Did Roger Craig see Gilberto Policarpo Lopez get into a Rambler Station Wagon?

[Tom Graves]

Are you saying you believe that Castro and/or Cuban intelligence played a role in the JFK assassination?

I don't know if Policarpo Lopez was involved, but if Castro and/or Cuban intelligence encouraged Oswald to kill JFK, would that constitute their "being involved in the JFK assassination"?

[Michael T. Griffith]

I don't know if Policarpo Lopez was involved, but if Castro and/or Cuban intelligence encouraged Oswald to kill JFK, would that constitute their "being involved in the JFK assassination"?

That would make them accessories before the fact and would mean Oswald was part of a conspiracy. If I encourage John Doe to rob a particular bank and he robs that bank, I could be charged with conspiring with John Doe to rob the bank as an accessory before the fact.

Your OP suggests a more direct involvement by Lopez. You say,

Was Policarpo Lopez the "Oswald" that Deputy Sheriff Roger Craig claimed to hear whistle loudly and watch run down the slope to Elm Street and hop into a Rambler station wagon driven by a dark-complected man about ten minutes after the assassination?

Lopez's pre-assassination and post-assassination activities are suspicious, if your account of them is accurate. We know the KGB was aware of, or suspected there was, a plot to kill JFK. It is plausible that they enlisted Cuban intelligence to look into/track/discover the plot. This does not necessarily mean the KGB or Cuban intelligence were behind the plot.

The problem with the Castro-did-it theory is that Castro was actively pursuing better relations with JFK and the U.S. If anything, Castro would have been motivated to discover and prevent any plot against JFK because he knew that the more-hawkish LBJ would become president upon JFK's death.

[Tom Graves]

That would make them accessories before the fact and would mean Oswald was part of a conspiracy. If I encourage John Doe to rob a particular bank and he robs that bank, I could be charged with conspiring with John Doe to rob the bank as an accessory before the fact.

Your OP suggests a more direct involvement by Lopez. You say,

Lopez's pre-assassination and post-assassination activities are suspicious, if your account of them is accurate. We know the KGB was aware of, or suspected there was, a plot to kill JFK. It is plausible that they enlisted Cuban intelligence to look into/track/discover the plot. This does not necessarily mean the KGB or Cuban intelligence were behind the plot.

The problem with the Castro-did-it theory is that Castro was actively pursuing better relations with JFK and the U.S. If anything, Castro would have been motivated to discover and prevent any plot against JFK because he knew that the more-hawkish LBJ would become president upon JFK's death.

Griffith,

If Castro so trusted JFK and RFK, why did he warn them on 7 September, and why did he have his triple agent, Rolando Cubela, meet with Desmond FitzGerald in Paris on 22 November?

[Michael T. Griffith]

Griffith,

If Castro so trusted JFK and RFK, why did he warn them on 7 September, and why did he have his triple agent, Rolando Cubela, meet with Desmond FitzGerald in Paris on 22 November?

You might want to read Castro's HSCA interview:

https://www.kennedysandking.com/news-items/hsca-interview-with-fidel-castro

Castro was not about to risk a full-scale U.S. invasion by being involved in any plot against JFK.

Castro, like JFK, was playing a double game, following a two-track policy, sort of a carrot-and-stick approach, seeing which angle worked. The record is clear that by late October, Castro knew JFK was serious about improving relations and was responding positively to JFK's back-channel overtures.

Again, when Castro heard the news of JFK's death, he lamented it, saying, "This is bad news."

[Tom Graves]

You might want to read Castro's HSCA interview:

https://www.kennedysandking.com/news-items/hsca-interview-with-fidel-castro

Castro was not about to risk a full-scale U.S. invasion by being involved in any plot against JFK.

Castro, like JFK, was playing a double game, following a two-track policy, sort of a carrot-and-stick approach, seeing which angle worked. The record is clear that by late October, Castro knew JFK was serious about improving relations and was responding positively to JFK's back-channel overtures.

Again, when Castro heard the news of JFK's death, he lamented it, saying, "This is bad news."

Did Castro think the evil, evil, evil CIA had gone rogue in Paris?

[Michael T. Griffith]

Did Castro think the evil, evil, evil CIA had gone rogue in Paris?

I doubt that Castro had much, if any, info on the assassination attempt on De Gaulle.

I do, however, think Castro knew about the CIA to know, or at least suspect, that elements of the CIA sometimes acted contrary to official policy and without presidential knowledge.

[Tom Graves]

I doubt that Castro had much, if any, info on the assassination attempt on De Gaulle.

Griffith,

I was referring to CIA's Desmond FitzGerald's claiming to be an emissary of RFK and giving a CIA-developed poison pen to Castro-loyal Rolando Cubela in Paris, France, on 11/22/63, with the (mis)understanding that he'd use it to assassinate Fidel Castro.

Perhaps you aren't aware of that.