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

Arrival in Mexico City

Oswald registered at the Hotel del Comercio within an hour of arrival, staying there throughout his visit. The hotel, located four blocks from the bus station, had perhaps the best appearance of nearby intercity bus-terminal hotels, and its owner understood some English. Oswald registered as “Lee, Harvey Oswald,” gave his occupation as “photo,” and was assigned room 18 at $1.28 per day.

Efforts to Obtain a Cuban Visa

Mexican officials would not permit a U.S. citizen without a Cuban visa to board a plane to Cuba, even with a valid American passport, but would allow passage with a visa even if the passport proscribed Cuban travel. Oswald’s 1963 American passport was stamped invalid for travel to Cuba, and he possessed neither a regular Cuban visa nor an intransit visa. On September 27, Oswald visited the Cuban Embassy and spoke with Senora Silvia Tirado de Duran, a Mexican employee. He applied for a visa to Cuba intransit to Russia, presenting his passport showing his three years in the Soviet Union, his Russian-language work permit, and letters, as well as proof of his marriage to a Russian woman and his role as New Orleans director of the Fair Play for Cuba Committee. He claimed Communist Party membership and stated he intended to travel to Cuba on September 30, stay two weeks, and proceed to Russia.

Visit to the Soviet Embassy

Either before or during his initial Cuban Embassy visit, Oswald went to the Soviet Embassy and spoke with either Pavel Yatskov or Valeriy Kostikov, both consular officials who were also KGB agents. Oswald later said he had dealt with “Kostin,” referring to Kostikov. He was unable to obtain a Soviet visa at that time. Marina Oswald later testified that Soviet officials “refused to have anything to do with him.”