On the 18th (local time), following an order from President Donald Trump, the U.S. government released approximately 80,000 pages of unreleased classified documents related to the assassination of former President John F. Kennedy. Kennedy was assassinated on Nov. 22, 1963, in downtown Dallas, Texas, while parading with his wife, Jacqueline Kennedy, by a former U.S. Marine, Lee Harvey Oswald.
Although the assassination of Kennedy was officially concluded as a lone act by Oswald, various polls indicate that many Americans still believe there are doubts about Kennedy's death. The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) noted, "These documents may provide answers to decades-old questions that have turned the 1963 assassination into a symbol of distrust toward the government," and summarized five key points.
▲Reasons CIA obstructed document release for decades
During the investigation into the Kennedy assassination, thousands of documents related to Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) operations around the world were collected. The CIA considered the potential impact of some disclosures on intelligence programs. For example, in a 1995 document, the CIA expressed concern that acknowledging the existence of a CIA base in Tunisia might harm Tunisia's relations with neighboring countries.
The released documents state, "Acknowledging the existence of a CIA base in Tunisia could pose problems for Tunisia's relations with Libya," adding, "If the Tunisian government requests the withdrawal of the base, the U.S. government would lose its ability to gather information on Libya, the stability of North Africa, and Islamic extremism (IS)."
▲CIA investigation into Fidel Castro's involvement
The CIA conducted an investigation over several years to determine whether Cuban leader Fidel Castro was involved in the Kennedy assassination. This was based on speculation that Castro might have been involved in Kennedy's assassination as retaliation against a U.S. government that attempted to assassinate him. In previous investigations, the CIA concluded that "there is no definitive evidence of Castro's regime's involvement," but newly released documents reveal that the CIA supported both sabotage activities and assassination attempts against Castro.
Castro became furious upon learning that the CIA attempted to sabotage his sugar industry and planned to place bombs in the sewage system during speeches. CIA agents even offered $100,000 to the American Mafia to assassinate Castro. The agreement document stated, "The payment for the assassination of Fidel Castro is $100,000, Raul Castro is $20,000, and Che Guevara is $20,000."
▲Close relationship between the Mexican president and the CIA
According to the released documents, former President Lyndon Johnson (1963-1969) received reports on the close relationship between the CIA's Mexico chief and then Mexican President Adolfo Lopez Mateos. Mateos served as a groomsman at the wedding of the CIA chief and quietly participated in the CIA's wiretapping operations in Mexico City.
Another document mentions that Mateos told the CIA chief, "I am very pleased that it has been decided to remove Castro." Mateos learned about the CIA's plans to assassinate Castro through conversations with the CIA chief and his advisor Lorenzo Cossio.
▲CIA's wiretap of a meeting involving Robert Kennedy
In 1963, the year of Kennedy's assassination, the CIA installed a listening device in a house in the woods of Bethesda, Maryland. In this house, two Cuban exiles were scheduled to meet with U.S. government officials, and there was a possibility that Robert F. Kennedy, Kennedy's brother and then U.S. Attorney General, would also attend the meeting.
The released documents also contained detailed descriptions of the CIA's intelligence activities. For example, it mentioned, "Hide tape recorders in attics, basements, or garages," or, "The first test resulted in a failed signal from safehouse to listening point." It also noted that the cost of electronic equipment at the time amounts to about $28,000 in today's value.
▲CIA requests secrecy on Oswald wiretap in Washington
Most questions related to the Kennedy assassination involve the time Oswald spent in Mexico City months before aiming a gun at Kennedy and his meetings with officials at the Cuban and Soviet embassies there. According to a document drafted in 1998, the CIA recorded phone calls between Oswald and officials from Mexico and Cuba, but later disposed of the files.
However, four years earlier, in 1994, the CIA's Mexico branch requested Washington not to disclose information related to Oswald's wiretap. This was because revealing that the CIA had wiretapped calls with Mexican officials could negatively impact relations between Mexico and the United States. The CIA stated in the documents, "Considering policymakers' high interest in drug trafficking, terrorism, and counterintelligence operations in Mexico, the branch believes maintaining cooperative relations is a top priority."