What was behind/cause for Oswald's odd behavior in Mexico City?

[Steve M. Galbraith]

The three Soviet Embassy officials/KGB officers who say they met Oswald when he went to Mexico City to go to Cuba said he was acting "nervously" and "shaking" at the time. Recall that the Cubans (Sylvia Duran) told Oswald that she needed to see his Soviet visa before she would give him a transit visa to go to Cuba. If he couldn't show one he would have to wait several months for the application to be processed. So he visited the Soviet embassy twice to get one.

Here is how they described him (this is from the Frontline special "Who was Lee Harvey Oswald?"):

FRONTLINE NARRATOR: At the Soviet embassy, he [i.e., Oswald] met with three consular officials. In fact, all three were KGB officers working under diplomatic cover. In this, their first interview, they recall that Oswald's hands were shaking and his behavior was erratic.

OLEG NECHIPORENKO, KGB: [through interpreter] We all thought the man had an unstable nervous system. He was extremely agitated.

VALERY KOSTIKOV, KGB: [through interpreter] During our talk, Oswald kept feeling in his pockets, taking out all sorts of papers. Then he took out a gun and put it in front of him. I sat opposite him. I took the gun away and put it on Pavel's desk.

Pavel Antonovich asked him, "Why did you come here with a gun? What do you need a gun for?" He said, "I'm afraid of the FBI. I'm being persecuted. I need a gun to protect myself, for my personal safety." That's what he said."

Okay, so he's acting in a desperate manner in order to get the visa from the Soviets. He says the "notorious FBI" is after him and that is why he needed the gun. So he is trying to persuade them that his life is in danger. But the reported shaking and nervousness were caused by? Oswald was known to be demanding but he was also usually cool and in command.

The three KGB officers are shown below. They were shown the photo of the reported "impostor" and all said the man was not the person who said he was Oswald. They said the man who identified himself as Lee Oswald was the actual Oswald.

The video of their interview is here: go to the 1:10:30 mark to see the above:
https://www.pbs.org/video/frontline-who-was-lee-harvey-oswald/

[Walt Cakebread]

The three Soviet Embassy officials/KGB officers who say they met Oswald when he went to Mexico City to go to Cuba said he was acting "nervously" and "shaking" at the time. Recall that the Cubans (Sylvia Duran) told Oswald that she needed to see his Soviet visa before she would give him a transit visa to go to Cuba. If he couldn't show one he would have to wait several months for the application to be processed. So he visited the Soviet embassy twice to get one.

Here is how they described him (this is from the Frontline special "Who was Lee Harvey Oswald?"):

FRONTLINE NARRATOR: At the Soviet embassy, he [i.e., Oswald] met with three consular officials. In fact, all three were KGB officers working under diplomatic cover. In this, their first interview, they recall that Oswald's hands were shaking and his behavior was erratic.

OLEG NECHIPORENKO, KGB: [through interpreter] We all thought the man had an unstable nervous system. He was extremely agitated.

VALERY KOSTIKOV, KGB: [through interpreter] During our talk, Oswald kept feeling in his pockets, taking out all sorts of papers. Then he took out a gun and put it in front of him. I sat opposite him. I took the gun away and put it on Pavel's desk.

Pavel Antonovich asked him, "Why did you come here with a gun? What do you need a gun for?" He said, "I'm afraid of the FBI. I'm being persecuted. I need a gun to protect myself, for my personal safety." That's what he said."

Okay, so he's acting in a desperate manner in order to get the visa from the Soviets. He says the "notorious FBI" is after him and that is why he needed the gun. So he is trying to persuade them that his life is in danger. But the reported shaking and nervousness were caused by? Oswald was known to be demanding but he was also usually cool and in command.

The three KGB officers are shown below. They were shown the photo of the reported "impostor" and all said the man was not the person who said he was Oswald. They said the man who identified himself as Lee Oswald was the actual Oswald.

The video of their interview is here: go to the 1:10:30 mark to see the above:
https://www.pbs.org/video/frontline-who-was-lee-harvey-oswald/

Mr Gailbraith .....  Do you really believe that you can "unmuddy " the waters of Mexico City.    There are three intel organizations involved....   FBI, CIA. and KGB......They are all trained liars and disinformation specialists.....  How can you possibly gain any plausible information ??

[Gerry Down]

I think we can be sure Oswald was in Mexico City. He wrote a letter to the soviet embassy in Washington on Nov 8th saying that he had been to Mexico. Drafts of this letter are in Oswalds writing. So Oswald himself admitted to being there.

[Walt Cakebread]

I think we can be sure Oswald was in Mexico City. He wrote a letter to the soviet embassy in Washington on Nov 8th saying that he had been to Mexico. Drafts of this letter are in Oswalds writing. So Oswald himself admitted to being there.

I agree ...Lee was in Mexico City.....  What else?

[Richard Smith]

The three Soviet Embassy officials/KGB officers who say they met Oswald when he went to Mexico City to go to Cuba said he was acting "nervously" and "shaking" at the time. Recall that the Cubans (Sylvia Duran) told Oswald that she needed to see his Soviet visa before she would give him a transit visa to go to Cuba. If he couldn't show one he would have to wait several months for the application to be processed. So he visited the Soviet embassy twice to get one.

Here is how they described him (this is from the Frontline special "Who was Lee Harvey Oswald?"):

FRONTLINE NARRATOR: At the Soviet embassy, he [i.e., Oswald] met with three consular officials. In fact, all three were KGB officers working under diplomatic cover. In this, their first interview, they recall that Oswald's hands were shaking and his behavior was erratic.

OLEG NECHIPORENKO, KGB: [through interpreter] We all thought the man had an unstable nervous system. He was extremely agitated.

VALERY KOSTIKOV, KGB: [through interpreter] During our talk, Oswald kept feeling in his pockets, taking out all sorts of papers. Then he took out a gun and put it in front of him. I sat opposite him. I took the gun away and put it on Pavel's desk.

Pavel Antonovich asked him, "Why did you come here with a gun? What do you need a gun for?" He said, "I'm afraid of the FBI. I'm being persecuted. I need a gun to protect myself, for my personal safety." That's what he said."

Okay, so he's acting in a desperate manner in order to get the visa from the Soviets. He says the "notorious FBI" is after him and that is why he needed the gun. So he is trying to persuade them that his life is in danger. But the reported shaking and nervousness were caused by? Oswald was known to be demanding but he was also usually cool and in command.

The three KGB officers are shown below. They were shown the photo of the reported "impostor" and all said the man was not the person who said he was Oswald. They said the man who identified himself as Lee Oswald was the actual Oswald.

First, Oswald was a nut job.  Odd people do odd things and Oswald wouldn't have been in Mexico City at the Cuban/Russian embassies in the first place attempting to defect if he had all his marbles.  So it is not surprising that those who encountered him might find his behavior strange. 

Second, Oswald had spent years and considerable effort apparently trying to cultivate a resume as a true revolutionary for the purpose of gaining entry to Cuba.  He did not go to Mexico City to present himself as an ordinary person but as a Marxist zealot seeking permission to join the cause.  When it became increasingly clear that his plan was not going to work, he became agitated because his plans were coming unraveled. 

Third, Oswald had faced similar resistance to his plan to defect to the USSR from the local officials.  His suicide attempt (whether fake or real) carried the day.  So he had some experience with not taking no for an answer and responding with abnormal behavior to get his way.  Oswald was a strange dude.  That doesn't mean he couldn't act like an ordinary person during a typical day, but he clearly could go off his nut when it came to his fantasy life as a political revolutionary.  In that role, he was capable of extremely bizarre behavior including assassination.  He was also a decent manipulator.  And so he wasn't simply going to say "oh well" and calmly walk off into the sunset when he was told that he would not be allowed to go to Cuba.  Instead, he made a nuisance of himself in an attempt to get his way.  Probably got himself worked up. 

[Walt Cakebread]

First, Oswald was a nut job.  Odd people do odd things and Oswald wouldn't have been in Mexico City at the Cuban/Russian embassies in the first place attempting to defect if he had all his marbles.  So it is not surprising that those who encountered him might find his behavior strange. 

Second, Oswald had spent years and considerable effort apparently trying to cultivate a resume as a true revolutionary for the purpose of gaining entry to Cuba.  He did not go to Mexico City to present himself as an ordinary person but as a Marxist zealot seeking permission to join the cause.  When it became increasingly clear that his plan was not going to work, he became agitated because his plans were coming unraveled. 

Third, Oswald had faced similar resistance to his plan to defect to the USSR from the local officials.  His suicide attempt (whether fake or real) carried the day.  So he had some experience with not taking no for an answer and responding with abnormal behavior to get his way.  Oswald was a strange dude.  That doesn't mean he couldn't act like an ordinary person during a typical day, but he clearly could go off his nut when it came to his fantasy life as a political revolutionary.  In that role, he was capable of extremely bizarre behavior including assassination.  He was also a decent manipulator.  And so he wasn't simply going to say "oh well" and calmly walk off into the sunset when he was told that he would not be allowed to go to Cuba.  Instead, he made a nuisance of himself in an attempt to get his way.  Probably got himself worked up.

Oswald was a strange dude.

Kinda strange Mr "Smith"....  I find myself in agreement with 98% of your post.....However, I disagree on a very basic point.
You think that Lee was acting entirely on his own volition in his escapades.   I'm surprised that you seem to be blind to the idea that Lee was acting on behalf of what he believed was the United States Government (IOW Lee thought he was a secret agent.)

[Steve M. Galbraith]

First, Oswald was a nut job.  Odd people do odd things and Oswald wouldn't have been in Mexico City at the Cuban/Russian embassies in the first place attempting to defect if he had all his marbles.  So it is not surprising that those who encountered him might find his behavior strange. 

Second, Oswald had spent years and considerable effort apparently trying to cultivate a resume as a true revolutionary for the purpose of gaining entry to Cuba.  He did not go to Mexico City to present himself as an ordinary person but as a Marxist zealot seeking permission to join the cause.  When it became increasingly clear that his plan was not going to work, he became agitated because his plans were coming unraveled. 

Third, Oswald had faced similar resistance to his plan to defect to the USSR from the local officials.  His suicide attempt (whether fake or real) carried the day.  So he had some experience with not taking no for an answer and responding with abnormal behavior to get his way.  Oswald was a strange dude.  That doesn't mean he couldn't act like an ordinary person during a typical day, but he clearly could go off his nut when it came to his fantasy life as a political revolutionary.  In that role, he was capable of extremely bizarre behavior including assassination.  He was also a decent manipulator.  And so he wasn't simply going to say "oh well" and calmly walk off into the sunset when he was told that he would not be allowed to go to Cuba.  Instead, he made a nuisance of himself in an attempt to get his way.  Probably got himself worked up.

But this erratic behavior was during the second meeting (the Saturday one) that Oswald had with the Soviet Embassy officials. Nechiporenko described Oswald as looking "physically and emotionally exhausted" on the Friday meeting. But he said Oswald calmly presented his case, showed his passport, talked about Marina, complained about how the FBI was harassing him and preventing him from getting a good job, that he was worried they would arrest him for contacting the Soviet Embassy in Washington. It was a calmer Oswald.

When he was told that it would take several months for his visa to be processed, Nechiporenko said that Oswald "shouted" in his face saying: "This won't do for me. This is not my case [?]. For me it's all going to end in tragedy."

But that Saturday meeting was a different Oswald. They said he was sweating and nervous, shaking and barely able to talk in Russian. He pulls out the revolver and waves it around. Some of this may be acting on his part in a desperate attempt to get that visa. But this was not the Oswald we saw in other stressful situations - the Bringuier radio debate, the Oswald with the media after his arrest - who came across as cool.

I do agree with you that it's likely that he realized that with Cuba closed off to him that he had no place to go. He had worked to create a pro-Castro resume and he truly thought they would let him in. And then all of the plans fall apart. Marina said that one day she came into the kitchen and saw Oswald weeping out of control. He had been fired from his job at the coffee company and they had no place to go. He didn't know what they were going to do. They agreed to try to return to the USSR but Oswald had a different idea. It was here, I think, that his plans to defect to Cuba started. And all of that pro-Castro activity in NO began.

Of course, all of this for our conspiracy friends is just Oswald acting. Or an impostor. And so it goes.

[Steve M. Galbraith]

When Oswald returned from Mexico City, he explained to Marina about his failure to get a visa and how he was "shuttling" from place to place as he sought one. He was angry about the Cuban treatment - "vociferous" according to Marina - but otherwise seemed to take the rejection in stride.

Question: If Oswald himself didn't go to MC then how did he know about how the Cubans treated his "impostor"? About the fight the "impostor" got into with the Cuban Consul? And about how he had to shuttle from place to place? Or did Marina make all of this up?

This excerpt is from "Marina and Lee."