JFK assassination files: What new details emerged about Oswald’s links to the USSR and Cuba?
The Trump administration on Tuesday declassified over 2,000 documents related to the assassination of former U.S. President John F. Kennedy, a case that has fueled conspiracy theories for more than six decades. While the newly released files provide fresh insights into Cold War-era intelligence operations, they do not challenge the conclusion that Kennedy’s assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald, acted alone.
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No Evidence of a Larger Conspiracy
Despite widespread skepticism about the official narrative, experts who reviewed the newly released documents said they do not provide evidence contradicting the Warren Commission’s 1964 conclusion that Oswald was the sole gunman.
“I didn’t really see anything to change the narrative indicating that Oswald as the lone gunman was the person who killed John F. Kennedy and that it was not the result of a conspiracy,” said Marc Selverstone, a professor of presidential studies at the University of Virginia.
Also Read: Trump Releases Previously Redacted 31,000 Pages of JFK Assassination Files
Oswald’s Ties to Soviet and Cuban Embassies
Among the notable revelations, the documents confirm that Oswald visited the Soviet and Cuban embassies in Mexico City before the assassination. Intelligence reports also detail his time in the Soviet Union, where he had defected in 1959 before returning to the U.S. in 1962.
A previously classified report from the 1990s included in the release suggested that Oswald may have been a poor marksman, a detail that could further fuel doubts about the official version of events.
CIA Cold War Operations Unveiled
While the files offer limited new insights into Kennedy’s assassination, they shed light on Cold War-era intelligence efforts. One document detailed “Operation Mongoose,” a top-secret campaign to destabilize Fidel Castro’s communist government in Cuba. Another memo disclosed that the CIA had placed 1,500 agents overseas posing as U.S. State Department officials.
Additionally, declassified records revealed covert U.S. efforts to overthrow foreign governments, including Dominican Republic President Rafael Trujillo, who was assassinated in 1961.
Public Skepticism Remains High
Despite the declassification, public doubt about Kennedy’s assassination persists. A 2023 Gallup poll found that 65% of Americans do not believe the Warren Commission’s conclusion.
Some conspiracy theories suggest Oswald was part of a larger plot involving the CIA, the mafia, or even Kennedy’s own vice president, Lyndon B. Johnson. However, the newly released files do not substantiate any of these claims.
Transparency or Political Move?
The document release comes amid calls for greater transparency. The 1992 JFK Records Act mandated the full disclosure of assassination-related records, yet thousands of files remain classified.
Trump previously promised full transparency but released only a portion of the documents after requests from the CIA and FBI to withhold certain pages for further review.
Jack Schlossberg, Kennedy’s grandson, criticized the timing of the release, suggesting it was politically motivated. Experts, however, welcomed the move as a positive step toward government transparency.
While the latest batch of documents offers a deeper understanding of Cold War intelligence operations, it leaves the long-standing mystery surrounding JFK’s assassination largely unchanged.
