JFK Assassination Forum
JFK Assassination Plus General Discussion & Debate => JFK Assassination Plus General Discussion And Debate => Topic started by: Tom Graves on January 04, 2026, 08:55:40 PM
-
On another thread, Steve M. Galbraith posted an excerpt from a Gus Russo book that mentions Gilberto Policarpo Lopez and the fact that his possible involvement in the JFKA wasn't adequately investigated by the FBI.
FWIW, Gilberto Policarpo Lopez's estranged daughter contacted me here about five years ago and we exchanged emails. She sent me two photos of him, one of which as a young man. It's kinda sepia colored and I put on the Internet. The other is much more recent, and she asked me to not make it public until he'd passed away.
She said he was violently pro-Castro ("his brother fought for Castro in the Congo"), that he was very good at faking epileptic seizures, that he'd never been sick a day in his life, that he sometimes bragged about the big empty airplane that flew him from Mexico City to Havana a couple of days after the assassination, and that, yes, like the "Oswald" that Roger Craig claimed to watch run down the slope from the general direction of the TSBD and get into a Rambler Station wagon on Elm Street about ten minutes after the assassination, he could whistle very loudly -- "he did it all the time when I was young."
-
When LBJ and Hoover settled on the LN narrative, they intentionally closed off investigation into possible LHO links to G2, Cuban and KGB assets.
Including KGB assets within the CIA, or G2 plants in the Cuban exile community.
No one wanted WWIII.
-
When LBJ and Hoover settled on the LN narrative, they intentionally closed off investigation into possible LHO links to G2, Cuban and KGB assets.
Including KGB assets within the CIA, or G2 plants in the Cuban exile community.
No one wanted WWIII.
Do you think Gilberto Policarpo Lopez helped Oswald kill JFK?
-
The AI version:
Gilberto Policarpo Lopez was a Cuban-American man investigated by the FBI and CIA in connection with the assassination of President John F. Kennedy due to his proximity to events and travel patterns that eerily paralleled those of Lee Harvey Oswald, leading some researchers to suspect he was a potential second shooter or a "patsy" in a potential conspiracy.
Key Points of Connection
JFK Assassination: Lee Harvey Oswald is officially recognized by the Warren Commission as the lone assassin of President Kennedy. Gilberto Policarpo Lopez is a figure from declassified documents who some conspiracy theorists and authors believe may have been involved in a larger plot.
Travel and Timing: Lopez traveled from Tampa to Texas shortly before the assassination and crossed into Mexico just after Kennedy was shot. He then boarded a plane to Cuba and effectively disappeared.
Pro-Castro Sympathies: Both men sought favor from the Fidel Castro regime and had applied for Cuban visas (though both were reportedly denied). Lopez was identified as being present at a Fair Play for Cuba Committee (FPCC) gathering in Tampa in November 1963.
Physical Similarities (Debated): While some sources note they appeared nothing alike, others describe parallels in their situations. Both were living alone after fighting with their wives around the time of the assassination.
FBI/CIA Investigation: The FBI and CIA actively investigated Lopez to determine his movements, potential association with Oswald (no information definitively tied them together in the investigation), and whether he had permission for travel to Cuba.
"Patsy" Theory: One book, "Ultimate Sacrifice," suggests Lopez was a "patsy" in a separate, aborted assassination plot in Tampa just before the Dallas one, a plot that allegedly resembled the Dallas assassination in its design.
The official conclusion of the Warren Commission and subsequent FBI investigations was that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone. However, newly available information from declassified CIA files and other documents continues to fuel fresh disagreement and conspiracy theories about potential Cuban-inspired plots or the involvement of additional individuals like Gilberto Policarpo Lopez. You can access many of these declassified records via the National Archives JFK Assassination Records website.
---30---
Getting into Cuba was a trick in 1963.
Was Lopez involved with LHO?
Maybe. The trail is dead-cold by now.
-
Physical Similarities (Debated): While some sources note they appeared nothing alike, others describe parallels in their situations. Both were living alone after fighting with their wives around the time of the assassination.
Scroll all the way down to the large, sepia-tinted photo of him that his daughter sent to me via email.
(I didn't post it on JFK Boards; somebody else did.)
https://jfk.boards.net/thread/121/erasing-past-protect-fairytale?page=23&scrollTo=2110
For other photos of him, google "Gilberto Policarpo Lopez" and "click" on Images.
The one in which he's wearing sunglasses was taken by Mexican authorities on the night of November 27, 1963, at the Mexico City airport.
-
TG-
Thanks for the info.
I would not say Lopez is an LHO lookalike. But they are not poles apart, such a portly black guy and a tall Swede.
-
I have looked extensively at the Gilberto Policarpo Lopez stuff and I believe he had nothing to do with anything.
Basically, he had an american mother and he came to the united States in the early 1960s. He did not know english and could only get menial jobs. He got married, but he
developed epilepsy and had to be hospitalized. His marriage fell apart and he decided to go back to Cuba where his family could take care of him. His bad luck - he started his
trip back to Cuba during the weekend of the assassination. He flew to Havana on a cargo plane which is why he was the only passenger.
https://www.onthetrailofdelusion.com/post/jfk-destiny-betrayed-misleads-on-supposed-tampa-patsy
(https://www.onthetrailofdelusion.com/post/jfk-destiny-betrayed-misleads-on-supposed-tampa-patsy)
https://www.onthetrailofdelusion.com/post/was-gilberto-policarpo-lopez-an-assassin-or-a-patsy (https://www.onthetrailofdelusion.com/post/was-gilberto-policarpo-lopez-an-assassin-or-a-patsy)
-
I have looked extensively at the Gilberto Policarpo Lopez stuff and I believe he had nothing to do with anything.
Basically, he had an american mother and he came to the united States in the early 1960s. He did not know english and could only get menial jobs. He got married, but he
developed epilepsy and had to be hospitalized. His marriage fell apart and he decided to go back to Cuba where his family could take care of him. His bad luck - he started his
trip back to Cuba during the weekend of the assassination. He flew to Havana on a cargo plane which is why he was the only passenger.
https://www.onthetrailofdelusion.com/post/jfk-destiny-betrayed-misleads-on-supposed-tampa-patsy
(https://www.onthetrailofdelusion.com/post/jfk-destiny-betrayed-misleads-on-supposed-tampa-patsy)
https://www.onthetrailofdelusion.com/post/was-gilberto-policarpo-lopez-an-assassin-or-a-patsy (https://www.onthetrailofdelusion.com/post/was-gilberto-policarpo-lopez-an-assassin-or-a-patsy)
Dear Fred,
His daughter, Lisbette, told me about five years ago that he was very good at faking epileptic seizures, and that he was "never sick a day in his life."
Lisbette xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sat, Jul 27, 2019, 3:40 PM
to me
Hi Tom,
Here are some of the pictures I mentioned. He now lives in Miami with a brother who I always knew was a big time communist. I can’t remember the title of the book Iliana Ross wrote about him but may be easy to find. The black and white pictures are from Cuba. The color ones in Miami, mid 90’s.
Thomas Graves xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sat, Jul 27, 2019, 4:03 PM
to Lisbette
Thanks, Lisbette.
Let me ask you outright -- Do you think he might have been involved in any way in the JFK assassination? Has he said anything to you or done anything that might lead you to that conclusion?
(If you do, and don't want anyone else to know, I promise I won't tell anyone.)
One of my favorite authors, Mark Riebling, talks about him a little bit on pages 203, 205 and 206 in his 1994 book, "Wedge".
(In the chapter titled "Sinister Implications".)
https://archive.org/details/WedgeFromPearlHarborTo911HowTheSecretWarBetweenTheFBIAndCIAHasEndangeredNationalSecurity/page/n2
Thank you for posting what you have posted so far at the forum, btw.
(I'm very unpopular there with members like Michael Clark and Jeff Stanton because I'm the only member (that I know of) who believes the KGB and/or Castro's DGF was behind the assassination ...)
LOL
-- Tom
Lisbette xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sat, Jul 27, 2019, 4:15 PM
to me
All of his brothers, my uncles, were in the military and the oldest, Rafael, if I’m not getting their names confused, (was not my favorite side of the family) was a military attaché in Russia. I remember seeing pictures. My father, Gilberto, also traveled to East Germany before the wall was taken down but I think it was a work related travel or that is what I was told. He has always said he did not do it but he was always a man who did not talk about anything of his past, not even his childhood. We didn’t even know he had taken his mother, my grandmother’s US citizenship, when we were little. My mom found documents by chance one day. We knew he lived in the US, Tampa, Keys, went to Laredo, Mexico, and even met with communist groups. He is to the day a very mean and violent man so it would not surprise me if he did but he has never said. I mentioned he said he was the only one in the cargo plane but don’t know why he told us.
Thomas Graves xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sat, Jul 27, 2019, 4:44 PM
to Lisbette
Fascinating stuff, Lisbette!
I'll read it again more closely, and "mull it over," later ...
Did you ever witness his having an epileptic seizure, or do you know for a fact that he took anti-seizure medicine?
Thanks,
-- Tom
Lisbette xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sat, Jul 27, 2019, 5:12 PM
to me
He never took meds. Never saw him sick. He did martial arts and loved being in shape. And at one point wanted to go to a war in Africa. He told us many times how he faked the seizures and how no one knew it was fake. He did not want to get drafted.
Lisbette xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sat, Jul 27, 2019, 5:38 PM
to me
I forgot to mentioned that days before we left Cuba, men in black, 3 of them, came to our apartment to tell him he would be arrested in the US because of the JFK. At the airport we were stopped and we almost thought we’d not be able to leave.
Thomas Graves xxxxxxxxxxxx
Sat, Jul 27, 2019, 7:23 PM
to Lisbette
Interesting.
What year was that?
Thomas Graves xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sat, Jul 27, 2019, 11:02 PM
to Lisbette
Approximately?
Lisbette xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sun, Jul 28, 2019, 5:00 AM
to me
We left in 1995 but waited 2 years to get all documents in place. We all came legally because he, Gilberto, was a US citizen. And I remember asking why he didn’t tell us before because we could have left many years before. He said he thought that the citizenship had expired that he could not come back. Apparently we all thought he lived in the US for a few years, worked, and then got homesick. He said he missed his mother. But he was not one to visit her or even a daughter he had with his second marriage. My mom was the 3rd marriage. He was married to an older woman when he lived in the US. She took care of him. He was a lot younger than she was. During the 2 years, we went to the US embassy and no one arrested him. The men were Cuban intelligence I understood. If I remember correctly, it was weeks or days before going to the airport. I don’t know how anyone in the government could have known because we had to keep the process a secret to not call attention from communist neighbors. He was afraid to tell his brothers, especially Rafael and Reimundo, we called him Mundo. None of them were very nice people. They were all cold, angry, and violent. My mother’s family knew but they were anti Castro. I could not even tell friends until a day or two before leaving. The men looked like they came out of a movie, dressed in business suits, black suits and wearing dark glasses. It was odd and I heard how they were scaring my dad to not come to the US that he would be arrested because of the JFK. I was 18.
Lisbette xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sun, Jul 28, 2019, 5:41 AM
to me
This is him a few weeks ago. Was posted on Facebook by his brother Rene. I’m not in contact with any of them. He lives with Rene and Rene’s family now.
Lisbette xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sun, Jul 28, 2019, 1:03 PM
to me
I’m ok sharing his younger picture only and to please keep confidential and to your discretion with whom you share it with. The others I am not sure I should. I want to respect his privacy and this photo was taken before he was part of my life.
This photo only [My comment: The sepia-tinted one you can find on the Internet]. The others when he is not alive. And again, making sure to say he always said he didn’t do it and that somehow he must have been in the wrong place, at the wrong time, and with his communist people. He is mean on one side but very trusting on another and not impossible someone took advantage of that .
Thomas Graves xxxxxxxxxxxx
Sun, Jul 28, 2019, 2:34 PM
to Lisbette
Okay Lisbette, thanks.
I will protect his and your privacy as best I can.
Do you know what year this photo was taken, where it was taken, and how old he was at the time?
-- Tom
Lisbette xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sun, Jul 28, 2019, 2:42 PM
to me
I think it was his passport photo and taken in the 60’s but I am not 100% sure if the exact yr. The picture was taken before I was born and I was born in 76.
Thomas Graves xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sun, Jul 28, 2019, 4:00 PM
to Lisbette
Lisbette,
Communicating with you via the forum's messenger is problematic for me because it only lets me do one or two of them per day.
Email is much better.
Okay?
-- Tom
Thomas Graves xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sat, Apr 24, 2021, 10:29 PM
to me
Thomas Graves xxxxxxxxxxxx
Sat, Apr 24, 2021, 10:35 PM
to me
Hi Lisbette,
How are you?
I got kicked off that JFK Assassination Forum about a year and a-half ago, but as you can see I still have the photos you sent me before that. I've never shared two of those photos with anyone.
Let me ask you, is your father still alive?
Thanks,
-- Tom
[No reply]
. . . . . . .
-- Tom
-
FL-
I enjoyed your two posts, and if and when I have time I will try to read some of the background.
Here is how AI answered the question "In 1963, was it common for passengers on travel on cargo planes to Cuba from Mexico?"
---30---
No, it was not common, but rather highly restricted and difficult due to U.S. embargoes and political tensions; travel to Cuba was effectively banned for most, especially Americans, by 1963, though some charter or private flights, potentially cargo-based, might have operated under specific, often unofficial, circumstances for certain individuals like Cubans seeking exile or urgent private business, but it wasn't typical passenger travel.
Context of Travel in 1963:
U.S. Embargo: The U.S. imposed a comprehensive trade embargo in the early 1960s, with Treasury Department regulations effectively banning financial transactions for travel to Cuba from 1963 to 1977, making it nearly impossible for most Americans.
Commercial Flights Suspended: Commercial airline flights between the U.S. and Cuba were suspended by February 1963.
Limited Exceptions: While official tourism ceased, some flights did occur, often for refugees leaving Cuba (the "Freedom Flights" started later in 1965, but similar movements existed) or for urgent private matters, but these weren't standard passenger routes.
Cargo Planes: Cargo planes could carry passengers, but this was usually for specific, non-commercial, or charter purposes, not common tourist routes, especially given the political climate.
In essence, 1963 was a period of severe restriction, making any travel to Cuba, especially via non-standard methods like cargo planes from Mexico, highly unusual and certainly not "common" for general passengers.
---30---
You have presented Gilberto Policarpo Lopez is an ordinary guy, with even fewer leftist credentials that LHO.
Yet, somehow Lopez was able to board a cargo plane to Havana?
Are you aware of anyone else, on an ad-hoc basis, hopping on a cargo plane to Havana from Mexico in 1963?
-
FL-
I enjoyed your two posts, and if and when I have time I will try to read some of the background.
Here is how AI answered the question "In 1963, was it common for passengers on travel on cargo planes to Cuba from Mexico?"
---30---
No, it was not common, but rather highly restricted and difficult due to U.S. embargoes and political tensions; travel to Cuba was effectively banned for most, especially Americans, by 1963, though some charter or private flights, potentially cargo-based, might have operated under specific, often unofficial, circumstances for certain individuals like Cubans seeking exile or urgent private business, but it wasn't typical passenger travel.
Context of Travel in 1963:
U.S. Embargo: The U.S. imposed a comprehensive trade embargo in the early 1960s, with Treasury Department regulations effectively banning financial transactions for travel to Cuba from 1963 to 1977, making it nearly impossible for most Americans.
Commercial Flights Suspended: Commercial airline flights between the U.S. and Cuba were suspended by February 1963.
Limited Exceptions: While official tourism ceased, some flights did occur, often for refugees leaving Cuba (the "Freedom Flights" started later in 1965, but similar movements existed) or for urgent private matters, but these weren't standard passenger routes.
Cargo Planes: Cargo planes could carry passengers, but this was usually for specific, non-commercial, or charter purposes, not common tourist routes, especially given the political climate.
In essence, 1963 was a period of severe restriction, making any travel to Cuba, especially via non-standard methods like cargo planes from Mexico, highly unusual and certainly not "common" for general passengers.
---30---
You have presented Gilberto Policarpo Lopez is an ordinary guy, with even fewer leftist credentials that LHO.
Yet, somehow Lopez was able to board a cargo plane to Havana?
Are you are on anyone else, on an ad-hoc basis, hopping on a cargo plane to Havana from Mexico in 1963?
1) You'll never have the time.
2) "Are you are on anyone else, on an ad-hoc basis, hopping on a cargo plane to Havana from Mexico in 1963?"
Huh?
-
Yes, I have a job. Little time.
From AI:
Yes, it is historically documented that Gilberto Policarpo Lopez traveled from Mexico City to Havana in late 1963 under unusual circumstances, though it was on a Cubana Airlines passenger flight, not a cargo plane.
Details of the event include:
The Flight: Lopez departed for Havana on November 27, 1963, via Cubana Flight #465.
Unusual Circumstances: While not a cargo plane, he was recorded as the only passenger on the flight, accompanied by a crew of nine Cubans. Intelligence reports noted the flight waited for hours for him to arrive and took off hastily once he was aboard.
Timing: His travel was deemed suspicious by intelligence agencies because it occurred just five days after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Lopez had crossed the border from the U.S. into Mexico on the day of the assassination.
Status: Although often described as an "ordinary traveler" or a Key West baker, his movements were heavily scrutinized by the CIA and FBI. Some researchers and declassified documents have raised questions about his potential links to the assassination or intelligence agencies, though no official conspiracy was ever proven.
Lopez reportedly remained in Cuba for some time after the flight before eventually returning to the United States, where he died in Florida in 2021.
---30---
Well, the National Aquarium is fishy, and so is Mr. Lopez.
-
Yes, I have a job. Little time.
From AI:
Yes, it is historically documented that Gilberto Policarpo Lopez traveled from Mexico City to Havana in late 1963 under unusual circumstances, though it was on a Cubana Airlines passenger flight, not a cargo plane.
Details of the event include:
The Flight: Lopez departed for Havana on November 27, 1963, via Cubana Flight #465.
Unusual Circumstances: While not a cargo plane, he was recorded as the only passenger on the flight, accompanied by a crew of nine Cubans. Intelligence reports noted the flight waited for hours for him to arrive and took off hastily once he was aboard.
Timing: His travel was deemed suspicious by intelligence agencies because it occurred just five days after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Lopez had crossed the border from the U.S. into Mexico on the day of the assassination.
Status: Although often described as an "ordinary traveler" or a Key West baker, his movements were heavily scrutinized by the CIA and FBI. Some researchers and declassified documents have raised questions about his potential links to the assassination or intelligence agencies, though no official conspiracy was ever proven.
Lopez reportedly remained in Cuba for some time after the flight before eventually returning to the United States, where he died in Florida in 2021.
His daughter says he always referred to it as a cargo plane.
-
TG-
Love the Batman logo.
I cannot access National Archives at the moment. Some sort of glitch. Some memos in the NA are cited as evidence that Lopez rode on an otherwise empty passenger jet.
-
On Nov. 27, Lopez entered Cuban on a "Cuban courtesy visa."
AI:
"In 1963, a Cuban "courtesy visa" was a specific type of travel document, likely granted by Cuban authorities, used by individuals like operative Gilberto Lopez to enter Cuba from Mexico, possibly to facilitate intelligence work or specific missions, operating outside normal tourist channels due to the U.S. embargo and severed diplomatic ties, allowing agents to move covertly for political reasons."
All of this sounds fishy to me.
-
On Nov. 27, Lopez entered Cuban on a "Cuban courtesy visa."
AI:
"In 1963, a Cuban "courtesy visa" was a specific type of travel document, likely granted by Cuban authorities, used by individuals like operative Gilberto Lopez to enter Cuba from Mexico, possibly to facilitate intelligence work or specific missions, operating outside normal tourist channels due to the U.S. embargo and severed diplomatic ties, allowing agents to move covertly for political reasons."
All of this sounds fishy to me.
Fishy?
Wowie zowie!
-
I posted the link that it was a cargo plane, and It was probably not unusual for Cubana airlines.
I don't think he faked epilectic fits, and he was hospitalized in florida. His wife never said he faked stuff. I don't believe any of this.
There is nothing to see here, guys.
fred
-
And how old was his daughter in 1963?
-
And how old was his daughter in 1963?
Dear Fred,
If you'd read our email exchanges, you'd know that she said she was eighteen years old when he moved his family to the U.S. in 1995, which means she hadn't been born yet in 1963.
Does that matter somehow?
-- Tom
PS Thanks for confirming that he flew from Mexico City to Havana on a cargo plane
-
I don't believe any of this.
There is nothing to see here, guys.
Dear Fred,
That's your precious opinion.
Don't get all huffy, now.
-- Tom
-
Yes, it matters. She has no idea how sick Gilberto was in 1963.
fred
-
https://www.archives.gov/files/research/jfk/releases/180-10141-10498.pdf
Cubana Airlines flight 465 on Nov. 27.
Cubana Airlines Flight 465 on November 27, 1963, was technically a passenger plane that was primarily carrying cargo on that specific return flight.
Investigation records from the National Archives clarify the nature of this flight:
Capacity: All Cubana flights to Mexico City at that time were capable of carrying passengers.
Specific Load: On November 27, 1963, the flight arriving in Mexico City carried 75 passengers. However, the return flight to Havana departed with only one passenger (identified as Gilberto Lopez) and what was described as a "plane load of cargo," including automobile parts, food, and medicine.
Context: Because some return flights from Mexico City to Havana were used extensively for shipping supplies to Cuba, they were occasionally characterized as being "basically cargo" flights even though they remained passenger-capable aircraft with a crew of nine.
--30---
This seems like "something to see."
Lopez was a US citizen. US citizens had trouble visiting Cuba, usually requiring special arrangements.
But Lopez just ad-hoc hopped on a plane in MC and made it to Havana? As the only passenger? And they held up the flight for him?
You might need to re-think this one, without your premises as blinders.
-
Yes, it matters. She has no idea how sick Gilberto was in 1963.
Dear Fred,
Neither do you, evidently.
After the assassination, his wife told the investigators that he suffered from epileptic seizures, but ironically, he was doing construction work just fine a month or two later.
-- Tom
PS From a 17-page HSCA document (RIF 180-10141-10499) that was released in 2017 or 2018. “CIA has no objection to declassification and/or release of this document as sanitized.”
The FBI learned that Lopez married an American woman in Key West in August 1962. [33] According to Lopez's wife, he worked for a time with the Pepsi Cola company in 1962 and at the Molina and Murgia Bakery in Key West, which was owned by cousins. [34] She said that he also worked for a construction company in Tampa in June 1963. [35] Lopez's wife told the FBI that Lopez began suffering from recurrent attacks of epilepsy and had to be confined at Jackson State Hospital in Key West in early 1963. [36] She stated that he was treated by doctors from Coral Gables and Key West for the epilepsy. [37] She stated that she did not believe he had a history of epilepsy before coming to the United States. [38] She believed his convulsions were brought on by nervous tension and worry over his family in Cuba and may have been a reason for his return to Cuba in 1963. [39]
Starting with footnote 27 and ending with footnote 33, the source is FBI Report, 8/26/64, Serial 105-126109-12, p. (The footnotes from 34 to 51 were “ibid.”)
Footnote 49 – “According to Lopez's FBI file, he registered with the Selective Service at Key West on July 29, 1960, and was classified 4-F on February 23, 1962 due to a language barrier.
-
How healthy does a guy have to be to pull a trigger?
Why was Havana so eager to bring a US citizen--Lopez---into Cuba?