Our man in Mexico: Winston Scott and the hidden history of the CIA

399 Pages·2013·2.257 MB·English

by  Scott, Winston;Morley, Jefferson

u r a n i n e x i c o
O M M

Our Man

in
Mexico
Winston Scott and the
Hidden History of the CIA
e f f e r s o n o r l e y
J M
Foreword by
i c h a e l c o t t
M S
University Press of Kansas
A version of chapter 21 first appeared in the October 1, 2006, issue of Proceso, the Mexican
newsmagazine.
Portions of this book have appeared in different form in the Washington Post, Salon,
Washington Monthly, and Miami New Times.
All photographs from Michael Scott’s archive, except where noted
© 2008 by the University Press of Kansas
All rights reserved
Published by the University Press of Kansas (Lawrence, Kansas 66045), which was
organized by the Kansas Board of Regents and is operated and funded by Emporia State
University, Fort Hays State University, Kansas State University, Pittsburg State University,
the University of Kansas, and Wichita State University
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Morley, Jefferson.
Our man in Mexico : Winston Scott and the hidden history of the CIA /
Jefferson Morley ; foreword by Michael Scott.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
isbn 978-0-7006-1571-1 (cloth : alk. paper) isbn 978-0-7006-1790-6 (pbk : alk. paper)
isbn 978-0-7006-1972-6 (ebook)
1. Scott, Winston, 1909–1971. 2. United States. Central Intelligence Agency—Biography.
3. Intelligence officers—United States—Biography. 4. Intelligence officers—Mexico—
Biography. 5. Spies—United States—Biography. 6. Spies—Mexico—Biography. 7. United
States—Foreign relations—Mexico. 8. Mexico—Foreign relations—United
States. I. Title.
jk468.I6S376 2008
327.1273072092—dc22
[B]
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data is available.
Printed in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
The paper used in this publication is recycled and contains 30 percent postconsumer waste.
It is acid free and meets the minimum requirements of the American National Standard
for Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials z39.48-1992.
Covert operations are important, illegal manipulations of society done se-
cretly.—John Whitten, CIA official
Now I was sitting in the middle of it, in the best position to sniff the
breezes of office politics and well placed to discover the personalities behind
the faces that passed me in the corridors.—Kim Philby, British intelligence
official and Soviet spy
If the United States is to survive, long-standing American concepts of
“fair play” must be reconsidered. We must develop effective espionage and
counterespionage services and must learn to subvert, sabotage and destroy
our enemies by more clever, more sophisticated and more effective methods
than those used against us.—General Jimmy Doolittle, U.S. Air Force
Ye looked for much, and lo, it came to little.—Haggai 1:9

Contents
Foreword, ix
Preface to the Electronic Edition, xi
Acknowledgments, xxv
Prologue: April 28, 1971, 1
ACT I: LONDON
1. Up from Escatawpa, 13
2. The Apprentice Puppet Masters, 24
3. His Friend Philby, 35
ACT II: WASHINGTON
4. Spies on the Rise, 49
5. Operation Success, 61
6. A New Life, 73
ACT III: MEXICO CITY
7. The American Proconsul, 83
8. AMCIGAR, 101
9. Spy as Poet, 111
10. Knight, 123
11. Darkness, 133
12. Wedding in Las Lomas, 140
13. “You Might Have Had a Seven Days in May”, 151
14. A Blip Named Oswald, 168
15. Out of the Loop, 191
16. “The Effect Was Electric”, 203
17. “A Transparent Operation”, 215
18. “I Share That Guilt”, 232
19. An Anonymous Warning, 240
20. The Padrinos, 257
21. Night of Tlatelolco, 265
22. “The Sludge of Spies and Knaves”, 272
23. A Fall in the Garden, 284
Afterword, 289
Notes, 293
Bibliography, 347
Index, 353
Two photograph sections appear following pages 96 and 246.
[ viii ] contents
Foreword
For those who know the history of American espionage,
Winston Scott was a legendary figure, one of our best intelligence
warriors during the long Cold War with the Soviet Union. For those
who worked closely with him, he was a hardworking, talented, and
congenial colleague, who had climbed the ladder of success by dint
of his own sweat and smarts to become a station chief in one of the
CIA’s most important postings—Mexico City. But, for me, he was
simply my father, my dad.
Given the nature of his work and how often it kept him away
from our home life, it took a while before the two of us could con-
nect. Eventually, however, I got to know my dad in my early teens,
and I remember those years with a great deal of affection because
of his determined efforts to take me under his wing and develop a
real father-son relationship with me. All that began in 1968, around
the time I turned thirteen. I remember him supervising my first
driving lesson and frequently inviting me to accompany him to the
office when he worked on weekends, even though it was never
quite clear to me what that work actually was. It seemed to be very
important, I assumed, given the important people he knew and
dealt with, including the Mexican president and other government
dignitaries.
During that period, the last few years of his life, we spent most
of our time and had our best times together on the golf course,
with me only driving the golf cart at first, and later graduating to
become his partner in a foursome. Gradually, our relationship
deepened, especially during the summer of 1970 when I worked for
him as an office assistant. Later that fall I left home to attend
[ ix ]