Mexican intelligence agent. In addition, the Committee has interviewed most of the Mexico City Station employees about the! possibility. Only David Phillips, Chief of Covert Action and ERS tio aan Cuban Section in the Mexico City Station in 1963, consi- OR SOURCE dered that Duran was possibly an agentY Mr. Phillips stated that "at one time the asney pitched almost everyone at the Cuban Embassy." (Prrttrrsenrcervtes, ? op epleidelDeepsat tee 8, a eee ‘ a e ’ : ‘ 4 designate ant tempt bommeernineanindinidu a] Mr. Phillips stated that he had first heard wa van s a5 ® ssernaie ) But Mr. Phillips asserted that the CIA had no interest in Ms, Duran because "She wasn't friendly with anyone." 33 (Ibid.) Mr. Phillips had previously mentioned the CIA Mexico City Station's interest in recruiting a former qs Cuban Ambassador to Mexico named Lchuga. Mr. Phillips was shown a memorandum written by W. David Slawson of the Warren Commission Staff regarding ‘nis trip to Mexica, iy WRRRE RS Comms syow S+Ar . me dep elalieg thitict sd
~210- which said: Mr. Scott!{(chief of the CIA Station in Mexico City) narrative disclosed that the CIA's action immediately after the assassination consisted basically of alerting all its confidential sources of information throughout Mexico to immediately channel all information into their headquarters, and of compiling as complete dossiers as possible on Oswlad and everyone else throughout Mexico who at that time the CIA knew had had some contact with Oswatd...,This meant especially Silvia Duran, who because she had previousl been having an affair with ig@chuga, the former Cuban Ambassador to Mexico and presently the Cuban representative at the United Nations, had previously been of Substantial interest to the CIA.... #98 ee, HO Che CLA Mr. Phillips. was surprised by this and stated that “ 7S "NO one let me in on this operation." tPirebthps SLANT ALIA spree, BU Mr. Phillips added that he doubted that Duran would have been pitched because the Station could not identify any of her weaknesses. The Committee staff members then told Mr. Phillips Lat OCA fins wy FIRS Nat about the reporting on file a Ms. Duran, from[ one “ie nmin ny Roe ee . foot wr weiner rnerged inet Ch 5 pret the station's penetration agents, trramri 9 at the _ “the | Cuban Embassy.fAt one point [urranzy/§ {h ad “reported [ t his case officer that all that would have ‘to be done to recruit Ms. Duran was to get a blonde, blue- eyed American in bed with her. ( | ) With this,Mr. Phillips said that it did indeed sound as it[the Station had targeted Ms. Duran for recruitment, that the Station's interest had been Substantial ,and that |
~21l- 3% the weaknesses and means had been identified, tPirtttiss Tatommbemrmii3/72. 5g Mr. Phillips pointed out, however, that because Duran had been targeted did not necessarily mean that she had been pitched, (idoddinia..) In addition, he stated that he had never heard that Duran had been pitched. ” sectraen Mr. Phillips dig State that he would expect that Ms. Duran's file at the CIA would be "very thick" because of all the [telephone intercepts/ that concerned her ang should Predate the aSSassination, (Brine, ) Mr. Phillips stated that he would be very surprised if Ms. Duran's 201 file was small and contained Only a few Pre-assassi-~- We? nation documents ‘ This is in fact the Case of the 4 b? Headquarters 201 file, Gi-te—summiry ) This Committee 7 has asked the CIA to make Ms, Duran's Mexican "pt (person- o ality) file available for review. The cra informed the Committee that there Was no "P" file available on Ms, “lo 4 Duran. E : i ~—aad-Lbatoemtp i Another cta employee, pono worked on an "Oswald Task Force" in late September or early October ee
~212- Jf may have been a source of information for either/the 77! _— CIA. or the Mexicans, “Yor. Jeoura not recall why he specifically had this recollection but thought that it was due to something he had seen in Oswald's f 972 Gp ts t j File. He said that it may have been|the Agency' s | Mw tw attempts to protect Ms. Duran after the assassination and the heavy cable traffic that those attempts genera- ted that led him to his inference that she was a source of information for either }the Agency or the Mexicans *] : 7 art pened caarieGh st © ak: say waheg 9 Despite [LIRING/3!'s 5 peing-yauned—of) ) Ms. Duran [sy Poerrerwet emma renien ert atte Lor tet taveayitn ay aeeeet ny 8 see hie-cese~ottiver,] Mr. Phillips statements, and Mr. | ___pazy recollections, the Committee can not definitely resolve whether Silvia Duran was a Mexican Or American intelligence agent or source. (2) was Silvia Duran a Cuban intelligence agent? ve in an effort to. resolve this question, the HSCA reviewed the Ynited States investigative agencies' files on Silvia Duran. The Committee found no evidence in the files that would indicate that Ms. Duran was associated with Cuban intelligence. In addition, the HSCA interviewed most of the Mexico City Station employees about the possiblity that Duran worked for Cuban intelligence. Only Barney Hidalgo, a CIA officer who travelled to Mexico City in 1963, Cod oe, 415 considered the possibility to be likely. Mr. Hidalgo,
~213- not professing) to remember all the details, Stated that 776 he thought that Duran was a Cuban intelligence agent, * ; ehcp ay peel lapeereieGe, ) Hidalgo said; At the time when this contact told me of Silvia Duran I tied the two together, yes, sir. I.don't know, how at that time it was obvious to Me aS an intelligence agent that there was some connection there but it was of no interest whatsoever to me, I do remember. that when I next saw this contact of mine I mentioned the fact to him and let him proceed to do whatever he wanted to. 71 (titer) Mr. Hidalgo further stated that he never resolved 278 7 the issue, (Shes, ) With no corroborating evidence for Mr. Hidalgo's memory, the Committee must conclude that Silvia Duran was probably never employed by Cuban intelligence, B. The Cubans, |. 1. Eusebio Azcue Lopez. ‘When Lee Harvey Oswald allegedly visited the Cuban Consulate, Eusebio Azcue Lopez, a cuban fitgizen, -was 779 ad the Cuban Consul. Because he had diplomatic immunity, , the Cuban government had never been asked to make him 7%° available for questioning.” (ieemesiwmreted-etren-Houi Some o
~213- not/professing\ to remember all the details, stated that : 77% he thought that Duran was a Cuban intelligence agent. err rary enh O pea Sayereieie ) Hidalgo said: At the time when this contact told me of Silvia Duran I tied the two together, yes, sir. I don't know, how at that time it was obvious to me as an intelligence agent that there was some connection there but it was of no interest whatsoever to me, I do remember that when I next saw this contact of mine I mentioned the fact to him and let him proceed to do whatever he wanted to, * 91 (thre) Mr, Hidalgo further stated that he never resolved 7 | (Shae eos, ) With no corroborating evidence for Mr. Hidalgo's ; wi the issue. memory, the Committee must conclude that Silvia Duran was probably never employed by Cuban intelligence. B. The Cubans, ah, “ly Eusebio Azcue Lopez. ‘When Lee Harvey Oswald allegedly visited the Cuban Consulate, Eusebio Azgcue Lopez, a Cuban fitgizen, was 2749 SY the Cuban Consul. Because he had diplomatic immunity, the Cuban government had never been asked to make him 7%° available for questioning.” (seewensmeveted-tremMoi Memeo vd
- “207 - The Americans remained together the entire evening ge? IK and did not dance% _ When Elena tried to speak with. the. Americans, she was "shifted" to another room by one of x ¥O her cousins. (#bi@7) The memo does not state whether Elena had mentioned which cousin had not allowed her to speak to the Americans. one of Elena's cousins told her at the time that (he or she) did not know who the Americans were except that Silvia Duran (an employee of the Cuban Embassy and the wife of Horatio Duran), had brought them to the party. The day after the party, Elena and Deba saw the three Americans on the Insurgentes, a main avenue in gi? . net Mexico City. (Msrd=> The Garros claimed that they had * recognized Oswald's photograph when it was published gil after the assassination. (bit?) Silvia Duran's ar- a underlined the Garros' certainty" that the man had gq} L —. ——p> been Lee Harvey Oswald. ttirtré.) - 3 ns Le a4 ~~ The source of the memo [was fy witt ing) Central In- | oad 4 | telligence Agency asset finown by the cxvptonve Jo Ooffnom + the Committee identified as June Cobb Sharp while “REVI Bun ESA Jeite. According to Elena, Ms. Cobb was. sent to her house’ “shortly after the assassina- . rest tion for a few ‘days, by a mutual friend, a Costa Rican. ae | , writer named Eunice Odio. (ee
pence eenennnnneill ~ -— lor — pen ee eel) Ms. Garro asserted that while at her house, Ms. Cobb expressed interest ois in the Kennedy assassination. (me) One night Elena's ‘Sister Deba, who was visiting, got drunk and told the git wnole story: ( Hemi, ) Claiming to be a CIA agent, Cobb suggested that Elena and Deba go to Texas to tell their git “ story. (tee. ) Elena stated that when Cobb's suggestion was rejected, Cobb stated that she would arrange a meet~ ; gi &y ing with the CIA Station Chief. (WHISTON Stuttwed—the NSERC OPE ra orm) The meeting did not occur because Ms. Cobb was asked to leave the Garro K19 house evidently because she kicked Elena's cat. (GS, notation on the memo says chad ) never ; CG ARS ee regained contact with Elena Garro de Paz. , A en mo | ae was not inserted in either the z{ Elena Garro or Lee Harvey Oswald (Po, (personality) fileg CR but in a jocal leftist and Cuban project file. The Com~ mittee ‘Learned about ‘the memo from Wx-7241, a chronolo- _ gical history of the Oswald case prepared by amre-Good- - o } V2. ‘ ‘ < L v7 pene : dene nee eee ny pasture ‘for the vous in 19746.) The memo was found in De- cember, 195g ecto tat pt eT) Stanley ae v* Watson, Fount other wen A marginal notation on Wx7 241
221 ; yz says, "Why was this not sent to Headquarters?" (p. 37, CIA #714.) 0 The Committee has been able to determine that the memo was forwarded to headquarters shortly thereafter. 2, October 12, 1964 CIA Memo for the Record on ernment aeneeemmmmmnmenmeniatemnatann ie Re . ClIA MixwCo CITy Station's On October 12, 1964 theVChief of Covert Action, . f wrote a memo for the ee reporting ‘that Elena Garro de Paz had cola ee story to Eunice Guy Odio. fThe Committee has not been able to determine ‘af Elena Garro told Ms. Odio the story personally or 3h] a if Ms. Cobb related to Ms. Odio whetEtene-hati-teld ees who relayed it col ieetemey ~The story is not as detailed as the 10/5/64 ver- cion: “There is no mention of Deba Garro Guerrero Gal- van. “The story, perhaps because it is third hand, dif- ce ngad ES fers from the previous “story in two areas:“the party , - _ AS apposto to — Awo ther Was at the Cuban Embassy, ‘Ratcat Ruben Duran' Si Elena... . STEAD talked to a Cuban Embassy oreectetg of her
cousins about the three Americans. Attached to the memo was a note from Jto the Chief of Station, Winston Scott, which read, "Do you want me to send the gist of this to Headquarters?" ul Scott then noted that the memo should be filed. The file indications show that the memo went into the Oswald 27) A "Pp" file and the Elena Garro "P" file. (Ibid.) 3 eS November 24, 1964 CIA Informant Report On November 24, 1964 a Central Intelligence Agency = Nees cat * ‘ aml MM sana a ce Qs —s a i 65 METAR LOE OES ino oo agent tenmon Serer =ceest tors The srrforment asserted that June Cobb was an "American Communist" who rented a room I % 31 from Elena Garro.
(Sie) In addition, the informant. claimed that Elena heel also told her story to an Ameri@an official at the Embassy, who claimed to represent the Warren Commission.®3% (ibid) The Chief of Station noted that he had asked [ &3> to pursue the story. (ewe) but there is no che foe de louid Abrecal indication thatthe ever-ceomedéeed with thas request. ®* whe ( CG PRRO Lt. November 24, 1964 Elend Meeting with Mexico City Legal Attache Officers Elena and her daughter area tora their story to pr novermsee 24,1964 7° the Mexico City Legal AttacheY (The Legal Attache in 1964 was Clark Anderson.) They ree oh. the same story . Elana QAVE the previously given to June Cobb carpe, ‘date of the party mane as September 30, October 1 or October 2, - 1963?” | (PRESEBSSETS5 = eoneagey oorsaerpe 1. ) The agent who wrote the a 3b | a, . report ( a ‘} noted that Lee Harvey | Oswald could not have been identical with the American allegedly observed by Mrs. Paz at the party if this party
oy ? , =e 1963. (FBI. 103- 825555 Report, becember ll, (1964 entitled ma vo GRO Lee Harvey Oswald, p. 1) * Hepmdesumaai Elena was questioned regarding the identity of other persons attending the party at the Ruben Duran home who might have been in a position to observe the Blk three Americans. Elena stated that in the course of the party her daughter met a young man named "Alejandro" Be goberd at the party and danced with him. He was apparently . quite smitten with the daughter one tried to call her OS on several occasions after the parey totter ps3 ) The daughter did not take the ralls and as a result . "Alejandro" wrote several letters to the daughter .* bide yp Ms. Garro exhibited two of the letters, as well as a business card which identified the young man as Ario, Alejandro Lavagnini stenius. + Ao ars SoS ae The letter which Ms. Garro said was the first writ- ten by the young man to her daughter. ‘bore the date Septem- ber ‘1, 1963 and the. Mexico City Post Office postmark datco BYU cron ys September 2, 1963. When, Ms. carro (@EESEERES She this was powrid our *O
zZo . age commented that the Communists probabiy had facilities : aexs B17 for falsifying postGard. ( Berek) To investigate Ms. Garro's story further, Hgr@- REPCLS Let AT IVES Peo Mts . Y ’ L-LGAL ATTACHE!'s OFFICE interviewed Ario Alejandro Lavagnini CE Stenius on November 27, 1964. ¢#bitde77pr-47)  Lavagnini recalled that there were approximately thirty people qo. at wad’ runkin Durans party, few of whom he knew? He re- called having met a Mexican girl who had recently re- GPO turned from living inFrance. He was unable to fix the date of the party, but felt it was porbably early in September because of a heavy rain which occurred as they were leaving the party about 2:00 a.m. (IDTa. ps4 ._. SR . WERT Lavagnini ¥el\2a that no Americans“present at this SNES i party * He was familiar with the physical description of Lee Harvey Oswald because of publicity following the assassination of President Kennedy, but otherwise had no knowledge of him and had never seen him except for gS? news photographs following the assassination. (bik. , ~per47) L¥vagnini was the only person interviewed by the LEGAL ATWRCHEL Rierestmkabiwes who attended Parties at the Duran house in the Sep- tember-October timeframe.’ — Ql There is no indication wn the FBI document that this information was given “s the central Intelligence Agency" S Mexico City station. ( DOL Cl OdemnlorePiemintn 1 OS
-~ 9p TOTTObeKadedenbhomabere. ) 5. Charles Thomas ' #irst Meeting with Elena Garro where Lee Harvey Oswald. is Biscussed, On 12/10/65, Charles tad¥as, a political officer at the American Embassy, wrote a memoxandun about a con- . | gS | versation with Elena Garro de Paz. (CTA ~$S¢@6—56-7—Wie— #241 Bay err ht Ppp PN. Tos) 6 The meeting with BSS ras Elena had been about other matters but she mentioned “5 5? knowing Oswald. Thomas noted that she was reluctant | GSE to talk but did. (herd) Elena's story reported here is the same as that given in the] memo dated 10/5/64, but with , ° more details. She said that General Jose Jesus Clark Flores (a friend -Oof Ruben Duran’ s], Silvia Duran, Emilio Ce c\relt\y ‘Eusebio Azcue, (a pro~ communist writer- friend of the Durar’e) , and a Latin American Negro man with red hair EE aah (unidentified) were at the party. A marginal comment by this entry in WxX-7241 says, “How did Elena know Sto HH about. a _red- haired Negro?" Elena also told Thomas that she had Later: Learned that “silvia Duran had: been tI “oswald' s mistress while he was there.” Bp note by ‘this ventry in Wx- 7241 ‘says, "How did Elena Garro know | about te BOL Sivlia being the mistress of Oswald?? This is 1965. "3 ~The Mexico City Station did not hear about the oswala- Duran “affair" until July 1967 when[a CTA pSset, LIRING/3, }
\ Ze? 6 oem) reported itv Yswald or L@e Harve Elena told Thomas that she and her daughter had gone to the Cuban Embassy on November 23, 1963 and shouted "Assassins" and other insults at the Embassy em- 1 ployees. - ae en) eneey Mor teer prot Chanaiopett6) “Phat | ‘same “aay, a friend, Manuel Calvillo, whom the Gaccol> +hought bo lon an official in the Gobernacion, took her and her daugh- 56S ter to a small hotel in the center of Mexico City. bid.) Calvi lle Elanan Gacco awe Wor davahrst i ‘keptYthere for eight days under the Prevent. . CL SrA borin SoS EES. 2 Caen on 4% that they were in danger’ (iit) Elena claimed rae! | hg c \ She told Calvillo : futhocitics at the U.S, wanvtsdtotel'tto the American Embassy, Lf PPAF ) 4 Calvilto dissuaded cee Lee 7 her story raw ae 2. that She wee her by telling her that the American Embassy was full GES of Communist spies. ¢terd.) Elena said that some of the other people who had been at the party were taken to verses where they were "protected" by Governor Lopez arias” tebtte ; HM allegaseeti.) She said that Ruben Duran, reportedly.
26 VES “protected" by General Clark Flores, was very prosper- % Jo ous and was driving a big car. (i hee$b5 6g Foie] , BTC NSP 857 — pelle Ci Neywedi-/) Elena also claimed that Ruben Duran told her months after the assassination that he was not really a Communist and that killing Ken- . , xl 7 nedy had been a mistake. A Lheteristams . ) GAERARY noben Duran claimed he had no reason to tell Elena that killing Kennedy had been a G72 mistake since he had no involvement. | ee Charles Thomas circulated a copy of his memorandum concerning Elena's allegations in the American Embassy including the Central Intelligence Agency's Mexico City Station to aid them in their investigation of the Jchn | een ars rect F. Kennedy assassination. (PRe-House_S2Ledt—sonrrttt e ebived—tkhe—copy— Of tre “THOMAS HENOLER EPPS —tO—Per eMm— bex25,—1965-—hike mest —nesking ith Heme Geer o.— SeeK betew7) The COS wrote a note on the memo: "What an ima-. rahe gination she has!?! Should we send to Headquarters?" wk wy etd The Officer replied’, "Suggest sending. There have ' been stories around town about all this, and Thomas is
3 3g u 3 227 not the only person she has talked to...If memory serves me, didn't{ refer to Oswald and the _ ‘ €7> local leftists and Cubans in one of [ner [squibs?" torr Kora orhe- Erom-Si—te—ESe ) The Mexico City Station called the information in Thomas! 12/10/65 memorandum of conversation to CIA ZLe- Headquarters, (GeabLe=—ieor=MexecomGreytorthe-Prrector , BERT SOD TIS ES Oe OLE ly" COPY 7 CFA NOS SB Ae SSS) The ‘cable reported that Elena's story would be checked with{ LIcHAN?/1,] against the production [from the Cuban surveillance operation "and other sources." -é{tiir ) J Winston Scott wrote, next to the routing indications on the cable, “Please ask Charles Thomas if he'll ‘follow $78 up.' Get questions from anng 62 Canepadoodseetue) . x77 Please let's discuss. Thanks." (2te<) After the December 10 memorandum of conversations, Winston Scott (ccleienéeteeeeeenon) and Nathan Ferris (romascor called Gee Charlies Thomas for a meeting. | They asked him to get 4 amore detailed account of Ms. Garro's story. At this meeting, Winston Scott made it clear that thaFB1 had full respons ipility for any further investigation in the Oswald va case. ( Sieate—Dopaianait < abebbem fy on Chaxlos-Fhemas
-Sfo g Charles Thomas' Meeting with Elena Garro cn December 25, 1965 Thomas met with Elena again. on Decmeber 25, 1965. OMrhat eam date, he wrote a memorandum of conversation which provided a much more detailed restatement of. Ms. SES Garro' S alleged encounter with Lee Harvey Oswald. * tern Elena admitted that she had spokento two men at AS 7. the Embassy, “presumably from the Legal Attache' s Office." x 4. See a supra, p. ) Elena said that she did not tell them the complete story because "the Embassy officers did not give much credence to anything she and Elenita said." gs) She stated that the party had been at Ruben Duran's Ze ‘home. (fbi ty She was unclear about the date of the GX She thooais* party. (Ctbre.) Vit Wasa few days before the Soviet As- Len A tronaut, Gagarin, visited Mexico; she thought that this would put the party around September 2 or 3, 1963. thebide) She believed that the party was on a Monday or Tuesday because it was an odd night for’ a party Cabee.: ) Elena could not check her calendar to refresh her memory at ‘the time of Why interview because the calendar was ina git desk that had been stored away. (#bTc.)
" i ee oy TA oe boring the conversation ,Elena described Oswald and his companions. <fprc’.) The man who she thought a - ' was Oswald wore a black. sweater’ fete.) She said he | was quifl “ana stared a lot at the floor." Eee ) One | of his companions “was very tall and slender and had long blond hair and a rather long protruding chin." ae ~(ijatisde ) thdother companion was also tall, with short, light brown hair and no distinguishing characteristics. 67? (tba) The three Americans did not dance or mix with the other guests“ eeeea . Elena saw the same three men on the street the next aay.” (Epi. ) Elena was certain that Eusebio Azcue, Horacio Duran, Silvia Duran, Lydia Duran, Deba Guerrero, General ch ark Flores and his mistress, a doctor from Dalinde Hospital, a young american couple who were honeymooning in Mexico, and several other people were at the party. 7 “ttiie.) She said that Ricardo Guerra, whom she claimed converted Horatio Duran to Communism, and his wife, S rAo Castellanos, were supposed to be at the party put ‘did not attend | spre. ) . | | Elena alleged that the red-haired man and Emilio Carballido were not at the party that Oswald attended but at another party where Carballido and Azcue got into 4 / 3 Avr a heated argument about President Kennedy. ff#bT@) "They a6 vere Tico “sore eA O TE 4.
Ze came to the eee usion that the only solution was to (Kiel ; Her) ge kill nee  ia. } Elena ‘was not clear on whether this party was before or after the party where she met Oswald. thes ‘iareeee, ) cr a stated that the conversation Wa (A EES occur REO, 4 Elena reiterated that the. incident at the Cuban AY Embassy,. where she and her daughter shouted "Assassins," etc. at the Embassy employees, occurred on November 23 407 . at or about 3:00 p.m. -terds) Elena and Elenita were driven to the Cuban Embassy by Elena's brother who was embarrassed by their pehavior’ (efa.) This occurred before they had seen photographs of oswald.” eebit) Ms.: Garro claimed that later in the day she and Flenita were visited by Manuel Calvillo who e§ola them that they were in serious danger from the Communists and that: he would take them to a small hotel, where they would be safeg for a few days. 4Ebte.) Elena said she trusted and believed Calvillo because he was a. known qi undercover agent for ‘the Mexico Government. . Clerc) git He was” also a friend of Noe Palomares (tre-Hinster Of df 413 srovigratton) and President Gustavo biaz Crdaz. -tbre)
ie at x 22 22> - Qa Calvillo also told Elena and her daughter that Silvia Gif Duran had been arrested. (ibrd.)  Duran's arrest was not public information WEtNovonber 33,2963 bt Elena could not remember the name of the hotel ‘so that same day (12/25/65) she took Thomas to the sec- OIG tion of Mexico City where she thought it was. t®b#&. ). the Hotel Vermont They found the hotel 7'(aséd.) Elena said that she as- sumed that Calvillo had registered them as relatives or From San Luis Potasi . friends'g (bie ) They stayed at the hotel until the fol- lowing Friday, November 30, 1963, hardly leaving their , Ati rooms. (fbtdv)}- {see ™LegaiaxrtacheReperty pr fer | COMPETITOR. ) Elena claimed that while she and Elenita were at the hotel they saw the photos of Oswald and realized q 20 that he had been the man at Ruben Duran's party. $b.) When Calvillo visited them at the hotel, Elena told him. hic stocy y whieh she relatsd +o Caluillo, that she wanted to report 4 to the American EmbassVe SAYIN however ,\ Calvilla)\dissuaded her by that the Ameri- Arb can Embassy was full of Communists. (Here) Elena stated Keer Weust Gt ae . that when she returned home, guards were posted outside: vestigation of Elena Garro's allegations.) _ oy Elena alleged that after she returned home she saw her sister, Deba Guerrera, who had independently come to
7 234 | | -~ 35 - AN Haczy Os lA hh @ os _ thet Lee ‘DuRAw swwnld t ad & bezn> at Rubsw the! SEB conclusio’Y Deba was “terrified” because approximately two months after the assassination two "Communists" personally warned her never to reveal , , : 4 2y that she had been to a party with Oswald. ¢#etrc&) Deba, consequently, would not accompany Elena to the Ameri- ae can Embassy to tell her story on November 24, 1964.7 Elena stated that it was “common knowledge" that qrty Silvia had been Oswald's mistress. CFE Mose 566-563. | Re Pa eee at SIC) When asked who could verify the allegation, she could only remember ] qu one person who had told her this. (Ypttm™) Elena claimed 42% that person was Victor Rico Calan, a “pro-Castro jour- nalist." (Tpre.) : ; soon : om- EL SEGTION EEA 2383 sneer) Vv. , =? subsequent to December 25, 1965, fmondsSexctea = {rsa found her ca- ‘lendar and reconstructed the date of the party as ee tt ee! “oujsa PGE an Seme wee 0, :
239 ks? 43° ‘late September and not early September’ (€EfnosT—540-~ 7a Entry ; * ; i -) When Tho-~ mas went to Ferris' office and informed him, Ferris re- plied that Elena had given the late September date when she had originally reported her story at the American embassy) (rer Report, 9/30/69, pp. 3-4, JFK Doc. No. | ) However, Mr. Ferris explained to Thomas that someone who had been at the twist party had stated. that there were no Americans there.’ GQBta7) Mr. Ferris did not tell Mr. Thomas that Ario Alejandro Lavagnini Stenius (aeeie=imS-- e196 4 interview had provided this information in 1964. 133 Supper. ) Mr. Ferris suggested that it was not necessary for Thomas to pursue Elena's allegations since he considered the Oswald case closed and had heard all - the rumors before! ( (BB —Re pester Dey Sep — ppd clap K D@e-rushher ss ) all Th \phe-Stabe Department forwarded (the same day) a copy of the sharl&s Thomas memorandum to the Central In- telligence Agency's Mexico City Station to aid in beet - af an investigation of the John F. Kennedy assassination. 435 “On the first. page of the memorandum of conversation, “Winston Scott wrote, "Shouldn' t we send to Headquarters?" Someone responded, “OF course." (GEA Heer BOERS HEF 45 Pate iad p82 ee Pec Pea ceihet~ 2 fe Hebe wig hee own Deuter ts, 19ee, teat geaty ten ee 55 te “ed wath coe — was Faths orn “fP fe green tho€ they ‘ J ake ccselts, 937
“7 Becember 27, 1965 Legal Attache Memo to the United States Ambassador re Elena Garro | on December 27, 1965 Nathan Ferris wrote a memo to the Ambassador reporting that Elena ‘and her daughter were interviewed on 17 and 24 November 1964 by the Legal 43% Attache's office in Mexico City. (Mere to tne mnibrssrd or ENLr ALD —GA,—-CLA—pFZTTY The memo recorded that Elena and her daughter had furnished information simi- lar to the informant reported in Thomas’ 12/10/65 memo. 737 (RAPT) «=6The memo further stated, "Inquiries conducted at that time (Novem- ber 1964), however, failed to substantiate the allegations made by Mrs. Garro de Paz 2 ; and her daughter. In view of the fact that Mrs. Garro de Paz' allegations have been pre- viously checked out without substantiation, no further action is being taken concerning , ae . 4o her recent repetition of those allegations. The Legal Attache forwarded a copy of the memoran— dum to the Central Intelligence Agency's Mexico City Statione (the House Setere committer hes seeormined that-ere Copy —was—forwarded prior to" 2pas/ag? ‘yee
' . ’ erick oe jabestiqates Creve’ 3 aheg 13 . Lin asda fr “YY ware 1smissed Was E > A Le . LecHawts 6 hee soe" A cable written by Anne Goodpasture on December © 29, 1965 reporting the Legat interview with Elena and I | i; the. Legat Office’ s aa 3° substantiate Elena's story i was sent to Headquarters.” "temo tromtexteu-city—te-the e 4 : 7. XQ; & & i {430,—p—94, CIA #24. ) The cable promised to keep Headquarters. advised if any further information were «-~Vv _ == &e develope). Ebi: Ebr ) [ ovr memo is attached tc the 12/29/65 enable. Cbd, J WxX-7241 explained this in a marginal comment, "This document byf was not in (Oswald's file), but i was copied from-(a project file) and attached to MEXI i ay i ‘ orale. 29 Dec. 65." (#brd™) “A note. stapled to this cable by| stated, but the "Ty don't know what FBI did in November 1964 Garros - have been talking about this for a long time 4 Cabot las and she is said to be extremely bright." Anne Goodpasture
wrote that the FBI had found Elena's allegations un- substantiated but that "we will try to confirm or ays refute Ms. Garro de Paz" s information and follow up. borbed) | , att Win Scott wrote, "She is also 'nuts.'" (¢fpTdv, CHR=ESTH) h CIA Anvestigation of: Elena‘ s Allegation that fhe &reated Gxt v4 pisturbance at. the £8 an embassy on November 23, 1963 On February 3, 1966, Ann# Goodpasture forwarded Thomas' December 25, 1965 memo to the Cuban section at the Mexico City Station with an attached note asking qolke Sechon trem to check whether Elena was “seen creating such a disturbance as they claimed in front of the Cuban Em- QS rn (It is apparent that the Mexico City ‘Station was pting to either refute o} or : corroborate some of Blena ~~ een ene ree ee wee One Cuban section officer responded, "No bells ring with me." Another one wrote, "Me neither." The . asi - third officer wrote, “No pictures. either." Cebre- ) fomrere is no indication thae[the penetration agents Jin esr the Cuban pnbassy Jvere queried about Elena's allegation. () “ewes, That there are nox pictures is reasonsable since _Blena claimed that ¢ the event happened: 1) on a Saturday
¥ Attache forwarded a copy of this memo to the central ‘In- CF 23st - WO - at 3:00 p.m. when the Cuban Embassy was_not normally £L StEctrion TT, A, 3, ABOVE, photographically surveilled; and 2) the "disturbance" _ occurred inside the Cuban compound. HSCA Examination of the CIA Cuban Embassy photographic surveillance qs4 showed no surveillance on 11/23/63. (Shess+-fied—Stm— O. Legal. “Attache 2/23/66 Memo to the ‘United States ambassador Regarding Elena Garro's - Allegations : On 2/23/66 the Legal Attache wrote a memo to the ambassador reporting that “extensive investigation" failed to disclose that Oswald had traveled to Mexico prior to september 26, 1963 and that no information had developed that would show that he had not been in New ass Orleans in the early part of that “month. (Meno Pron begat pr BSCE $23. ) The memo reiterated that no further “action was being taken by the FBI because Elena's alle- - ' BR AE gations had not been sp subseéntideea. ‘abtd. ) The Legal / on . . telligence Agency' s Mexico City Station ” (Sire~touse Se- payo aad ron . marginal comment made b Antre~Gosepas tare yext to this, entry in WX-7241 says, “How can jit be ascertained that
ue Oswald did not travel to Mexico prior to early Septem- ber 1963? There must be some basis for Elena's report- qs ¥ | ing.“ (fbid+}—referencette-Phomas? 12725765 Nemor) Legal Attache Memo to Winston Scott re Elena's Allega- [D tion that She Had Stayed at the Hotel Vermont from the Day After the Assassination until November 30, 1963 ‘ . On 10/13/66, the Legal Attache wrote a memo to win S40TT . the reporting that a reliable confidential in- formant had reported that the records of the Hotel Ver- Det mont disclosed that“ Elena Paz, housewife from San Luis y Potosi," had registered at the Hotel Vermont on Noven- 54 ue ° , ber 23, 1963.4 She left on November 20, 1963. (SMS a ge tC AR ne cf tnscton Scott, ; : : Wkxl24d4—ERtry-HMe6sy—pr- 987 CLA £725; Thomas’ 7713766 memo. ) The House Select Committee on Assassinations aS been unable to determine why the Central Intelli- gence Agency.and the Federal Bureau of Investigations | waited until 1966 to investigate this. aspect of Elena's story.4. “fhe memo said, .“The above individual. may or. : rt Ad may not be identifical. with Elena Garro de Paz. {#brd™) ; ; : gsxr 9 Charles Thomas! 12/25/65 memo Coexeburatesttena ). Garro)s._presercewtbthe Hote] Wermor . levstates, "She and her daughter did not personally register at the '
hotel. She thinks Calvillo registered them as rela-_ . v tives or friends of his from San Luis Postosi." emo . a g e CIA-#562:) The entry for the 10/13/66 Legat memo in WX-7241 bore the notation, "This is what Elena claimed and, no one would believe her." ¢#x=?@tr;—Entry—#6t , _ pre) i\ Charles Thomas’ September 30, 1969 Letter to State Depart- ment and Legal Attache's Response No further report on Elena's story was gener ted — eT THE united states until 1969 when Charles Thomas was “selected out OY Lilehiame POLAND g SEGMIOL, powohg romantic Y) At that time, he wrote a memorandum to the Secretary of State which included a cover letter stating, “Since I was the Embassy Officer in Mexico who acquired this intelligence information, I feel a re- sponsibility for” seeing it ‘through to its final evalua- mukey Charles Thomas' memorandum stated that "he got no reaction from Nathan Ferris and Winston Scott" regarding .
52. —_ auc a . his: memorandum of December 25, 1965. (Ctate Departments? — Letter—fron—ChatlesTiOMmads “teil bemt-Regexc,—Seeretary Gb—~Rtatey hy Boy L989) | In addition, Thomas wrote that the only person to speak to him about the Decen- quel ber 25, 1965 memorandum, Clarence Boonstra (Bepety-ehies Gttebdieryesitnerinien) told him that Oswald had not been 4c% in Mexico on the date given for the party. (Tt) that even when he reitergated that Elena had not changed her story but rather that she had now given a more ar deta bed Guetee account, Boonstra stated that the date was wrong and dismissed the entire affair! trie) One of the Mexico City Legat Officers, Nathan Ferris, in reply to Thomas' letter and memorandum, asserted that et Thomas’ office had been advised by memoranda dated Decem- _ber 27, 1965 and February 23, 1966 that since Elena” Garro's allegations had: previously been investigated “y without substantiation; no further action was being taken concerning her recent repetition of those allegations. Tn
245 | ~ Ga tHetr report, the Legat's Office concluded that either the Counselor for Political Affairs did not route the. memoranda to Charles Thomas or that Thomas did not re- call receiving them. Te eas Thomas wrote that when he went to Nathan Ferris’ office to inform him that Elena had found her calendar and had reconstructed the date of the party as late September , Ferris replied that Elena had given the ‘late September date when she had originally reported her story at the american Embassy. *(stete-Depazkment : Lotter fron-Chanles—themas—tre—W+b+em-Rogersy—Secretacxy Cf Ste, — yy 5 T9687): «© Cs Thomas noted that Ferris , explained that someone who had been at the party had Pe) feEW Attendance ( 473] stated that there had not been any Americans’ (#pré.) re} “ aw Thentt® ee wrote that he had assumed that Elena could have clear- \ . ly been mistaken about the identity of the Amer ican she saw there, but never doubted that she had seen some Americans. eabiees ) Thomas wrote that Ferris had suggested that it was not necessary for Thomas to pursue the matter. since he considered the: Oswald case closed and had heard all the rumors se eee Area wes : The Legal reply to Thomas memo stated that Mr. Ferris had not told Thomas that someone who: was at the party had stated that there had not! been any Ameri- o Te cans present. (BBE-Reporty—S7/3976T, pF, JFK DOG. NO ¢
2d The Legal Attache's memo asserted that Thomas had been told that it. would not be necessary for him to pursue the matter any further since Elena's story had. been investigated previously without being substantiated. 27! (Miraec3 In addition, the memo stated that Thomas had been told that Elena's story was considered a closed 978 issue, not that the Oswald case was closed. (Ibid<:) -. x jZ, House Select Committee on Assassination's Investigation of Elena Garro's Allegations The House Select Committee on Assassinations in- vestigated Elena Garro's story both through file reviews and personal interviews. The Committee requested and reviewed the CIA's, FBI's and State Department's files, \ <' "ieeauedakeble, on Elena Garro de Paz, Elenita Garro de Loo “ Paz, Manuel Calvillo, Noe W. Palomares, June Cobb Sharp, Victor Rico Galan, Eunice Odio, Sylvia Duran, Lydia Duran, Ruben Duran, Betty Serratos, Horatio Duran, Eusebio Azcue, and Emilio Carballido. Only the Elena Garro de | Paz file. contained information on her allegations. Though ali the names listed above played a role in Elena Garro de Paz story, not one of their files included a refer- ence, to Elena Garro de Paz. Furthermore, the House Select Committee on Assassina- tions requested and reviewed the Central Intelligence