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Cryptonym: LITEMPO-4

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Definition:
Fernando Gutierrez Barrios, head of the Mexican secret police (DFS) from 1964 to 1970, and later held other Mexican government posts. Gutierrez Barrios was part of Mexico City station chief Win Scott's LITEMPO program.
Status:
Documented
Sources:

104-10218-10008: LEONOV, NIKOLAY SERGEYEVICH.

"The search team that arrested Fidel Castro (in 1956) and did the interrogation was LITEMPO-4 (now an important Station contact) and only about four years ago or so told COS about the calling card of LEONOV." (Comments prepared circa August, 1969 by AC/WH/1 Ernest Tsikerdanos.)

Commission Exhibit 2123: Warren Commission Hearings, Volume XXIV

Fernando Gutierrez Barrios' report of 11/23/63 regarding Duran's statements at her initial interrogation. FGB was the deputy director of DFS, the Mexico Treasury Department intelligence service.

Peter Dale Scott, Deep Politics II - Essays on Oswald, Mexico, and Cuba

Re 11/23/63: p. 82: "The 1964 version of (Silvia Duran's) statement printed by the Warren Commission was a redacted version, different from an earlier one received by the CIA on 11/26/63. But even the November 26 version has been redacted, if we can credit the earliest account of the November 23 statement." (Note: See MEXI 7046, quoting Duran as saying Oswald told her he was a Communist and admirer of Castro). See footnote 59: "24 WH 587, 25 WH 634 ("signed statement"). No version that we have is actually signed by Duran, and all are in the third person. CIA cable MEXI 43699 of January 27, 1978 quotes from a blind FBI memo dated May 5, 1964 as follows: 'SA Joe B. Garcia...handled liaison with the Mexican Federal Security Police (DFS) and arranged for a copy of the signed statement of Silvia Tirado de Duran by Captain Fernando Gutierrez Barrios...The Duran statement in the Warren volumes at 25 WH 634-37 is in fact signed by Gutierrez, not by her. Did the CIA know this, and draft a misleading cable accordingly? Or was a statement signed by Duran actually delivered to the FBI? One person whom the Review Board might ask about this is SA Joe B. Garcia, another is Fernando Gutierrez Barrios who later became President Salinas' Mexican minister of Gobernacion." See fn. 60, where the May 1964 version of Duran's statement no longer refers to Oswald as "blonde" ("rubio"), presumably because it did not appear to fit the man arrested in Dallas.

104-10086-10001: MEXICO CITY CHRONOLOGY

LITEMPO-4 is identified as the one who "personally participated in interrogation of Duran re Oswald...(Both Silvia and her husband Horacio) stated they 'believed completely in Marxist Leninist principles and tried to live as Marxists'. LITEMPO-4 stated 'No Mexi has worked for Cuban Emb in Mexi since 1959 who is not a completely convinced Communist.'"

104-10422-10200: CABLE: LITEMPO-4'S INITIAL TALKS WITH ALVARADO

11/29/63 cable MEXI 7156 from Chief of Station to HQ, re Alvarado's claim that Oswald was in Mexico City as of mid-September and paid $6500 to kill JFK: "LITEMPO-4 'inclined' to believe (Gilberto) Alvarardo telling truth in general outline; but believes he mixed up on dates."

104-10522-10163: MEMO: GILBERTO POLICARPO LOPEZ, BORN 26 JANUARY 1940 IN HABANA, CUBA

Dec. 63-March 64: The biography of Giberto Policarpo Lopez - the Tampa FPCC member who was trying to return to Cuba in the days before 11/22 and crossed the border right about that day - was sent to LITEMPO-4 in the days after 11/22. 180-10141-10199, p. 3: "(LITEMPO-4) stated that Gilberto Lopez had crossed the Mexican border at Laredo Texas on Nov. 23, 1963 and registered at the Roosevelt Hotel in Mexico City on November 25 at 0600 in Room 203. The LITEMPO source also reported Lopez departed on a Cubana flight on Nov. 27 for Havana...a dispatch the following day...(said) Lopez was the only passenger on Cuban flight #465...the flight contained a crew of nine Cubans...source states the timing and circumstances surrounding subject's travel in Mexico and departure for Havana are suspicious...(at p. 9) On 11/20/63 Policarpo attended a Tampa FPCC meeting, and received $190 to return to Cuba. Pages 11-12: A 1977 CIA Task Force Report stated there was no reason to be "suspicious", and that a 3/64 report that Lopez may have been involved in the assassination was incorrect on several counts and that the source was "extensively misinformed". Thus, the task force "completely discounted" the CIA report of 3/64 by deputy chief (Allen White) saying that the Mexican police source info "jibed" with the CIA's own source. See 104-10100-10085: OK is given to pass State Dept. info (about Policarpo) to LITEMPO-4, but don't tell him it's from State Dept. See 180-10144-10239 (all about Policarpo) at p. 6 of 16: DFS officer Enrique Montalvo Ruiz had a source claiming Policarpo was involved in the assassination. Gave 11/13 as date for entry into Mexico - Policarpo was at a Tampa FPCC meeting on 11/17 (stated on p. 2 of 16). This is one of the many inaccuracies referred to in the 1977 CIA Task Force Report.

1994.05.31.13:06:43:960005: Reel 7, Folder P - ELENA GARRO DE PAZ [SOFT FILE].

Circa 1964: Garro states that her "cousin" in the Duran family is Lydia Duran, who is very poor and has a small job at an anthropological museum. Her other Duran cousins are Horacio and Ruben - all three of them are allegedly communist sympathizers. This page states that Ruben is married to her cousin. (p. 16 of 41) The communist Ricardo Guerra converted Horacio. Garro hated Silvia and considers her a whore. Ruben says he is not really a communist and they shouldn't have killed Kennedy. Ruben said Silvia got him involved with Oswald. (p. 21 of 41) Win Scott is stunned by her imagination. (p. 35 of 41). In late 1964, she was renting a room to June Cobb and trying to speak with Robert Kennedy who had recently visited. (p. 37 of 41) See 104-10196-10002 - p. 24 - Silvia's husband Horacio Duran is the cousin of Elena Garro.

Peter Dale Scott, American War Machine (2010), pp. 45, 56.

Gutierrez was "in charge of the DFS at the time of the 1968 massacre of several hundred peaceful student protesters in the Plaza of the Three Cultures (Tlatelolco), an event as deeply seared in the Mexican national consciousness as the Tienanman massacre in the Chinese psyche...(He was also one of the forces) behind the formation of the White Brigade." Also known as the Brigada Blanca, it was accused of torture and the cause of the disappearance of several thousands students and political opponents.

104-10263-10035: DISPATCH, UNDER SEPARATE COVER IDENTITY (201-800405)

12/18/68 dispatch from Mexico City station chief Win Scott to C/WH: "LITEMPO-12 (Nazar Haro) reported that she is living in IDEN D. She is the personal 'contact' of LITEMPO-4 and her hotel bills are being paid by the DFS. She was used as the 'link' between IDEN C and the students...because of the sensitivity of this case, at this time the station is reluctant to go back to the LITEMPOs unless directed to do so by Headquarters." - - - This version of the above dispatch has the Routing and Record Sheet attached: https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html?docId=225533#relPageId=1

1994.05.31.13:07:52:000005: Reel 7, Folder Q - ELENA GARRO DE PAZ

This attachment to the above 12/18/68 dispatch states that IDENTITY A is Elena Garro, IDENTITY B is Arne Ekstrom and that IDEN C is her writer-friend Carlos Madrazo. Ekstrom was a CIA officer in 1956 with Emmons Brown. http://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html?docId=12790&relPageId=2&search=%22arne_ekstrom%22 Brown wrote C/WH William Broe, told him he had heard from "former agent" Ekstrom, and said that he would tell him the matter with Garro was "sent to the experts and leave it at that". http://maryferrell.org/showDoc.html?docId=38043&relPageId=2&search=%22i_plAN%20TO%20TELL%20EKSTROM%22

Warren Commission Hearings, Volume XXV Current Section: CE 2464 - FBI report of investigation conducted on December 16, 1963, of schedule of Continental Trailways buses from New ...

The signed statement of Duran cannot be found. It was allegedly signed by her (p. 634), but it was signed by LITEMPO-4/Gutierrez Barrios (p. 637).

104-10335-10015: ARRB REQUEST - CIA-11: SYLVIA DURAN MATERIALS

5/3/96 letter from ARRB executive director David Marwell to HRG's John Pereira asking for the original ten page statement written by Silvia Duran. See 104-10335-10001, pp. 12-13, 10/7/96 letter from Jeremy Gunn memorializing his discussion with HRG's Barry Harrelson, who stated to Gunn that the CIA can't find the original of the Duran letter and they are making some additional efforts to try to locate it.

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Jeff Morley • MFF • Bill Simpich

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