LBJ, Hoover and the Cuban Operation

[Tim Carroll]

In a telephone conversation on 28th November, 1963, LBJ asked Hoover if Oswald "was connected to the Cuban operation". Hoover definitely knew what LBJ was talking about and replied "that is what we are trying to nail down now". What was the Cuban operation that LBJ and Hoover were talking about?

John, I think you must mean the conversation of November 29. Hoover tells LBJ, "This angle in Mexico is giving us a great deal of trouble because the story there is of this man Oswald getting $6,500 from the Cuban embassy and then coming back to this country with it." (Hoover is no doubt referring to the story told by Gilberto Alvarado, which Alvarado later admitted was false.) Then later, when LBJ is summing up the conversation, LBJ says, "whether (Oswald) was connected with the Cuban operation with money, you're trying to - " And Hoover says, "That's what we're trying to nail down now."

I believe the book Ultimate Sacrifice got this one wrong, as cited by John, and that Ron is correct about the date. The text of the book does cite November 28, 1963 as the date of this particular conversation between Hoover and LBJ. However, the book's own source notes for this conversation say: "11/29/63 tape from the Lyndon Johnson Presidential Library, cited in Michael Beschloss, Taking Charge: The Johnson White House Tapes, 1963-64 (New York: Simon & Schuster Audio, 1997)."

T.C.

[Lynne Foster]

I think that any good historian who carefully analyzes this November 29 document and compares it with the Warren Commission report cannot avoid the conclusion that Hoover Framed Oswald.

In particular, these are the most interesting parts:

........that there are a number

of stories which tied Oswald to the Civil Liberties Union in New York in

which he applied for membership and to the Fair Play for Cuba Committee

which is pro-Castro, directed by communists, and financed to some extent

by the Castro Government.

The President asked how many shots were fired, and I told him three.

He then asked if any were fired at him. I said no, that three shots

were fired at the President and we have them. I stated that our

ballistic experts were able to prove the shots were fired by this gun;

that the President was hit by the first and third bullets and the second

hit the Governor; that there were three shots; that one complete

bullet rolled out of the President's head; that it tore a large part of

the President's head off; that in trying to massage his heart on the

way into the hospital they loosened the bullet which fell on the

stretcher and we have that.

He then asked were they aimed at the President. I replied they were

aimed at the President, no question about that.

I further advised him that we have also tested the fact you could

fire those three shots in three seconds. I explained that there is a

story out that there must have been more than one man to fire several

shots but we have proven it could be done by one man.

The President then asked how it happened that Connally was hit. I

explained that Connally turned to the President when the first shot was

fired and in that turning he got hit. The President then asked, if

Connally had not been in his seat, would the President have been hit by

the second shot. I said yes.

The President then indicated our conclusions are: (1) he is the one

who did it; (2) after the President was hit, Governor Connally was hit;

(3) the President would have been hit three times except for the fact

that Governor Connally turned after the first shot and was hit by the

second; (4) whether he was connected with the Cuban operation with

money we are trying to nail down. I told him that is what we are trying

to nail down; that we have copies of the correspondence; that none of

the letters dealt with any indication of violence or assassination;

that they were dealing with a visa to go back to Russia.

______________________________________________

It is interesting that the only questions that Hoover raises about Oswald concern the Cuban operation,

specifically,

(4) whether he was connected with the Cuban operation with

money we are trying to nail down. I told him that is what we are trying

to nail down; that we have copies of the correspondence; that none of

the letters dealt with any indication of violence or assassination;

that they were dealing with a visa to go back to Russia.

______________________________________________

Given his detailed knowledge about everything except the Cuban operation, is it not safe to assume that it related to Jack Ruby's gunrunning operation to Cuba, I think my previous effort to link it to Hunt, is wrong.

The words Money, Cuba and guns spell gunnrunning to Cuba, in my opinion, and Guy Banister, Hoover's former pal, coordinated that effort out of New Orleans -not tomention the fact that GGuy Banister was probably Garrison's pal as well, and it is difficult to imagine an illegal plot to send guns to Cuba without Garrison's conscent.

[Lynne Foster]

Is that a consensus?

Is the Cuban Operation the FBI/Mafia campaign to run guns to Cuba through players like Jack Rubenstien and Guy Bannister?

[Lynne Foster]

My hunch about Cuban Operation is panning out:

W. Guy Banister, ex-FBI man, recommended by Hoover ... was simply a way to use his name for an illegal operation of smuggling into Cuba. ...

1). The FRIENDS OF DEMOCRATIC CUBA was formed on January 6, 1961, a

mere two weeks prior to the Bolton Ford Dealership incident where not only

the name "Oswald" was being used, but in fact Oswald was being

impersonated, and,

2). W. Guy Banister, ex-FBI man who was once recommended by Hoover

while he headed the Chicago FBI Office, was on the Board of Directors for

this newly-formed organization. 7

With proof that Oswald was known personally to officers of a group which Banister was connected for the purpose of aiding anti-Castro activities as early as 1961 at hand, it becomes fairly easy to see how this incident might have anticipated later anti-Castro actions during the summer of 1963 in New Orleans with Banister and Oswald once again taking center stage.

Source of above is JFK Lancer

I know they smuggled guns as well as trucks -I think the fact that they were able to smuggle trucks makes the operation even more substantial than originally thought.

[Lynne Foster]

In retrospect, the Cuban Operation was probably the biggest illegal export operation in the history of the United States.

I think you opened up a can of worms here John, only problem is, Tim Gantz, who loves to argue in the safe zone, is still trying to prove that the Communists did it, so American, illegal exports are not seriously discussed, by those who try to monopolize your message board.