(Testimony of Nelson Delgado)
Mr. Delgado.
Yes. I couldn't--Oswald loved to travel, right, but if he couldn't take military life, where everything was told to him, I'm sure he couldn't take no life in Russia, where he was subjected to strict, you know, watching. I couldn't picture him living over there. I thought he had gone to, you know, like I said, the university in Berlin, to study there. He wanted to study psychology.
Mr. Liebeler.
Did you think that he was perhaps at the same university that you spoke of before, that he had applied for when he was in the Marines?
Mr. Delgado.
No; because I--the way I understand it, it's--there's two big psychologists institutes in Europe. One is in Switzerland. If he was a devout Communist or pro-Russian, as they say he was---one was in East Berlin, and one was in Switzerland--he couldn't have gone to Switzerland. I knew he applied for Switzerland.
Mr. Liebeler.
So you figured that because he had this interest in psychology, and .since he was interested in communism, he probably wouldn't have gone to the university in Switzerland, but he might very well have gone to the one in Berlin?
Mr. Delgado.
Well, actually it was on their own level. They would train him their way.
(Short recess.)
Mr. Liebeler.
Did you think that Oswald was an agent of the Soviet Union or was acting as an agent for the Soviet Union at that time?
Mr. Delgado.
No.
Mr. Liebeler.
Whom did you mean to refer to when you said that they would train him their way?
Mr. Delgado.
Well, after he was defecting, I assumed he would take the Communist way of life, and I would imagine that they would put him to use to the best of their advantage. But this was later brought out to be false, because they came out and said that all he did was work in a factory. Whether or not that's so, I can't say. That's what they said.
Mr. Liebeler.
But at the time you were in Europe, you were speculating to yourself that he might have been in the Berlin school?
Mr. Delgado.
Yes.
Mr. Liebeler.
You received no particular information? You just figured this out for yourself?
Mr. Delgado.
Yes.
Mr. Liebeler.
Just how well do you think Oswald learned to speak Spanish during the time that he was associated with you in the Marine Corps?
Mr. Delgado.
He could meet the average people from the streets and hold a conversation with them. He could make himself understood and be understood. That's not too clear, is it?
Mr. Liebeler.
Did you think Oswald was an intelligent person?
Mr. Delgado.
Yes; I did. More intelligent than I am, and I have a 117, supposedly, IQ, and he could comprehend things faster and was interested in things that I wasn't interested in: politics, music, things like that, so much so like an intellectual. He didn't read poetry or anything like that, but as far as books and concert music and things like that, he was a great fan.
Mr. Liebeler.
You said before that Oswald was not sufficiently proficient in Spanish so that he could carry on a political argument or anything like that.
Mr. Delgado.
No.
Mr. Liebeler.
Now, did you talk to the FBI about this question of how well Oswald could speak Spanish?
Mr. Delgado.
Yes; I did.
Mr. Liebeler.
Do you remember what you told him?
Mr. Delgado.
I told him basically the same thing I told you, only then this fellow came out, this other agent came out with this test he gave me.
Mr. Liebeler.
He gave you a test?
Mr. Delgado.
Yes.
Mr. Liebeler.
In Spanish?
Mr. Delgado.
Right.
Mr. Liebeler.
Just in speaking to you, you mean?
Mr. Delgado.
No; a written thing.
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