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Warren Commission Hearings: Vol. VIII - Page 249« Previous | Next »

(Testimony of Nelson Delgado)

Mr. Delgado.
That is what the agent interviewing me told me.
Mr. Liebeler.
The FBI agent told you that?
Mr. Delgado.
Yes.
Mr. Liebeler.
What did you say then?
Mr. Delgado.
I told him that was his prerogative, but I had taught him--I mean I had talked to him in Spanish, and he had asked for my help. I assumed that he wanted to know my association with this thing that is happening now.
Mr. Liebeler.
Did you get the impression that the agent was trying to get you to change your story?
Mr. Delgado.
Yes.
Mr. Liebeler.
He was trying to get you to back away from the proposition that Oswald understood Spanish?
Mr. Delgado.
Well, am I allowed to say what I want to say?
Mr. Liebeler.
Yes; I want you to say exactly what you want to say.
Mr. Delgado.
I had the impression now, wholeheartedly, I want to believe that Oswald did what he was supposed to have done, but I had the impression they weren't satisfied with my testimony of him not being an expert shot. His Spanish wasn't proficient where he would be at a tie with the Cuban government.
Mr. Liebeler.
First of all, you say you got the impression that the FBI agents that talked to you didn't like the statement that you made about Oswald's inability to use the rifle well; is that right?
Mr. Delgado.
Right.
Mr. Liebeler.
What about this Spanish thing, what impression did you get about the agents?
Mr. Delgado.
Well, they tried to make me out that I didn't have no authority to consider myself so fluent in Spanish where I could teach somebody else. That is there opinion and they can have it as far as I am concerned.
If a man comes up to me without knowing a bit of Spanish, if within 6 months--and I told these FBI men--he could hold a conversation with me, I consider myself as being some sort of an authority on teaching, my ability to teach somebody to speak Spanish, which I told him I could take any man with a sincere desire to learn Spanish and I could teach him my Spanish, the Spanish the people speak, you know, I could teach him in, I could have him hold a conversation, I would say, in 3 months' time he could hold a conversation.
Mr. Liebeler.
Now, the FBI tried to indicate to you that you yourself were not good at Spanish?
Mr. Delgado.
No.
Mr. Liebeler.
And did you have any feeling about the FBI agents' attitude toward Oswald's ability with the Spanish language?
Mr. Delgado.
Yes; they didn't think he was too well versed, you know, he didn't know too much Spanish, as much as I wanted them to think he did, you know. In other words, they felt he could say "I have a dog. My dog is black." And "I have an automobile," and things like that, you know, basic Spanish, but I don't teach--I mean I am not a teacher. I don't go with that, you know. If a guy wants to learn Spanish, I don't tell him, "Well, let's start off with 'I have a dog,' "you know. That is no practical use for him, you know.
I tell him, "How do I get to such-and-such a street?" You go to a Spanish fellow-you are in Juarez---and be prepared to receive an answer from him, and he is going to shoot it to you fast, see, so that's what I teach these guys, you know.
Mr. Liebeler.
And Oswald was able to ask questions like this and understand them; is that right?
Mr. Delgado.
Right. Now, we had Mexican fellows in our outfit, and Oswald could understand their Spanish, and made it known to me that he could understand their Spanish, but in return those Mexicans could not understand my Spanish because the Puerto Ricans, Cubans, the Dominican Republics, they all speak real fast. Your Mexican is your Southern equivalent to your Southern drawl, you know, "You all," and real slow. Well, that is the Mexicans, you know. And when we speak Spanish to them, Puerto Rican, rather, or Spanish, they have a hard time understanding you. But he could understand what was going on, and sometimes he would tell me, "Well, these guys here are planning a beer bust tonight," he said. "Are you going?" He'd overhear and tell me, you know.
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