REVIEW OF LEE HARVEY OSWALD 201 FILE FOR FOIA REQUEST
Originator: CIA
From: JACK MATHEWS, C/LA/MEXICO
To: STURBITTS, WILLIAM, LA/EICO
Document date: 1975-07-31 00:00:00
Document type: PAPER - TEXTUAL DOCUMENT

# DOCID-32108059

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Date: 06/18/96

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JFK ASSASSINATION SYSTEM

IDENTIFICATION FORM

AGENCY INFORMATION

AGENCY

RECORD NUMBER

RECORD SERIES

AGENCY FILE NUMBER

CIA

104-10012-10055

JFK

201-289248

DOCUMENT INFORMATION

ORIGINATOR

FROM

TO

TITLE

DATE

PAGES

SUBJECTS :

DOCUMENT TYPE

CLASSIFICATION

RESTRICTIONS

CURRENT STATUS

DATE OF LAST REVIEW

OPENING CRITERIA

( [DELETION]], C/LA/MEXICO

STURBITTS, WILLIAM, LA/EICO

LEE HARVEY OSWALD 201 FILE FOR FOIA REQUEST

07/31/75

2

DURAN, SILVIA

DURAN, SILVIA

ALVARADO UGARTE

PAPER, TEXTUAL DOCUMENT

UNCLASSIFIED

1A, 1B

RELEASED WITH DELETIONS

06/24/93

COMMENTS : OSW16: V57 1993.06.24.15:43:04:620800:

Released under the John F. Kennedy

Assassination Records Collection Act of

1992 (44 USC 2107 Note]. Case#:NW

55924 Date: 10-21-2021

[R] - ITEM IS

RESTRICTED

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XAAZ-36409

31 July 1975

MEMORANDUM FOR: LA/EICO

Mr. William Sturbitts

SUBJECT

Review of Lee Harvey OSWALD 201 File

for Freedom of Information Request

REFERENCE

: Request Number 75-105, 2 June 1975

for FOIA Review on

NOV

1976

1186-999

1.

A review of the Lee Harvey. OSWALD file (201-289248)

has been completed by the Mexican Branch in connection with

reference Freedom of Information request.

Most of the

information contained in the file that pertains to Mexico

came from sensitive sources and methods, such as photo

surveillance, bilateral teltap and mail

intercept

operations.

Although the mail intercept and photo

surveillance activities have been dicontinued, the fact

that they

were in operation in Mexico continues to be

considered sensitive.

The bilateral teltap is still

IP/EDI

active, and, therefore, is sensitive.

IP/CR/V

2.. The Mexican information reviewed covered three

areas:

TRAVEL PROGRAM

& ABSTRACT

INDEX

PREPARE FOR FILMING

COUr. NO. (2, 3)

RYBAT REST. 686

CHOLE IDEN (1T)

ND (8)

FOR FILING

a .

Sylvia DURAN Tirado.

A Mexican female

IP-CRU

employed by the Cuban Embassy in

Mexico who provided

c/c

assistance to OSWALD in his attempts to obtain a Cubam

visa.

Information regarding DURAN appears in the Warren

Report, however, it

is not attributed to the

Agency.

The Government of Mexico (GOM) did arrest and

interrogate

DURAN re her connection with OSWALD, and a copy of the

GOM deposition appears in the Report. The

deposition was

turned over to the Commission by the GOM via State Department.

Since knowledge of DURAN's contact with OSWALD originally

came to both the GOll's and Agency's attention via the

bilateral teltap, all mention of Agency knowledge or

participation in

DURAN's arrest and subsequent interrogation

has been marked for non-release.

b.

Photo of unidentified man taken in front of

the Soviet Embassy in Mexico.

This photo was taken by

Station Mexico photo surveillance of the Soviet Embassy•

during the month of October 1963, When news ef the

arrest of OSWALD as Kennedy's assassin became known,

the Station immediately forwaided copies of

the photo

to the FBI in the mistaken assumption that the photo

was of OSWALD taken

while he was

in Mexico that fall.

It was later determined that the photo was not of OSWALD

and

in taet had been taken after he had departed Mexico.

(OSWALD was in Mexico from 26 September thru 3 October 1963.)

Even though the photo was not of OSWALD it had been shown

to. OSWALD's wife and motier, with the

background partially

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cropped in an effort to disguise the place

where the

phúto had been

taken. The photo became somewhat of an

issue when the Warren Commission decided it belonged

in the Report as part of the exhibits

since it had been

shown to the OSWALDs. The Agency finally allowed the

picture

_ to appear in

the report with the background

completely

blocked out and with

the agreement that no

mention would be made about where it had been taken.

As far as can be determined, the Agency has never

admitted publicly that the photo was taken in Mexico,

even though there has been a great deal of speculation

to that effect by several authors and journalists.

AS

a matter of fact, one of the lawyers who worked with the

Commission later

leaked information to an author regarding

the photo, but erroneously said it had been taken in

the Cuban Embassy in Mexico by CIA.

the Agency has not revealed the actual location, only

saying it was taken somewhere outside the U.S. All

mention of the photo has therefore been marked to be

withheld, because of

sensitive sources and methods

involved.

c .

Gilberto ALVARADO Ugarte. ALVARADO, a

Nicaraguan citizen, walked in to the U.S. Embassy in

Mexico, claiming to have knowledge re Kennedy's assasination.

It was learned that ALVARADO was an agent for the Nicaraguan

Intelligence Service (NIS), however his story re the

assassination was separate from his work for the NIS. After

lengthy interrogation, including a polygraph, it was

determined that ALVARADO had been fabricating a story claiming

he had seen OSWALD receive money from a Cuban official at

the Cuban Embassy in Mexico.

The ALVARADO story appears

in the Warren Report but it does not reveal his identity. In

order to continue to protect ALVARADO and the Nicaraguan

government from possible embarrassment all mention of

ALVARADO has been marked for non-release.

2. A list and copies of douments from the OSWALD file

have been forwarded to your office for review by other La

branches and possibly other Divisions.

The documents are marked

according to which volume they belong in the 201 file

(there

are 57 volumes plus many bulky atachments.)

3. During the review, it was necessary several times to

refer to the Warren Report and the exhibits

to ascertain

exactly what was already known about the Mexican aspect of the

case.

It is doubtful that the other branches will find this

necessary, but in case they do, the Warren Report is held

in the Library.

jack Mathews

C/LA/ Mexico

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