Report of the President's Commission on the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy

Correspondence with the Fair Play for Cuba Committee and Communist Party

Correspondence with the Fair Play for Cuba Committee and Communist Party Oswald wrote several times during the summer to V. T. Lee, then national director of the Fair Play for Cuba Committee, sometimes in exaggerated terms about his activities. He also wrote to the Communist Party asking whether, given his prior defection, he should “continue to fight, handicapped as it were, by * * * [his] past record,” competing with anti-progressive forces above ground, or “always remain in the background, i.e., underground.” The Party replied that “often it is advisable for some people to remain in the background, not underground.” Although Oswald wrote four letters to V. T. Lee during the summer, there is no evidence that he heard from Lee after May 29.

Ruth Paine’s Visit and Marina’s Return to Texas

Ruth Paine’s Visit and Marina’s Return to Texas Ruth Paine arrived in New Orleans on September 20 and spent three nights with the Oswalds. Although relations between Lee and Marina had improved, it was decided that Marina would return to Irving with Mrs. Paine for the birth of the baby. The two women toured Bourbon Street while Oswald stayed home packing. On Sunday, September 22, Oswald and Mrs. Paine finished loading the station wagon with the Oswalds’ household belongings, and on the morning of September 23, Marina and June departed with Ruth Paine for Irving. Before she left, Oswald told Marina not to tell anyone about his impending trip to Mexico; Marina kept this secret until after the assassination.

Preparations for Travel to Mexico City

Preparations for Travel to Mexico City Marina testified that sometime in August, Oswald first told her of his plan to travel to Mexico and from there to Cuba, where he intended to stay; he had abandoned an earlier plan to hijack an airplane directly to Cuba, which Marina had consistently opposed. On September 17, Oswald obtained from the Mexican consulate general in New Orleans a “Tourist Card” (FM-8 No. 24085) good for one journey of up to 15 days, typed in the name “Lee, Harvey Oswald,” occupation “Fotogrofo,” with destination Mexico City. On the application he stated he was employed at “640 Rampart,” though he was in fact unemployed. On September 24, a neighbor saw Oswald, carrying two pieces of luggage, hurriedly leave the Magazine Street apartment and board a bus; a city busdriver recalled picking up a similarly described passenger who asked directions to the Greyhound station. The landlord found the apartment vacant on September 25. Among the items Oswald took with him were a Spanish-English dictionary, his address book, his 1963 passport and old passport, his correspondence with the Communist Party and the Soviet Embassy, proof of his marriage, newspaper clippings about his Fair Play for Cuba arrest, evidence that he was “Director” of the New Orleans FPCC chapter, various identification cards from Russia, and several sheets of notepaper containing a summary of important events in his life—including his Marine service, Soviet stay, Russian language ability, organization of the New Orleans FPCC, and experience in “street agitation,” as a “radio speaker and lecturer,” and as a photographer—which he apparently intended to present to Cuban and Soviet officials in Mexico City. The two bags were a small blue cloth zipper bag and a large olive-colored cloth bag; he carried the smaller one throughout the trip and checked the larger one through from Nuevo Laredo to Mexico City.

chapter II. With the assistance of Agent in Charge Sorrels of the

This chapter traces Lee Harvey Oswald’s journey from New Orleans to Mexico City and back, covering his efforts to obtain visas to Cuba and the Soviet Union, his activities in Mexico City, and his eventual return to Dallas. The narrative draws on witness testimony, bus records, hotel registration information, and embassy communications to reconstruct the timeline of Oswald’s travels between September 25 and October 3, 1963.

Departure from New Orleans

Oswald remained in New Orleans until September 25, 1963. The night before his departure, his whereabouts are uncertain, though limited finances suggest he likely returned to his apartment, checked his luggage at a bus station, or stayed at an inexpensive hotel. After 5 a.m. on September 25, he collected a $33 Texas unemployment compensation check from his New Orleans post office box, which he cashed between 8 a.m. and noon at a store on Magazine Street. This gave him approximately $200 for his trip to Mexico. He departed New Orleans by bus, likely Continental Trailways Bus No. 5121, which left at 12:20 p.m. and was scheduled to arrive in Houston at 10:50 p.m.