-~ 48 - Committee's work were as follows: | The Mexican government told the Commit- tee that June Cobb Sharp received a tourist permit, number 72781, on June 27, 1947 when she entered Mexico through Nuevo Lardeo. She asked, but was denied, permission to re- present the magazine, Modern Mexico. On June 21, 1948, she received a courtesy per- mit, number 25556. Furthermore, the Mexi-~ can government explained that she disappeared in 1954 and never returned to Mexico. (See Procedural Writeup Trip 2 Mexico City.) The Committee believes there is a possibility that this information is incorrect. According to Ms. Cobb's CIA file she worked for the agency as an asset in Mexico from 1961 through 1966. (CIA Report, 1965, June Cobb file, 201- ) Elena also stated that Ms. Cobb resided at her home in 1964. (Supra p. The Mexican government told the Committee . that Manuel Calvillo did not live at Cuohtemoc 877-5 as the Committee had informed them. Their -agent-in-charge had spoken to the superintendant at the apartments at which Lamuel Calvillo was believed to reside, the superintendent who had worked at the apartments for twenty-five years,
- 49 said that no Manuel Calvillo had ever re- sided there. When Committee staffers gave the Mexican government Calvillo's pen name, the | Mexicans gave the same answers. (See Procedural Write Mexico City Trip 2.) The Committee is certain that Mr. Calvillo lived at this address since it acquired the address from a recent CIA document. (CIA Report, 1976, Manuel Calvillo file, 201- ) The Committee believes that there is a possibility that the Mexican government received orders from the Cen- tral Intelligence Agency to refrain from aiding the Com- mittee with this aspect of its work. (See Procedural Write- up Trip 2 Mexico City.) The Committee made every attempt possible to locate Elena. On July 7, 1978 a Committee staffer telephoned her publisher Moritz in Mexico City and asked about her whereab ats. (HSCA Staff Contact Report, 7/7/78, JFK Do- cument No. 10016) The publisher stated that Ms. Garro was living in the Hotel S.A.C.E. in Madrid, Spain. (Ibid.) The Committee staffer telephoned the Hotel in Spain and spoke to the manager who told him that Ms. Garro had moved out. (Ibid.) (HSCA Staff Contact Report, 7/7/78, JFK Document No. i On July 14, 1978 a Committee
cw ae ~ 50 - staffer called her publisher again and was told to con- tact the Mexican Embassy in Madrid, Spain. (HSCA Staff Contact Report, 7/14/78, JFK Document No. 9950) The publisher stated that all Elena's payments were sent there because she did not even trust her publisher with her address. (Ibid.) | The Committee staffer called the Mexican Embassy in Madrid, Spain and spoke to Adolfo Padilla, a Mexican employee of the Embassy who stated that when Elena visited the Embassy a couple of weeks before to pick up a check she looked financially poor. (HSCA Staff Contact Report, 8/31/78, JFK Document No. ) He stated that when he asked Elena her new address she de- clined to give one, stating that she would return every few weeks to pick up checks and mail. (Ibid.) The Com- mittee gave Padilla a telephone number and a message asking Elena to telephone the Committee collect. (Ibid.) On September 5, 1978 Elena Garro called the Com- mittee staffer. When the staffer explained that the Com- mittee wished to talk to her in person and would pay both her daughter's and her travel from Spain, Ms. Garro asked why she should believe the staffer was who he | claimed. to be. (HSCA Staff Contact Report, 9/5/78, JFK Document No. ) The staffer asked Ms. Garro to call back collect in the next few days when he could explain
a 51 a to her when and where She could receive a Committee let~- ter delineating why the Committee wished to interview her. (Ibid.) The Committee wrote the letter and made arrangements with the State Department for a letter to be hand-delivered to Elena at the American Embassy in Spain. (See attached letter: also, HSCA Staff Contact Report, 9/5/78, JFK Document No. ) On September 7, 1978, Elena Garro called the Commit- tee staffer and asked when the letter would arrive. (HSCA Staff Contact Report, 9/7/78, JFK Document No. ) The Committee staffer explained that the letter could be gotten on Monday, September 11, 1978 from George Phelan, the Counsellor for Consular Affairs at the Ameri- can Embassy. (Ibid.) Ms. Garro stated that she would get the letter on September ll, 1978 and follow our suggestions. (Ibid.) | Ms. Garro never went to the American Embassy in Spain to get the Committee's letter. (HSCA Staff Contact Report, 9/15/78, JFK Document No. ) The Committee, hoping she would pick up the letter before her flight date, proceeded to purchase air tickets for both Elena and her daughter. (HSCA Staff Contact Report, 9/12/78, JFK Document No. ) Elena did not get the tickets at the airport. (HSCA Staff Contact Report, 9/15/78, JFK Document No. ) The Committee was not contacted
by Ms. de Paz again. The Committee also investigated whether Thomas' "selection out" was related to the Oswald case. After interviewing his widow, Ms. Cynthia Thomas, the Committee has concluded that his dismissal was ‘unrelated. (HSCA . Staff Interview of Cynthia Thomas, , PR. , JFK Document No. ) Le In sum, the House Select Committee on Assassinations has not been able to confirm the evidence that would indicate that Lee Harvey Oswald, on one night while he was in Mexico, attended a "twist party" at the home. of Ruben Duran Navarro, the brother-in-law of Silvia Duran. In addition, the House Select Committee on Assas- Sinations has been unable to confirm. the allegation that Lee Harvey Oswald travelled while in Mexico City with "two beatnik-looking boys." D. Oscar Contreras On March 16, 1967, B. J. Ruyle, the American Consul in Tampico, reported to the American Embassy that he had spoken to a reporter whom allegedly had met Lee Har- vey Oswald at National Autonomous University of Mexico City (UNAM) in 1963. (American Embassy Incoming Tele- garm #A-43 570, p. 110, CIA #737) Stressing that he had only a fleeting contact with Oswald, the reported had
-~ 53 - claimed to know only about Lee Harvey Oswald's desire to travel to Cuba and the Embassy's unwillingness to grant him a visa. (Ibid.) When B. J. Ruyle asked the reporter for permission to cable the story to the Ameri- can Embassy, the reporter declined stating that he feared losing his job. (Ibid.) Subsequent to the assas- sination, the reporter had told his editor about his contact with Lee Harvey Oswald, who had advised him not to report it. (Ibid.) The reporter granted B. J. Ruyle permission to cable the story to the American Embassy when Ruyle promised that it would be handled with the strictest confidence. (Ibid.) Ruyle wrote that he thought the reporter was genuinely concerned about his job. (Ibid.) A letter from B. J. Ruyle to the State Department dated May ll, 1967 provided additional details of the reporter's story. (Letter to Wesley D. Bowles, Chief of Mexican political affairs, Office of Mexican Affairs, Department of State from B. J. Ruyle, American Consul, Tampico, 5/11/67; WX 7241 entry #597, p. 114, CIA #741) The reporter alleged that he and some fellow students had met Lee Harvey Oswald as they exited the Cineclub at the Escuela de Filosofia (School of Philosophy) at the National Autonomous University of Mexico. (Ibid.) Oswald ~