- 35 - 24 November 1964 The FBI report on information supplied on 24 November 1964 by Elena Garro de PAZ and her daughter, Elena PAZ Garro. "They are residents of Mexico City, but declined to supply their home address. Mrs. PAZ stated she is a cousin of Ruben, Lidia, and Horacio DURAN, the latter being the husband of Silvia Pirado de DURAN. She said she had not furnished previously the information set forth hereinafter because of fear of reprisals. "Mrs. PAZ said that on August 23, 1963, she attended a dinner at the home of a Mexican communist whom she declined. to identify. Among others present at this dinner were Cuban Consul Eusebio AZCUE and his wife. She had not previously known AZCUE. In conversation with him during the course of the evening she learned that he was supposed to return to Cuba on or about August 27, 1963. She later learned that he did not depart Mexico at that time. "According to Mrs. PAZ, she had infrequent contact with her cousins, the DURRANS; however, on a date she fixed as Saturday, September 28, 1963, she received a telephone call from Ruben DURAN, who invited her and her daughter to attend a party at his house during the first past of the following week. She was unable to fix the exact date of this party, but felt it had been held on Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday, September 30, October 1, and October 2, 1963, respectively, with the most likely possibility that it was held on the evening of October 1 or October 2, 1963. "It was Mrs. PAZ' recollection that at about 9:00 a.m. on the date of the party she and her daughter were picked up and taken to the party by Lidia DURAN. Also accompanying them was Mrs. PAZ' sister, Deva Garro de Guerrero GALVAN. She described this sister as a commu- nist who was expelled from the Party for being a Catho- lic. t . "At about 10:30 p.m. three young, white Americans arri- ved at the party. They were greeted by Silvia DURAN and spoke only to her. They more or less isolated themselves from the rest of the party and insofar as she observed they had no conversation with anyone else at the party. "The three Americans appeared to be between twenty-two and twenty-four years of age. One of them was dressed in a sweater and dark trousers and appeared to be about five feet nine inches in height. The second one was about six feet tall, had blond, straight hair, a long chin, and was a bit 'beatnik' in appearance although his dress included a coat. The third American wore no coat. "It is to be noted that investigation has established that Lee Harvey OSWALD departed Mexico City by bus at 8:30 a.m. on October 2, 1963, and could not have been identical with the American allegedly observed by Mrs. PAZ at the party of this party were held on the evening of October 1 or October 2, 1963. tt tt e . . r) [FBI Report, 11 December 1964; Subject: Lee Harvey OSWALD. DBA-93645.] HW 53320 DBocld:32389422 Page 37
HW 53320 - 36 - 30 June 1965: pe : (date of dissemination) The Agency forwards a dissemination to the Federal Bureau of Investigation containing information on Silvia DURAN. "1, A usually reliable and senisitive source reports that on 15 June 1965 an unidentified woman speaking French called Joaquin HERNANDEZ Armas, Cuban Ambassador to Mexico, from Chicago. The woman stated she was calling on behalf of a Mr. GAN (phonetic); she asked whether Silvia DURAN was. a friend of Harvey Lee OSWALD, and if DURAN had returned to Cuba. The Ambassador, who does not understand much French, said that DURAN used to work at the Embassy, no longer does, and that she resides in Mexico, but he does not know the address. The woman again asked if DURAN was a friend of OSWALD. The Ambassador, who appeared not to understand the question fully, answered affirmatively." [Based upon MEXI-3832 (IN 92908) .]. [CSCI-316/02654-65, 30 June 1965.] 10 December 1965 + (date of report) | Charles W. THOMAS, Political Officer, USS. Embassy, Mexico City, reports that in the course of a discussion about other matters, Sra. de PAZ mentioned that she had met Lee Harvey OSWALD. She was very reluctant to discuss the matter, but finally imparted the following information: '), In September 1963, shortly after her return from abroad, she went to a party at the home of Ruben DURAN, who is married to her cousin. Her daughter, Elenita, accompanied her. There she met OSWALD and two other young Americans who were with him. The three young Americans remained apart from the other guests. She expressed an interest in talking to them, but was dis-. couraged from doing so by some of the other guests. "2, Most of the guests at the party were communists or philocommunists. She remembers seeing the Cuban Consul, ASQUE [sic - AZCUE]; General Clark FLORES of the Mexican Olympic Committee; Silvia DURAN, who she later learned was OSWALD's mistress while he was here; _ Emilio CARBALLIDO, the writer, who she thinks is flow: in the United States; and a Latin American Negro man with red hair. "3. In November 1963, when the identity of Kennedy's assassinsbecame known, she and her daughter went to the Cuban Embassy and, once admitted through the front gate, shouted ‘assassin' and other insults at the staff there. "4, Shortly afterward, she and her daughter were visited by a friend, Manuel TARVILLO, who was then an official in the Secretariat of Gobernacion, and were told he had orders to escort them to a small and obscure hotel in the center of town. They were kept there for eight days under pretext that they were in danger. . Docld:3238942> Page 36
HW 53320 e a @ When she told @ARVILLO she wanted to go to the Ameri- can Embassy and explain what she knew of OSWALD's co- nnections here with Mexican communists and Cubans, she was told that the American Embassy was full of communist spies. She said CARVILLO tries to give the impression that he is an extreme rightist. He now has a job with Bellas Artes. "S, Some of the other people who were at the party with OSWALD were taken to the state of Veracruz, where they were 'protected' by Governor LOPEZ Arias. Ruben DURAN is reportedly 'protect' by General Clark FLORES and is now driving a big car and looking very prosperous. "6. Many communists and philocommunists here believe Kennedy's assassination was the result of a communist plot engineered by Fidel CASTRO. Ruben DURAN has sub- sequently told her that he is not really a communist and that it had been a great mistake to kill Kennedy." {Memorandum of Conversation, dated 10 December 1965; Subject: Lee Harvey OSWALD and Kennedy Assassination. ] 16 December 1965 Mexico City Station reports to Headquarters information provided by Elena Garro de PAZ and reported by Charles W. THOMAS, Political Officer of the U.S. Embassy, Mexico City. [See preceding entry. ] ([MEXI-5621 (IN ), 16 December 1965.] 25 December 1965 On 25 December 1965, Elena Garro de PAZ again discussed at considerable length her alleged encounter with OSWALD. Some further information on this subject was given subsequently on 9 January 1966. During this latter conversation, Mrs. de PAZ admitted that she had gone to the Embassy on an earlier occa- sion with her daughter and mother-in-law and had talked with two Embassy officers (presumably from:-the Legal Attache's of- fice) about this matter. She said since the Embassy officers did not give much credence to anything they said, they did not bother to give a very complete story. The following informa- tion supplements and in some instances corrects that given in the memorandum of 10 December. "1. "2. She believes that the date of the party was about September 2 or 3, 1963. It was a few days before the visit of the Soviet astronaut, GAGARIN. She believes = eet Ant terete re aN weer aa eecerastay < sae ~ ~ Sars =, DoclId: 32389422 Page 39
HW 53320 - 38 - it was a Monday or Tuesday because it was an odd night tp have a party. (September 2 and 3, in fact, do fall on Monday and Tuesday.) She cannot conviently recon- struct the date from her calendar because it is in a ‘desk which is now stored away with a lot of other fur- “ niture blogking it. "4, Although Sra. de PAZ had returned from an extended stay in Europe only in June or July, she had already met Eusebio AZCUE and knows positively that he was at the Party. On another occasion (it was not clear whether before or after the party in question), she at- tended a party where she saw, among others, Eusebio AZCUE; Emilio CARBALLIDO, the pro-CASTRO writer; and a Latin American negro man with red hair. (These last two were not at the DURAN party as was mistakenly sta- ted in the December 10 memorandum.) . . . The day after the assassination, Elenita de PAZ encountered Sra. de AZCUE in Saborns. On seeing her, Sra. de AZCUE turned and hurried out of the store. AZCUE was imme- diately called back to Havana after the assassination,, and his wife followed him shortly thereafter. (NB: According to Agency files, AZCUE left Mexico City on 18 November 1963 - four days before the assassination.) mo 6 . "7, Later that day [23 November 1963], they were visited by a friend, Manuel VALVILLO, who said that they were in serious danger from the communists and that he would take them to a small hotel where they would be safe for a few days. .. . Among other things he said was that Sylvia DURAN had been arrested. This was not public informa® tion at that time. [According to Elena de PAZ, CALVILLO was known around town to be an undercover agent for the Secretariat of Gobernacion and to be a personal friend of Noe PALOMARES and Gustavo DIAZ Ordaz.] "13. At about the end of January 1964, Ruben DURAN v visited Sra. de PAZ. .. . He said it was Silvia DURAN who got him involved with OSWALD. He added that he was not really a communist and was against the assassination. "14, "15. Sra. de PAZ stated that it was common knowledge that Silvia DURAN was the mistress of OSWALD. The only per- son she could remember who told her this, however, was Victor RICO Galan, the pro-CASTRO journalist. "16. She also |stated that She understood that OSWALD had come to Mexico more than once." [Memorandum of Conversation, dated 25 December 1965; Subject: Lee Harvey OSWALD and Kennedy Assassination. ] 27 December 1965 The Legal Attache in Mexico City, Nathan L. FERRIS, reported to the Ambassador that ". . . Mrs. Elena Garro de PAZ and her daughter, Elena PAZ Garro, were interviewed by personnel of this office on 17 and 24 November 1964, at Docld: 323894272 Page 40
HW 53320 eo a @ which timé they furnished information similar to that set forth in referenced memorandum. Inquiries conducted at that time, however, failed to substantiate the allegations made by Mrs. Garro de PAZ and her daughter. "In view of the fact that Mrs. Garro de PAZ' allegations have been previously checked out without substantiation, no further action is being taken concerning her recent repeti- tion of those allegations." [Memorandum to The Ambassador, dated 27 December 1965, from Nathan L. FERRIS, Legal Attache; Subject: Lee Harvey OSWALD. Copies sent to the DCM C. A. BOONSTRA, Mr. Wallace W. STUART, Counselor for Political Affairs, and Winston M. SCOTT.] 29 December 1965 The Mexico Station reports to Headquarters that the Legal Attache in Mexico interviewed Elena Garro de PAZ and daughter Elena PAZ Garro in November 1964 and failed to substantiate allegations reported in referenced cable [MEXI- 5621 (IN ), 16 December 1965]. [MEXI-5741 (IN ), 29 December 1965.] 23 February 1966 : In a memorandum to The Ambassador, the Legal Attache in Mexico City, Nathan L. FERRIS, referencing the Memorandum | of Conversation dated 25 December 1965 (see entry above), Stated that "Extensive investigation conducted in the United States and Mexico after the assassination of President Kennedy failed to disclose that OSWALD traveled to Mexico prior to September 26, 1963. OSWALD was residing in New Orleans, Louisiana, in early September, 1963, and no information has been obtained to indicate that he was away from that area in early September 1963. "In view of the fact that Mrs. Garro de PAZ' allegations have been previously checked out without substantiation, no. further action is being taken concemning her recent repetition of those allegations." [Memorandum to The Ambassador, dated 23 February 1966, from N. L. FERRIS, Legal Attache. ] Docld: 32389422 Page 41
‘ e ~~. % art fl When same negative reply given, he asked that they be advised that LIRING/3 had called to say hello. SAN-26 (11.0) reveals an incoming call from S&lvia DURAN in which she asks how he obtained her number. He replies: "At. the Cuban Institute". She states that she is stu- dying at some school and at the moment is free to talk to LIRING/3. The latter replies that he would go by to visit her (Constituyentes143, apt. 3) in a few minutes.] LIRING/3 continued that Silvia DURAN informed him that she had first met OSWALD when he applied for a visa and had gone out with him several times since she liked him from the start. She admitted that ‘she had sexual relations with him but insisted that she had no idea of his plans. When the news of the assassination broke she stated that. she was im- mediately taken into custody by the Mexican police and in- terrogated thoroughly and beaten until she admitted that she had had an affair with OSWALD. She added that ever since then she has cut off all-contact with the Cubans, particu- larly, since her husband Horacio who was badly shaken by the whole affair, went into a rage and has forbidden her to see them. She added that she felt certain that her telephone was tapped by the Mexican police, or, more probably by CIA, ‘since tapping was an expensive proposition and the Mexicans wouldn't be able to afford it for so long a period. ROWTON (P), LIRING/3's agent handler, [counseled LIRING/3 against further contact with the DURAN's on the ground that it might’ put him under some sort of suspi¢ion whether in the exes of the Mexican police or the Cubans. He pointed out that lit- tle -r nothing was to be gained from such a contact." [HMMA-32243, 13 June 1967.] HW 53320 DBDocld:32389422 Page 43