Speculation.—While in Mexico, Oswald made a clandestine flight to Havana and back.
Commission finding.—The Commission has found no evidence that Oswald made any flight to Cuba while he was in Mexico. He never received permission from the Cuban Government to enter Cuba nor from the Mexican Government to leave Mexico bound for Cuba. A confidential check of the Cuban airline in Mexico City indicates that Oswald never appeared at its office there.[A12-90]
Speculation.—Oswald came back from Mexico City with $5,000.
Commission finding.—No evidence has ever been supplied or obtained to support this allegation. Oswald’s actions in Mexico City and after his return to Dallas lend no support to this speculation.[A12-91]
Speculation.—On November 27, 1963, in a speech at the University of Havana, Fidel Castro, under the influence of liquor, said “The first time that Oswald was in Cuba * * *.” Castro therefore had knowledge that Oswald had made surreptitious visits to Cuba.
Commission finding.—Castro’s speeches are monitored directly by the U.S. Information Agency as he delivers them. A tape of this speech reveals that it did not contain the alleged slip of the tongue. Castro did refer to Oswald’s visit to the “Cuban Embassy” in Mexico which he immediately corrected to “Cuban consulate.” The Commission has found no evidence that Oswald had made surreptitious visits to Cuba.[A12-92]
OSWALD AND U.S. GOVERNMENT AGENCIES
Rumors and speculations that Oswald was in some way associated with or used by agencies of the U.S. Government grew out of his Russian period and his investigation by the FBI after his return to the United States. Insinuations were made that Oswald had been a CIA agent or had some relationship with the CIA and that this explained the supposed ease with which he received passports and visas. Speculation that he had some working relationship with the FBI was based on an entry in Oswald’s notebook giving the name and telephone number of an agent from the FBI office in Dallas. The Directors of the CIA and the FBI have testified before the Commission that Oswald was never in the employ of their agencies in any capacity. The Commission has concluded on the basis of its own investigations of the files of Federal agencies that Oswald was not and had never been an agent of any agency of the U.S. Government (aside from his service in the Marines) and was not and had never been used by any U.S. Government agency for any purpose. The FBI was interested in him as a former defector and it maintained a file on him.
Speculation.—Oswald was an informant of either the FBI or the CIA. He was recruited by an agency of the U.S. Government and sent to Russia in 1959.
Commission finding.—Mrs. Marguerite Oswald frequently expressed the opinion that her son was such an agent, but she stated before the Commission that “I cannot prove Lee is an agent.”[A12-93] The Directors of the CIA and of the FBI testified before the Commission that Oswald was never employed by either agency or used by either agency in any capacity. Investigation by the Commission has revealed no evidence that Oswald was ever employed by either the FBI or CIA in any capacity.[A12-94]