FLIGHTS FROM MEXICO CITY TO HAVANA ON 22 NOVEMBER 1963 - FINDINGS AND SOURCES.
Agency: CIA
Originator: CIA
Document date: 12/31/1964
Document type: PAPER-TEXTUAL DOCUMENT

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104-10404-10425

SUBJECT : Flights from Mexico City to Havana on 22 November 1963

REFERENCE: 1.

What is the total CIA information on the two flights

from Mexico City to. Havana?

2.

What was done at the time to develop further information

on this matter?

3. Can further information be acquired on this matter now?

FINDINGS:

The Mexico Station records confirm only one flight from Mexico City

to Havana on 22 November 1963.

This was the regularly scheduled Cubana

Airlines flight.

There were two reports of small aircraft flights (one

a twin engine flight to Mexico City connecting with Cubana for onward

transportation to Havana of a mysterious passenger; and the other a flight

allegedly from Dallas, Tijuana, and Mexico City to Havana with two "gang-

land" type passengers.) Beyond the original reports (from sources of

undetermined reliability) there was nothing in the Mexico Station records

to substantiate that these flights occurred.

Facts substantiated by Mexico Station records:

On 22 November

1963 a Cubana Airlines plane from Havana arrived at the Mexico City Inter-

national airport at 1620 hours - Mexico City time and departed on a return

It was on the ground in

Mexico City for about four hours which would be considered normal for servicing

for a turn-around flight carrying passengers in both directions.

This infor-

mation was obtained from sensitive telephone taps in the process of routine

operating procedures on 22 November 1963.

3.

Report not substantiated by Mexico Station records: On 30 November

1963 CIA Headquarters cabled Mexico City that a report had been received

that the 22 November 1963 Cubana departure had been delayed five hours from

1700 to 2200 hours awaiting an important passenger who arrived at the Mexico

City airport in a private twin motor aircraft at 2130 hours Mexico time.

Passenger transferred directly to Cubana plane without going through customs

2/ This information

was passed to the Mexican officials on 2 December 1963 for investigation:

There is no record of a reply. We know from independent information in

paragraph two above that some parts of this report are in error.

The Cubana

flight was not delayed for five hours.

It had departed for Havana from

Mexico City at 2035 hours which

at least an hour before the twin

motor aircraft was alleged to have arrived in Mexico City.. The source's

name is on the manifest as a passenger

from Mexico City to Havana but the

time supplied by him does not agree with other information considered reliable.

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the Mexican Goverment assured the J.S

Ambassador that it was taking

steps to centrol travellers and closed the border with the U.S. for

A flight of a

private aircraft such as this is possible but it is unlikely that such

activity as this would have gone unnoticed by the Mexico Station

team of observers who reported on Cubana Airlines flights. 4/

Report not substantiated by Mexico Station records: On 2 November

1964 the Hamburg Baseireported that a source in Cuba claimed to have seen

an aircraft with Mexican markings discharge passengers at the Havana airport

at 1700 hours on 22 November 1963.

The source reported that the tivo passen-

yers "were gangsters" and that "the plane had just come from Dallas, via

Tijuana (where

it was forced to land because of engine trouble) and Merico

City." 5/ This information was sent to the FBI on 23 December 1964 for

investigation.

The FBI responded on 31 December 1964 that Tijuana

would have been an unlikely place for a "forced landing" on a flight from

Dallas to Havana.

Their office was making no further inquiries in the

absence of additional details from CIA.

They suggested that CIA conduct

an investigation in Tijuana.

7/ (Tijuana is almost the same distance from

Dallas flying West as Havana would be flying Southeast or Mexico City would

be flying South.)

The Nexico Station had no investigativ e assets in the

Tijuana area.

The information was a year old when received and much too

vague for retroactive checking of records.

The untested

source who had

detailed the report died before he could be questioned for additional

5.

The SSC V report

travel data by the

listing of the Cubana Airlines flight delay from "6 p.m. until 1l p.i."

The writers of this report were probably trying to transpose the departure

time to the equivalent of Easter time.

Their information is dated 1

December 1963 which is probably a mistaken reference to the cable which

is dated 30 November 1965. 2/

The Mexico Station file copy of this cable

carried the date of 1 December 1963 which is the date it was received. 2/

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SOURCES:

1/

2/

3

4/

Transcripts from Cuban Embassy and Cubana Airlines conversations

on 22 November 1963 discussing arrival

time of flight, it's delay

in arriving, and departure. Joint CIA Mexican Government telephone

tap of four

separate Cuban Embassy lines.

Summary translations are

in English from the Spanish langage transcript.

These are not verbatim

transcripts. The Spanish text is the original monitor's interpretation

of the conversation.

The English text is

an interpretation of the

monitor's interpretation.

50-9-12 Folder 23, 22 November 1963

Job 64-518/84, Space 307389.)

Cable from CIA to Mexico City Station DIR 36054 dated 30 November 1963.

(File:201-289248)

Mexico City Station file copy of DIR 86054 which is

dated I December 1963, the date of receipt. (201-289248). Extract of

the information passed to the Mexican Government officials for a check

on this aircraft, dated 2 December 1963.

(File: 201-289248).

Cable from U.S. Embassy, Mexico City, Ambassador Thomas C. Mann,

dated 22 November 1963,

Control 269, SECSTATE 1177, advising

the

Department of State that the Mexican Government had closed the border

with the U.S. for all travellers not personnally and well-known to the

Mexican Government. (File: Mexico Station File P-8593).

LIFIRE surveillance team.

Their case officer at that time was Robert

H. Feldmann of LA Division.

EGGA-3171 dated 2 November 1964, a dispatch from Hamburg Base

reported information from Professor Walter SIMON who had received

a year earlier from a Cuban colleague.

(AMLOAN Job #66-602/61,

19-6-79/3, volume 1).

HMMA=13244 dated 30 December 1964

transmitted to Mexico City Station a copy of the CSCI-316/02545-64

which had been sent to the FBI on 23 December 1964. (201-322247) •

CSCI-316/02545-64 dated 23 December 1964 (201-322247) •

FBI memorandum dated 31 December 1964 DBA-9434, Subject: Lee Harvey

OSWALD responding to CSCI-316/02545-64 (201-322247).

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