Chris Cox

If I could ask Blakey another question it would be about this manuscript I'm dragging over from other thread, that had bickered itself to death. Manuscript I forgot to mention also called: "Castro's Red Hot Hell." Gist is: Marina used by intel, LHO used, but importantly, indicates another forewarning to assassination. One year prior to JFK murder the source warned, later manuscript was seemingly to me rebuffed by the HSCA without an interview of subj apparently. I understand the fellow was complicated (certainly Intel for someone, a non-Cuban, USArmy perhaps a bit of an odd fellow). His lawyer (who is this?) circulated story first. Whether or not lead was good or bad fits our theory or not is insignificant. The point is, source was easy to get a depo from. He was in Leavenworth, yet the HSCA seems to fly off elsewhere for a long shot, yes, spending tax dollars and making the hill people nervous, while something like this (I don't know the whole story I'm sure) goes without action. Like those employed/spying on Garrison sucking up funds with no return while there are great leads in one's own backyard, Garrison and others may have missed. That said, I'm not sure if HSCA is entirely the fault of a few when the whole system broke down, kind of like the bickering on forums, a waste of time and talent that is more internal. To canonize Garrison while demonizing Blakey seems silly exercise when the task is much larger. I believe both men would agree on this. To yammer further IMHO there are two kinds of people in this stuff: readers and researchers. The researchers are the guys hunched over decoding, learning the names of the reference librarians, depressed and knocking on doors while the readers wait at Barnes and Noble for the book to come out. The researchers take the heat and readers chose sides. There are many more readers among us than reseachers. Garrison and others that followed up IMO may have become vulnerable from restless nights as researchers--it happens. Garrison was a good writer and good foundation but he was flawed as well. The HSCA was hugely flawed in this same way.

Don't know where this belongs, but has anyone taken interest in what is known as "The Antulio Ramirez Ortiz Manuscript?" This man was a Castro supporter when everyone was then not and was later the first hijacker to Cuba. Imprisoned several times finally in Leavenworth, for the hijacking. He wrote a pretty lucid manuscript about his life. He claims to have seen in Cuba (1962)a file "Osvaldo-Kennedy" "with information indicating KGB involvement in the Kennedy assassination." (from a doc released in 1997) Fonzi covers this lightly and it appears to have been of interest to investigators but handed off and not entered as any evidence. What happened to the investigation which seemed to end with Blakey and Lopez? Theories aside, I wonder why this investigation ended?

Bill, Is Jim Rose still around?

pretty good spy, Lee. Another digression, sorry--forgot about Priscilla with Lee; Priscilla with Svetlana A. after her New Delhi defection. coincidentallly a Spy Museum offering this month: FREE LUNCHTIME AUTHOR DEBRIEFING AND BOOK SIGNING What Stalin Knew: The Enigma of Barbarossa Thursday, 22 September 2005; 12 noon – 1 pm Why did Stalin trust Hitler? Despite the fact that Soviet intelligence knew the date, time, and location of Germany’s planned invasion of the Soviet Union, Stalin was convinced that Hitler would not attack. Former CIA chief of Soviet operations and onetime chief of the CIA’s Berlin base, David E. Murphy, plumbed the archival record to get to the bottom of the intelligence war between Stalin and Hitler. Using the stories of three intelligence officers caught up in the Soviet system, Murphy exposes Stalin’s colossal blunder, one of World War II’s greatest mysteries. Free! No registration required! Join the author for an informal chat and book signing.

heads up on excellent sourcebook: Wings Of The CIA Frederic Lert Histoire & Collections, 1998

Interesting stuff. A couple sites with pix I like. http://www.newseum.org/berlinwall/commissa...reinventing.htm http://www.fbuch.com/leon.htm http://www.historyguide.org/europe/lecture7.html From Wikepedia: Jaime Ramón Mercader del Río Hernández he became famous as the assassin of Stalin's great rival, Leon Trotsky Mercader fatally wounded Trotsky with an ice axe in his study at his home in Coyoacán (then a village on the southern fringes of Mexico City). Trotsky's guards burst in and nearly killed Mercader, but their leader ordered them to spare his life, yelling "Do not kill him! This man has a story to tell."

Jim thanks for re-centering this thread. Fascinated by the background history of the elements-- I read all these links, but it takes me far afield from the original question-- interesting and significant as the digressions might be. Who are the Russians around LHO? The "good" Russians, at the time, not the "bad" ones. The man who shoots the president is Russian symp, the man who shoots the movie of the murder is, the babysitters are, the wife of the man, the Dr. who helps the Oswalds return to America is half-Russian. What can we make of this? Is it significant or happenstance? I am not well-schooled in assassination lore details, but the two opposing magazines and the handling of the BY photos and LHO's response to them is very important. It would have been a fact in a trial. Is that him or ain't it? The subject says "no." Did LHO know the difference between the two magazines? Is LHO's denials an act of cover (protect the mission) or an act of protection for what he realized coming down on him-a frame-up after he conjectured he "blew it?" I think LHO knew he was being used in his final hours and who it was that was using him-he said "patsy" because that was the quickest way to tell his story and cast doubt for the record. Did the Abt request come before or after this declaration? From my research on these "men without a country" an operative knows one thing--loneliness if what they are doing turns sour. Deniability is what they sign up for-the "honor" in the thing separates men from boys. A military man has the guts to sign up for this. You said: "far fetched" certainly not. I assume we all agree LHO was a spy for someone. His US military history makes all the associations he made, a US intel operation IMO. I think he came to the work as a soldier. If you look to the root of an operative you will find the military MO. Instance, William Morgan who served as an example to Lee and similarly "left behind." Morgan, it is rumored served Atsugi. Morgan, just before he died led his wife and kids to a foreign embassy and dropped them off. Morgan wasn't clairvoyant, he knew the universe of his choices. LHO was a Marine first, tattered personality and all IMHO. His primary foundation. Like his brother he signed up and he read spy novels as a youth. You can twist a profile like that into many shapes. He was not lost in the Soviet Union, he was helped by US not them. "They" smelled a rat and we protected the agent. Lee never smelled Angleton's orchids is my guess, but he knew his way around the greenhouse. Nosenko paid up in full and he resides here today with a new persona. Since I love to tell the anectdotal tale--go to the Spy Museum in DC if you can. Kalugin (sp?) serves on the board and you enter a theatre where his mug pops in to narrarate. He also has SpyTours, which takes visitors around DC for an inside look at the spybiz.

Deep and convoluted. I've more questions than answers, but I guess this monster's built like that (wink). Delgado's rich testimony(the eagle was it double headed or the art deco one like Freicorps?)Just kidding, but interesting history on Freicorps I'd not seen. You mentioned Paine's charity and the BY photos offered up. From webinfo Raigorodsky sets up churches among other things. Bouhe goes limp on the Ruby question, also interesting post. CD Jackson swoops in for his capture of the Zapruder work. FBI all over the place and "nobody knows nothin" yet everyone has something to say. LIFE has the film. Delgado seemed mighty perturbed at the harrassment while he was yacking up a storm. Is he telling what he believes or what he was carefully led to believe? WC, tortuously ignorant under pressure. Peter Wronski website link to AJW's mentions Thompson all confused to commission when he knows The Doctor. Aww shoot, they know he knows. In-country Davison (military intel/CIA) handles the Oswalds, and the unfortunate Penkovsky. The Dr. gets persona non grata while LHO gets ride and stipend and new friends. Toss in a U-2 incident and a few defectors, Red Cross mission in Russia, the red hunt and the oil guys/Wall St. backers from way back when...head-spinning leads, fellows. So, what's the best analysis? That there were Russians (Old Guard and White) entrusted, counted on and called upon to engage LHO over there and back here because he's rogue "defector" or his cover was tattered? Surely he was working on his cover at base with Delgado. Any ruskies in NO? LHO knew where he was going and who to see-so free agent never alone until Ruby steps up to the plate?

Who has done research in this area and where might I find it? Any theories rolling around out there on why there is this element? Been re-reading Kwitney's "Crimes of Patriots" was reminded of the White Russian background of Mitch WerBell. Made a mental list: DeMorenschildt, Zapruder, Dr. Alexei Davison at USEmb Moscow. Any others I've forgotten?

A word about periodicals--have been reading some articles from late fifties early 60s in Havana press-Revolucion and Havana Post. Anybody know who owned the Post-English language paper? Many papers are available from university archives on microfilm. It is worth the time to read these accounts from Cuba. They're different from what we were getting here in this country regarding revolution and early counterrev. Much more detail is available on operations inside Cuba that US papers didn't publish. The declass docs we get here allude to some of these articles in part but by reading the entire article from the Havana perspective fills in some gaps. One thing very clear is that the US was supportive of the revolution, 1959 was a hopeful time save for a few articles indicating the appropriations of US owned properties and arrests of counterrevolutionaries. How much of the counterrev was driven by reporters with an agenda? Who wrote the articles opposed to Castro early on? We know the names of journalists: St. George, Hendrix, Mallin, Phillips? working in Cuba but were these stories coming out of Cuba, put on the AP wire and filtered by US press? Thanks for doc. info, Larry. I'd like to see it. Do you order it over the web? I have made trips to archives to pick up copies in person but not familiar with ordering them. Cost and procedure for ordering this doc? Thanks.

I have talked to some of people you mention. Thanks for referrals. Jan I know quite well and Mallin I've talked, both very helpful. Talked to a man Ed Sweet who was in jail in Cuba but neither Mallin or Sweet knew Paul Hughes. Interestingly there are entries on Sweet in the Cuba Project. Cuba has done some research on this era between revolution and BOP. Are you familiar with John Dorschner? Is he still at Herald? Found his book Winds of December very helpful early on. I realize after many moons of this research proj. Much to learn from stuff coming out of Cuba, no matter our relationship/embargo. It's going to be a joint effort to find the history as you fellows down there for the BOP reunion found. Room for dialog. A caveat for my research is to not believe everything from one source, here or there. People are the most interesting source I've found. Fantastic stories from both sides. I sent some things, papers about our stories to that conference with Wayne S and never got response. No interest in what I think is important part of history prior to BOP. From POV of family's with our respective tales all I could think -- it was not worth bringing up these things from either side tho' they are part of the history. Castro took examples with him (prior BOP and 27-man invasion was one example) to UN these were important issues then. Sanctioned or not, things were happening that made Cuba very nervous. Made BOP imperative --now or never with disasterous results. Fueled a major not too secret war. Even the water taxi in Lauderdale points out where boats bound for BOP were moored, this history very prevalent in Florida little known rest of country yet it was a staging area, touchstone? for important cold war events. You are right the written history is limited, but there are files, news clippings and people to fill in details. For any future conferences I'd like to see some of our families represented in the discussion. Above all I hope there will be an effort to preserve what is written about this stuff between our two country's archives, when there's chance. About La Coubre, I've found good deal of info on record in NARA that indicate there are intrigues behind it but nothing conclusive. It was either accident or sabotage but there may be more to add to that event from the Cuban investigations, I don't think we have access to as yet.

Bill, a few quick questions: Did Guantanamo have role in this '63 east end operation? Did Harry ever use the name "Frank Williams?" One more: Is it possible, because there are numerous accounts there might have been, other Cuba operation(s) in play in Dallas that afternoon? Tosh made comment of a connecting apt (Beckley or Elsbeth not sure) to a safehouse housing Cubans and Chauncey Holt accounts for his presence as forger/tramp with Masferrer somewhere in there. If there is evidence there were other operations involving Dallas, would they connect to RFK? Thanks.

John, I posted once on someone's forum a letter from Robert Kennedy reinterpreting or restating his administration's take on the Neutrality Act. I count this as another factoid to back up a contention that he was abreast of what it took to deal with Cuba problem. James R, do you have this by chance? I'm not at my files presently and wonder if I sent it to you. Maybe it's from a Lancer post? Someone must have it and worth a posting here.

Thank you for the swift reply Don. I appreciate your candor that some things may be missing in your book regarding early raids or operations just prior to BOP. It is that area that I've been studying and it requires a lot of digging and locating folks involved--not much in the written record. I'm a daughter of a missing man but also an armchair historian of Cuba/US. It's an amazing story in its longevity, truly unique. I mean't "a" raid not "the" raid. My father, a pilot, died six mos before BOP in a random raid, covered in LIFE, Miami News and a few other periodicals. He left St. Lucie county on Oct 31, 1960-his mission aptly called operation "Trick or Treat." Andy St. G and Hal Hendrix remember this. It was one of many foolhearty attempts to foul the revolution which my father played a part in as a Captain in the revolutionary air force for the second national front of Escambray. To recap, this group following Batista's departure, held the capital days before arrival of Fidel who demanded surrender. Before Fidel arrived he sent Camilo and Che to bargain to little avail. Then things soured all fell apart, a story of betrayal shared by many of course rest is history. The event that precluded my father's disappearance was a raid called "27-man invasion" "Masferrer invasion of Navas Bay" various monikers. The men were jailed tried and swiftly killed. Some escaped one was my father, a few weeks later having survived Navas Bay he would disappear. A good account of the Navas raid is by an Englishman, Terrence Spencer for Swank Mag.

Wonderful post, Gary, thought-provoking for anyone studying history.

Thank you for your prompt reply, Harry. Your answers are very helpful to my research and understanding the constraints. One thing that glares from your narrative is: "Yes the FBI had the power to exempt in cooperation with Senate hearings, in protecting sources." Basis of facts for my research begin with FBI files, heavily redacted. FBI had as much power to obfuscate as create a genuine record of something that is essentially hearsay--the report of the informant to SACs. Sorry to sound confusing. Example: before my father did something he got in FBI car or met in a park or office and told FBI (CIA, Customs, Mil attaches etal.) what was going down--a man in street, informant account. FBI says "thank you very much" and creates record for distribution to relevent branches of USG. No arrest is made and FBI stays up to snuff on nitty gritty. Also, isn't it interesting and very relevent to current events about protecting deep sources? A powerful tool. Begs question if hearings are for the airing of facts to form a conclusion and those facts are closely-held because of security issues from law enforcement body then the power of that body is part of problem. Deniability (Nat. Security?) protection and giving FBI "filter power" (you catch my drift?) IOWs why not let Harry tell directly what Harry knows in executive session--this immunity was granted in Iran Contra testimonies for example. In the end all this actually works against the construction of the hearings in first place. This is precisely why we find ourselves in this historical predicament. Another quick question, were you paid for this work? How? Feel free to email.

Thanks Harry: You wrote: "hearings were held re: FPCC while I was secretary of that Ist Chicago group I was not called because I was at that time informing FBI on FPCC and other pro-Castro activities the bureau arranged that I not be called even though my name appeared in hearings reports with other officers." RE: above, which hearings are you referring to? What document/hearing had your name but not testimony? How did FBI opt you out? via a letter, FBI memo, other document? did FBI have power to exempt informants from testifying? If I have it right, you were infiltrating FPCC in Chicago(this was bona fide group of card carrying Communists?) You became secretary because FBI placed you there and protected you? What were the "other pro-Castro activities the bureau arranged" ? Who were the investigators that contacted you to testify? When US didn't defeat Castro what did you think happened at the time, not hindsight? What was your (personally) indication that Castro wouldn't bend following revolution? When did you see this was happening and were you in Cuba at time? Thanks for your input as always

sorry for wedging in here, John. I await Don's response as eagerly as you. To harp on my earlier posts about DC/exec. level knowledge of raids, I offer up an anectdotal story, repeated frm earlier posts: After my father and other fathers went missing, widows asked questions, hired attorneys wrote reps in DC, JEH and WH, this is during the Kenn admin. Those letters were volleyed office to office, what to do? If WH didn't know before they knew when letters crossed their desks. Benes due widows, Soc Sec, Vet pay, previously denied were suddenly reinstated. Benefits continue to be paid some aging survivors. Logic tells me that this wouldn't be the case if there wasn't some understanding at highest levels. And if blood (Yankee blue Irish Catholic family too) is thicker than water, how could one brother possibly be privy and not the other? Doesn't fit the profile IMHO. Jack knew Bobby loved the sleuthing, even said he wished he'd made him CIA director. LBJ quipped about a proverbial dumber brother, not destined for WH instead heading CIA didn't he? I concur with Bohning that had the administration survived, the actions wouldn't have ceased perhaps been turned up a notch. Have we bought the Camelot mythology hook line sinker? No disrespect to a noble presidency, but the laundry was buried deep no thanks to the family. To know history is to accept its "naughty bits" n'est pas? Post Dallas, as it is written, Bobby was beside himself with grief and/or guilt? He turned his energies to Domestic issues like BedStuy, poverty, peace, IMHO, spiritual atonement for past sins?

Dazed and confused, Harry (wink) Back to Cuba, you were there I was there, Gerry, Tosh etal. Americans in midst of rev sponsored in part by US and sinking fast. Turner book if memory serves, has FC swimming (colorful story if only rumor) to TX to pick up money from Prio for the Granma expedition. Tosh has M26 arms pact coming out of MX and Second Front (Escalante's book and some here stateside claim) created as oppositional small hedge/window of opportunity that closed as Castro made his way to Havana-- the faithful masses making it clearer an opposition was in trouble. So, as I asked Gerry, why not then, why wait for the debacle of BOP to convince US all was lost? Was it, to use hackneyed "a vast RW conspiracy" born out of the red hunt , that surrounded the operation then handed off to JFK as payback? A sort of Nixon parting gift: "Let's see how the Kennedy bros. screw this up?" What was the word in your circles that the rev. as we saw it, was in trouble? When BOP happened were you surprised at the outcome? Some see the "whole BOP thing" as indicative of one thing, but I'm wondering if Nixon was being haunted, not fishing at all, just caught in his own net. another quick question: did you ever testify for any congressional hearings? When and which? Best always.

interesting thread. Always interested in your posts. Harry, I find some of this stuff more than a little mindboggling...you make JBS/LDS connection, which I know nothing about but I'm looking at some of the McCarthy stuff and find some interesting political details that came out of that era, some of the elders here might remember. Of course this has been discussed here before but I'll return to it. Seems there was a deep split in politics at that time, no secret, but if I understand correctly, emerging was a new liberalism (for lack of correct term) out of this you have Rauh (Smith Act and unions) the Dems then you have the right wing JBS the Young Republicans or whatnot rooting for the witchunt out of that the emergence of Nixon and Hiss case, Reagan and Hllywood blacklist, real reactionary stuff. It was like "pick a side." Both men would go down in history but that's another story. Even US mil (Army?) took bit of bashing in McCarthy hearings,significantly, it was that that brought him down. Cuba comes along and the State Dept is accused by the rightish folk as being the prime force behind helping Castro, Weicha accused pink in the Senate investigation of 1959, as was Matthews who first covered emerging revolution. The military at embassy in Cuba in 1959 and prior to rev. seems up to snuff on what's going on even before Jan 1959. Hoover comes in here of course, but I wonder since you mentioned the cryptic (Marrs?) idea about society within society, I wonder since I've come across them in my personal search, the Masons. Without sounding too "out there" have you come across an element of this group with elements of JBS or LDS?

Great book, I have been reading and re-reading your's and Escalante's book The Cuba Project this summer. Have you read Escalante's book and do you concur with his research and conclusions, particularly the details of early intrigues prior and just after revolution? Do you agree with his work on BOP? Your chapter 8 Miami: Perpetual Intrigue makes great read. One question I have from this chapter is page 133 fifth paragraph, on SOF and use of press, was Gerry the primary source for this paragraph and did you find most reporters were interested in this kind of story or only reporters who had some earlier experience in Cuba or covert operations in Latin America? My father was lost on the raid and that raid was covered by St. George for Life, Buchanan and Hendrix. Had you much contact with those reporters? Did you share info? Do your Cuban and US military sources agree to any extent that there was an effort to support then withdraw support of Castro in latter '59? Do they feel BOP imperative came out of this event? A lot of this is covered in the USG report of 'Threat to Caribbean 1959' which sought to confirm Castro was a communist. I wonder why you don't cover the earlier attempts to upset the Castro revolution by strafing cane, leafleting operations and the Navas Bay raid six months before BOP that resulted in executions of Americans and Cubans? The timeframe seems relevant to me. Those executed indicated beforehand that they were working with US help the calls for execution indicates that there was anti-yanqui sentiment "in the street", the US knew about it, yet went ahead with BOP shortly after. Did you interview Menoyo, del Pino or Diaz Lanz for this book? Thank you for your insights.

Gerry, really glad to hear about the archiving of Andy's photos. He was all over the place and Dunkin deserves a story for the record, as well. Hey, the Happy Meal thing is touching. I remember a Wendy's way back when. Andy and Starbucks. Just the way it is sometimes. Could you explain your statement: "The only info that JM/WAVE got on me [NOT from me], was via the Castro DGI agents they employed as spotters and snitches against ALL of the exile raider groups." So they doubled Castro agents? When did this begin? As early as Morgan, for instance? Is it possible it was this kind of thing going on in some of the pilot incidents such as Matt Duke (ambushed 1960 picking up people on Central Hwy) or Navas Bay bust--Cuba tipped off in this manner? Intriguing and troubling.

ha, well we have little control over how history remembers us, esp when we're gone. A bit on Spiritto is in the new book by Escalante, The Cuba Project. Think the connection with him and early work with Tony U. was made in work of Hank Albarelli (sp) if I'm not mistaken. I asked Nat Weyl about this NYC/Stanley Ross/Tony U stuff and how it related to Cuba but he died without answering unfortunately. What do you remember about John Hudson Wilson? He was with Spiritto. From Britain but carrying Chilean passport. A reporter supposedly. Wonder if he came in contact with DAPhillips at the time. Your thoughts? Sturgis and DAP get alot of coverage in the aforementioned book as promoting the idea of Batista challenge, leading to creation of a second front. Spiritto gets start in MX early before Granma expedition. Reminds me of the pulp book by Robin Moore.

"Galindez also provided Hoover with information on the rebels in Cuba. This included information that Castro was a communist agent. This was important news at the time because Hoover was aware that the CIA were at the time helping Castro in his struggle with Batista. " First I've read on this above. Sources? Shame on me for not reading these threads, all interesting. I'd like to know more about the Galindez Ulacewicz connection and if it has anything to do with a man I'm searching for, John Meckpless Spiritto, aka Johny Espiritus in Cuba who was with counter rev group with my father in '59. He was arrested with Wilson Hudson, my father Paul Hughes, and others in a Nicaraguan invasion plan from Havana. Tosh earlier here indicated there was significance of Murphy's disappearance and Galindez and events/people later in Havana operations. Any info and whereabouts most appreciated. Recall John Spiritto made film for Cuba indicating CIA involvement in death of Gaitan. Thank you.

'Felonious Mopery'..." (LOL) Hahaha, G. I cut and pasted in my lexicon. Good to read your posts, btw.