Oswald was inside the International Trade Mart?

[Gerry Down]

I came across this interview of William Gaudet recently:

I knew OSWALD because he was in at the International Trade Mart for quite a few days. That's where I had my office, which was on Camp and Common in New Orleans. And he was there distributing pamphlets for the Fair Play for Cuba Committee. Who the Fair Play for Cuba Committee was, I don't know. I do know I saw him [OSWALD] one time with a former...I think he was an FBI agent and a man by the name of Guy Banister, and Guy of course is now dead. What Guy's role was in all this I...I really don't know, but I did see him discussing various things with Banister at the time and I think Banister knew a whole lot of what was going on...I never met OSWALD and I never talked to him personally. Gaudet was asked if it was coincidence that his name was on the list next to OSWALD'S. I would say so, yes, I know it's hard to believe because this word keeps cropping up in everything that I seem to do that er...I'm just loaded down with coincidence...
[Sanders interview with Gaudet 1.19.78]

The impression one gets here with the phrase "for quiet a few days" is that Oswald had a bigger connection with the International Trade Mart than simply handing out leaflets outside its door for 20 minutes one day. Though Gaudet does not make a connection between Oswald and Clay Shaw, Oswalds presence inside the building for a few days would appear to put Oswald within touching distance of Clay Shaw.

I wonder why this interview has not been given more circulation?

Also, Gaudet claims to have known Ed Butler:

I knew Banister but I didn't know him well...now Ronnie Caire knew Banister much better than I did. Banister knew OSWALD. Ferrie was a friend of a lot of queers...I think he did know OSWALD...but I don't think either one of them is capable of planning a conspiracy like this...I was closely related with Ed Butler because one of the prime sponsors of the Information Council of the Americas in New Orleans was a very close personal friend of mine and an investor in my company, Alton Ochsner. The Information Council had a big, big banquet down here, a money raising thing, at which time they prevailed upon Nelson Rockefeller to come down and be one of the speakers, and that's the last time I personally saw Nelson Rockefeller...I feel certain the Rockefeller Commission will not call me as a witness.
[Interview with Alan Stone WRR Dallas 5.7.75; ARA file interview with Gaudet]

Gaudets admission that he was acquainted with Ed Butler would seem to give Gaudet an air of credibility as making such an admission only puts Gaudet closer to Oswald, not further from him as he was trying to achive (by denying that he had encountered Oswald at the Mexican tourist visa office on Sept 17th 1963).

[Rick Plant]

50 years later, still questions on Oswald's New Orleans roots

Nov 22, 2013

NEW ORLEANS —As many Americans reflect on the 50th anniversary of President John F. Kennedy's assassination, many in southeast Louisiana look back at the local connection to the killer.

"It's an unsolved mystery as far as I'm concerned," said Dr. Michael Kurtz, a Southeastern Louisiana University professor emeritus who has taught a course on the assassination for 40 years.

Lee Harvey Oswald was born in New Orleans on Oct. 18, 1939. His father died two months before his birth. Oswald's family first lived in a home on Alvar Street in the Upper Ninth Ward, but moved frequently throughout the city, the Northshore, Dallas and New York during his childhood.

Kurtz refutes those who believe Oswald's unstable childhood was a reason for his personality.

"Lee's half brother and brother grew up in exactly the same circumstances," said Kurtz. "You know, people say he had a troubled childhood, but so did they, they grew up to be perfectly normal people."

At 17, Oswald joined the Marines, only to leave a few years later to defect to the Soviet Union where he met his soon-to-be wife Marina. In the early '60s, he moved back to the United States and eventually back to New Orleans. He lived in a home in the 4900 block of Magazine Street.

During the stint in New Orleans, he was shown on WDSU-TV passing out pro-Castro fliers outside the International Trade Mart building in downtown New Orleans. He was also interview on WDSU-TV.

Watch archive video in link below

Reporter: "Are you a Marxist?"

Oswald: "Well, I have studied Marxist philosophy, yes sir I have."

Reporter: "But are you a Marxist? I think you did admit in an earlier radio interview that you are a Marxist."

Oswald: "Oh, I would definitely say that I am a Marxist, that is correct."

Kurtz says that although evidence like that shows Oswald appearing pro-Castro and pro-Communism, it's more complicated.

"Beneath the surface, Oswald associated with right wing anti-Communists," said Kurtz.

Nine weeks after Oswald left New Orleans, JFK was assassinated.

https://www.wdsu.com/article/50-years-later-still-questions-on-oswald-s-new-orleans-roots/3367272