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Warren Commission Hearings: Vol. VIII - Page 246« Previous | Next »

(Testimony of Nelson Delgado)

Mr. Liebeler.
He gave you a written test?
Mr. Delgado.
I told him off the bat, I can't--my spelling is bad, you know. I told him right then. But outside of the spelling, I could read it and write it, you know. So he gave me a test, and he didn't tell me what the outcome was, but I gathered it wasn't too favorable.
Mr. Liebeler.
What made you gather that?
Mr. Delgado.
The sarcasm in his voice when he said, "What makes you think you speak Spanish so good?"--after he gave me the test, you know. Well, I told him, "Your Spanish is all right in its place, you know, college or something like that, but people have a hard time understanding you," which is true. If you have any Spanish-speaking fellows working here, let's say, a clerk or something, well, ask him what the word "peloloso" means, and I would bet you 9 out of 10 times he would not know. That's the Castilian word for "lazy". We got words for "lazy," three or four of them, "bago," "lento," things like that. That's one of the things I brought up to him. But he just laughed it off.
Mr. Liebeler.
Did you tell the FBI that Oswald was so proficient in Spanish that he would discuss his ideas on socialism in Spanish?
Mr. Delgado.
No.
Mr. Liebeler.
You didn't tell them that?
Mr. Delgado.
No.
Mr. Liebeler.
You are absolutely sure of that?
Mr. Delgado.
No; he wouldn't argue with me. All those arguments on socialism and communism and our way of life and their way of life were held in English. He talked, but he couldn't hold his own. He would speak three or four words and then ,bring it out in English. But as far as basic conversation and debate; no.
Mr. Liebeler.
Did you tell the FBI agent that Oswald would speak about socialism and things like that in Spanish and that it seemed to give him a feeling of superiority to talk about things like that in Spanish in front of the officers so that the officers couldn't understand him?
Mr. Delgado.
We were speaking Spanish. That gave him a sense of superiority, because they didn't know what we were talking about. In fact, more than once we were reprimanded for speaking Spanish, because we were not supposed to do it, and they didn't forbid us to speak Spanish--now, no political discussions were talked about. This was small talk when we were talking Spanish.
Mr. Liebeler.
Now, the FBI report that I have of an interview with you on December 10, according to this report, 1963, at Leonardo----
Mr. Delgado.
Yes; that's my home.
Mr. Liebeler.
This FBI agent says that you told him that Oswald became so proficient in Spanish that Oswald would discuss his ideas on socialism in Spanish.
Mr. Delgado.
He would discuss his ideas, but not anything against our Government or--nothing Socialist, mind you.
Mr. Liebeler.
In Spanish?
Mr. Delgado.
He would speak to me in Spanish in front of the people, in front of the officers in the ward, what we call the wardroom. Basically the fact that they could be standing over us and we would be talking, and they wouldn't understand what we were saying. But no ideas were exchanged, political ideas were exchanged during those times. Whenever we talked about the Communist or Socialist way of life, we would do it either in our hut or, you know, in low whispers doing the wardroom----
Mr. Liebeler.
That was in in English?
Mr. Delgado.
In English.
Mr. Liebeler.
He never spoke of these things in Spanish?
Mr. Delgado.
No; he couldn't.
Mr. Liebeler.
He didn't know Spanish that well?
Mr. Delgado.
No.
Mr. Liebeler.
You mentioned one time that you and Oswald and a couple of other fellows went to Tijuana.
Mr. Delgado.
Right.
Mr. Liebeler.
Had Oswald learned the Spanish language at that time?
Mr. Delgado.
He knew the Spanish language at that time, because when we
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