Rejecting conspiracy theories implicating Cuban leader Fidel Castro, a former militant foe of the Cuban government, said in a newspaper interview last week that his former allies at the CIA were behind the assassination of President John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963.
Veciana’s statements are significant because he is known to have worked closely with the CIA for many years fighting the Castro regime. He has also long asserted that he saw a CIA man whom he knew as ‘Maurice Bishop’ in the company of Lee Harvey Oswald in September 1963, two months before Oswald allegedly shot and killed Kennedy.
Veciana’s statements put him in agreement with one of his life-long enemies, Fabian Escalante, retired chief of counterintelligence for the Cuba’s CIA, known as the Diregencia General de Inteligencia, or DGI. Escalante has said the DGI concluded the CIA and Cuban exiles were behind JFK’s assassination.
Here’s the original story: “A Kennedy lo mató la CIA”, asegura exagente de la CIA | Diario las Americas.
Here’s a rough Google machine translation, not for quotation: ‘The CIA killed Kennedy,” says ex-CIA agent.
I agree with a post (in another thread) by Jean Davison that Veciana apparently proclaims no inside knowledge of “CIA involvement” other than that he claims he saw Phillips with Oswald. Of course, there is a possibility that cannot be dismissed that Veciana created the incident since he had a grudge against Phillips. And, even if he did see Phillips with Oswald that is scant evidence to indicate that Phillips was a conspirator. As Lamar Waldron notes in “Legacy of Secrecy” Phillips was known in the Dallas-Ft Worth area where he was raised. If he was going to involve LHO in the plot to kill JFK, whether as a shooter or a patsy, it would have been foolhardy indeed for him to be seen in public with LHO.
Moreover what does it mean to assert that the CIA, as an institution, killed JFK? Even if a ranking CIA officer e.g. Helms (or at a lower level Hunt or Morales) was involved that does not translate into CIA institutional involvement. One must speak here with great care. I would say it would be fair to posit VIA involvement only if McCone himself approved the plot.
Veciana says CIA killed Kennedy makes great drama but it just ain’t so.
It’s pretty clear an intelligence agency, domestic or foreign, was involved in JFK’s murder. The planning and execution were very very slick. The fake Secret Service credentials had to have been made professionally. Setting up Oswald was a perfect stroke; it ensured neither the FBI nor the CIA would honestly investigate the murder.
But I doubt it’s as simple as “the CIA killed Kennedy.”
I believe the plot began in the national security network. It had to have and clearly did have the backing of top military officers. Once they were on board, the central plotters would have been free to recruit; and they surely would have known whom to recruit.
Recruitment would have worked like this. Central Plotter would use a trusted intermediary to recruit a key Secret Service official; who in turn would bring trustworthy SS agents on board. Trusted intermediary would recruit someone having intimate knowledge of CIA and FBI counter-intelligence operations; someone who would be in charge of setting up Oswald. Trusted intermediary would then recruit Professional, who would recruit, train, and make provisions for three assassination teams.
To the extent possible, activities would be compartmentalized; identities would be concealed horizontally and vertically; and no paper records would be kept.
Central plotter would then take steps to ensure the military and the Secret Service would control the corpse.
Other details (films, photos, witnesses, bullets and bullet marks, skull fragments) would either fall into place naturally, as the FBI covered up out of self interest, or fall into place with with some help from the CIA or the DPD.
Not being as smart or as knowledgeable as McGeorge Bundy, I can’t say this was the exact scenario. But it had to be something like this to create layers and cells of plausible deniability.
As noted in Flawed Patriot about Bill Harvey “no paper record’s would be kept”. Mr. Veciana’s statements are very important in relation to FREEING THE FILES. If their is a link between Phillips/Bishop and Joannides that would be very incriminating. I wonder if there is anything about this in them?
FREE THEM AND LET’S FIND OUT.
The author of ‘JFK and the Unspeakable’ fairly proves that the Secret Service credentials were made by the CIA controlled department which makes the real ones. Of course it was the bearers behind the wooden fence and TBD who were the fakes.
The outlines of this interview with Veciana run parallel to Douglas’s Unspeakable.
In Bill Simpich’s Chapter 6 “State Secret”
Then Bill Harvey name is finally mentioned. Wasn’t he supposedly exiled to Rome during time or did he still have friends including the underworld ?
“In attempting to justify Angleton’s takeover of the investigation, Angleton’s successor George Kalaris inadvertently made a startling admission. Kalaris mused that CI Staff was the most logical candidate to lead the investigation, as they were the CI liaison with the FBI and the Secret Service, as well as a source of information related to the protection apparatus for senior US officials.[ 141 ] The implications of this revelation will be discussed further in the final chapter.”
Part of why I always found Veciana extremely credible, as opposed to James Files for example is that he has never exaggerated his role or tried to make out it was bigger than it was. He was connected to a part of it , a very important part that throws further light on Phillips role, but he has never made outrageous claims like Files or Judyth Baker (someone else that I don’t personally believe).
God bless you, Antonio, for this.
Wow. Some might still talk. Coming clean at what, 86? I hope the book is pretty well already written and he has a publisher. It should be very interesting. As was his statement to/through Mrs. Fonzi last fall that Bishop was Phillips.
http://www.ctka.net/2013/veciana_docs.html
Jeff, surely among your readers and posters is someone who can translate the whole article ACCURATELY.
FREETHEFILES TOO!
Veciana confirmed to Gaeton Fonzi’s widow Marie, that “Maurice Bishop, my CIA contact agent was David Atlee Phillips. Phillips or Bishop was the man I saw with Lee Harvey Oswald in Dallas on September 1963.” Follow this link: http://www.ctka.net/2013/veciana_docs.html
Hinted by Veciana, Fonzi independently determined the Bishop-Phillips identity. Before the HSCA and under oath, Phillips denied both having used the name Maurice Bishop and known Veciana. Chief Counsel Blakey declined to bring perjury charges against Phillips.
Arnaldo:
This makes the whole affair even more confusing:
“Richard Schweiker, a member of the committee, speculated that Bishop was David Atlee Phillips. Schweiker arranged for Veciana and Phillips to be introduced at a meeting of the Association of Retired Intelligence Officers in Reston. Phillips denied knowing Veciana. After the meeting Veciana told Schweiker that Phillips was not the man known to him as Bishop.”
http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/JFKveciana.htm?menu=JFKindex
After the encounter, in which Phillips fumbled quite stupidly by pretending never to have even HEARD of the front-man for Alpha 66, Gaeton Fonzi asked Veciana if Bishop and Phillips were the same.
“No, but he knows.”
Fonzi later said that he believed this was the only thing Veciana lied about in his interviews, and notes the distinct and plausible reason for the lie: Veciana still wanted to be able to get back into the anti-Castro covert ops game and hoped to be able to re-establish relations with Phillips to that end.
Very interesting article Jeff. Do you think this story will get a lot of media attention in America, or will the MSM try to ignore it? Veciana is obviously a very important witness. Sounds like he has more information about the Mexico City events before the assassination.
“Do you think this story will get a lot of media attention in America”
Last time I checked, Miami is still in America. 🙂
http://www.diariolasamericas.com/servicios/contactenos.html
I am sure you meant the MSM.
Interesting. Do you think that you could get an interview with him for the site?
I posted the following to the article author:
“Iliana Lavastida: You neglected to ask Mr. Veciana one of THE most important questions, i.e.: Finally, are “Maurice Bishop” y David Attlee Phillips the same person??”
http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/JFKveciana.htm