Luisa Calderon Foreknowledge Allegation
English translation of a taped phone call of 1:30 PM on Nov 22, where Luisa Calderon expressed complete surprise at the news that Kennedy had been murdered. This document appears to put the "foreknowledge" issue to rest, and calls into great question why the CIA didn't show this to the HSCA.
Copy found in CIA files, record number 104-10404-10426, p.22..
On the afternoon of November 22, Cuban Embassy employee Luisa Calderon was heard on a tapped phone line saying words which were translated as "I knew almost before Kennedy." In the 1970s, this ambiguous phrase became fodder for the question: "Did she have foreknowledge of the assassination?"
The House Select Committee on Assassinations expended considerable effort on the Calderon matter, though the Committee was unable to interview Ms. Calderon. The phone call itself was accompanied by information from Cuban defector AMMUG-1, who had told the CIA in 1964 that Oswald had met with Calderon in 1963 during visits prior to the trip in September-October.
Since the tapped phone call in question was captured at 5:30 PM, an obvious question is whether there were any earlier calls in which Calderon discussed or learned of the Kennedy assassination. It is not clear that the HSCA ever asked this question. But in now-released CIA files there are indeed not one but two prior calls, at 1:30 PM and 2:00 PM. In the first, Luisa expressed surprise on first hearing the news of JFK's death, and "said it is a lie and asked who?"
Perhaps the Calderon matter was pursued so vigorously because of the DGI connection, though there are also indications that she was a double-agent working for U.S. intelligence. In any case, the buried transcript would seem to settle the matter of foreknowledge. Their discovery also reflects very poorly on the CIA, who was actively involved in the HSCA's investigation of this matter, but apparently never connected these seemingly simple dots.
RESOURCES:
Essays More Mexico Mysteries, by Rex Bradford. Overview: The CIA, the Drug Traffic, and Oswald in Mexico, by Peter Dale Scott. Documents Transcript of Calderon Call. This document contains an English translation and Spanish transcription of the "foreknowledge" call. A handwritten note contains the phrase "Nothing to Buro" yet - Buro presumably refers to the FBI, who was to be kept uninformed. Transcripts from Cuban Embassy and Cubana Airlines Conversations on 22 Nov 1963. This set of transcripts of taped calls from November 22 includes two calls involving Calderon prior to the "foreknowledge" call. In the first, she expresses complete surprise at the news of Kennedy's death. Files examined so far show no indication that the HSCA saw these earlier transcripts, nor that they thought to ask whether any existed. Informant Report: Subject - Luisa Rodriguez Calderon. This report dates from 26 Apr 1965, and expresses some uncertainly as to whether this person is the same as Luisa Calderon Carralero. |
Documents (Continued) Letter: Request for Files on Luisa Calderon and AMMUG/1. This letter notes the HSCA's concern about the amount of materials missing from these files. Memorandum: Response to HSCA Request of 28 Auguest 1978/Luisa Calderon Telephone Conversation. This memo from CIA to the HSCA disputes the wording and thus meaning of the translated phrase "I knew almost before Kennedy." HSCA Public Hearings, Volume IV:
Letter: Discussion Re Luisa Calderon and Other Topics Not Intended for Unclassified Publication. In this lengthy letter from the CIA's Office of Legislative Counsel to the CIA, great concern was expressed the possible disclosure of sources and methods in the HSCA's writeup of the Calderon matter. HSCA Report, Volume XI, Section III.FL : Luisa Calderon Carralero. Pages 494-499 discuss the HSCA's handling of the Calderon matter. HSCA Final Report, p.122-123 contains a few paragraphs about the Calderon matter. |