have had time to complete our business."
Now, did he discuss that at all with you before he went to Mexico?
Mrs. Oswald. Yes. If he said in Mexico City that he wanted to visit the Soviet Embassy in Havana, the reason for it was only that he thereby would be able to get to Cuba.
Is this understandable? Does this clarify the matter or not?
Mr. Rankin. The difficulty, Mrs. Oswald, with my understanding of Exhibit 15 is that he purports to say, as I read the letter, that if he had been able to reach the Soviet Embassy in Havana, he would have been able to complete his business about the visa, and he wouldn't have had to get in touch with the Soviet Embassy in Mexico City at all.
Mrs. Oswald. The thing is that one cannot go to Cuba—that the only legal way is via Mexico City. And, therefore, he went to the Soviet Embassy there in Mexico City and told them that he wanted to visit the Soviet Embassy in Havana, but only for the purpose of getting into Cuba.
I don't think he would have concluded his business there. I don't think that you understand that Lee has written that letter in a quite involved manner. It is not very logical. I don't know whether it is clear to you or not.
Mr. Rankin. I appreciate, Mrs. Oswald, your interpretation of it.
I was trying to find out also whether your husband had told you anything about what he meant or what he did or whether he had tried to contact the Embassy in Havana, as he says in this letter.
Mrs. Oswald. Yes. I don't know of this letter. I only know that Lee wanted to get to Cuba by any means.
Mr. Rankin. Then he next proceeds to say, "Of course the Soviet Embassy was not at fault. They were, as I say, unprepared". As I read that, I understand that he was trying to let the Embassy in Washington know that the Mexico City Embassy had not been notified by him, and, therefore, was unprepared.
Now, did he say anything like that to you after his return to Mexico?
Mrs. Oswald. Why did the Embassy in Washington have to notify the Embassy in Mexico City that Lee Oswald was arriving?
It is not that I am asking. It seems to me that this is not a normal thing.
Mr. Rankin. The question is did he say anything to you about it when he got back?
Mrs. Oswald. He said that when he went to the Soviet Embassy in Mexico City they had promised him that they would write a letter to the Embassy in Washington.
Please excuse me, but it is very difficult for me to read the involved thoughts of Lee.
I think that he was confused himself, and I certainly am.
Mr. Rankin. Is that all that you can recall that was said about that matter?
Mrs. Oswald. Yes.
Mr. Rankin. Then he goes on to say——
Mrs. Oswald. Excuse me. I only know that his basic desire was to get to Cuba by any means, and that all the rest of it was window dressing for that purpose.
Mr. Rankin. Then in this Exhibit 15 he proceeds to say, "The Cuban Consulate was guilty of a gross breach of regulations." Do you know what he meant by that?
Mrs. Oswald. What regulations—what are the regulations?
Mr. Rankin. I am trying to find out from you.
Mrs. Oswald. I don't know about that. I don't know what happened.
Mr. Rankin. Did he ever say what regulations he thought were breached, or that the Cuban Embassy didn't carry out regulations when he returned from his trip and told you about what happened there?
Mrs. Oswald. I don't know.
Mr. Rankin. Then he goes on to say in the Exhibit, "I am glad he has since been replaced."
Do you know whom he was referring to?
Mrs. Oswald. I have no knowledge of it. I think that if the person to whom this letter was addressed would read the letter he wouldn't understand anything, either.
Mr. Rankin. Your husband goes on in Exhibit 15 to say, "The Federal Bureau of Investigation is not now interested in my activities in the progressive organization 'Fair Play for Cuba Committee' of which I was secretary in New Orleans (State of Louisiana) since I no longer reside in that state."
Do you know why he would say anything like that to the Embassy?
Mrs. Oswald. Because he was crazy.
He wrote this in order to emphasize his importance. He was no secretary of any—he was not a secretary of any organization.
Mr. Rankin. Do you know that he had received any inquiry from the Embassy or anyone of the Soviet Union about the matters that he is telling about here?
Mrs. Oswald. No. I don't know.
Mr. Rankin. Then he goes on to say, "However, the FBI has visited us here in Dallas, Texas, on November 1. Agent James P. Hosty"—do you know whether there was such a visit by that man?
Mrs. Oswald. Yes.
Mr. Rankin. And was he referring to the man that you know as James P. Hosty?
Mrs. Oswald. I don't know his last name. He gave us his telephone number, but it seems to me that his name was different.
Mr. Rankin. After you received the telephone number, what did you do with it?
Mrs. Oswald. He gave the telephone number to Ruth, and she, in turn, passed it on to Lee.
Mr. Rankin. Do you know whether he put it in a book or did anything with it?
Mrs. Oswald. He took the note with him to Dallas. I don't know what he did with it.
Mr. Rankin. Did the agent also give his license number for his car to Mrs. Paine or to you or to your husband?
Mrs. Oswald. No. But Lee had asked me that if an FBI agent were to call, that I note down his automobile license number, and I did that.
Mr. Rankin. Did you give the license number to him when you noted it down?
Mrs. Oswald. Yes.
Mr. Rankin. Now, he goes on to say that this agent, James P. Hosty "warned me that if I engaged in FPCC activities in Texas the FBI will again take an 'interest' in me."
Do you remember anything about anything like that?
Mrs. Oswald. I don't know why he said that in there, because if he has in mind the man who visited us, that man had never seen Lee. He was talking to me and to Mrs. Paine. But he had never met Lee. Perhaps this is another agent, not the one who visited us.
But I don't know whether Lee had talked to him or not.
Mr. Rankin. Do you know whether any FBI agent had ever warned your husband that if he engaged in any Fair Play for Cuba activities in Texas, the FBI would be again interested in him?
Mrs. Oswald.
