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1996 Release: Oswald, the CIA, and Mexico City ("Lopez Report")
The "thirteenth appendix" to the HSCA Report on the JFK assassination
is a staff report entitled "Oswald, the CIA, and Mexico City." This report describes
what the Committee learned about Lee Oswald's trip to Mexico City less than two months
prior to the assassination. Questions it grapples with include why the CIA was apparently
unable to obtain a photo of Oswald from any of its photographic surveillance stations (and instead
produced a photo of a "Mystery Man" who was clearly not Oswald), whether Oswald was impersonated
in Mexico City, and what credibility to attach to any of the indications and allegations of
Communist conspiracy emanating from that city.
The so-called "Lopez Report," written by staffers Dan Hardway and Edwin Lopez, was
released in its present form in 1996, but remains redacted in several places. It is a good
starting place for grappling with some of the many mysteries of the Mexico City affair. Newly
released files have provided new information not present in this report. The LBJ taped phone
conversations for instance, include starting corroboration for the claim that audio intercepts
of an Oswald impersonator were listened to by FBI agents in Dallas while Oswald was in custody.
Declassified testimony of David Phillips, the Tarasoff couple who translated the tapes for the
CIA, and others illuminate some areas and deepen the mystery in others.
The "Lopez Report" is a good point of departure for a journey into this mysterious affair.
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