Documents / FOIA release
This Central Intelligence Agency personality file on Soviet official Nikolay Sergeyevich Leonov (201-132139), with material dated 1953 to 1963, compiles cables, FBI documents, surveillance reports, press photos and passport copies. It records his Soviet Embassy service in Mexico City, the finding of his calling card in Fidel Castro's address book in 1956, and his role as Castro's interpreter in the USSR in 1963. A source identified him as a KGB officer, and a DIA item alleged he was planning Latin American insurgency.
“Díaz”5 pages
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# THE SECRET HM04-1524 (9 Apr 58) LECNOV page 50 having worked in the administrative section until late 1955 when his position began to appear as that of translator and interpreter, perhaps more clearly associated with the cultural section. Again, however, he may still be assigned to administrative work in the Chancellery which overlaps with the cultural end. LECNOV's contact with Samuel RAMOS as dispatched in NM-4-4356 (19 March 1956) was reported again on 7 March 1958 when RAMOS called LECNOV and the two discussed a chess tournament to which Soviet delegates were apparently to be invited. When LECNOV asked from where RAMOS was calling, he replied from his home. RAMOS stated he was now back in class "at the University" and so "we won't be able to meet at my house now." RAMOS invited LECNOV to one of the tournaments the following week and also made arrangements to visit subject at the embassy to give him the list of books "which we (want)..." Unless LEONOV has something to do with consular affairs, we are at a loss to explain the following LEMERICK reference. On 10 November 1955 a man identifying himself as "your friend, Col. CONZALEZ" asked LEONOV if he had found out about some matter he had requested. It appeared that LEONOV had forwarded the "request" to the USSR and that the Mexican Ambassador to the Soviet Union was to notify Col. CONZALEZ. CONZALEZ stopped short after starting to ask what happened to that matter, explaining it would be better if they got together and talked it over. The two arranged to meet at the embassy. At the beginning of the conversation CONZALEZ, in recalling to LEONOV's mind who he was, stated, "We were chatting about this project which I have to present to the Presidencia about the use of the waters from the Toluca volcano, Chinantecatl." The Cia. Exportadora e Importadora Mexicana, S.A. (CEIMSA) had commissioned CONZALEZ to go to Chihuahua to see some farmers and therefore he was not able to contact LEONOV earlier. Other than the two preceding LIMERICK references, which in themselves are inconclusive, we have no indication that LECNOV is engaged in RIS activities. There are vague references suggesting that the LECNOVs may be leaving Mexico in April 1958. ## Private Activities During February 1954 LEINOV was hospitalized at the Sanatorio Lalinde where he underwent an appendectomy performed by Dr. Gustavo BAZ. A LI000L-2 reference of August 1954 revealed that former Soviet Consul MELNIKOV and his wife agreed that LECHOV played well (possibly a musical instrument or a ball game ??). During March 1955, after he had arranged a movie or given a lecture, two of the embassy wives remarked on how good LECHOV was. (It is known that LECHOV has taken his turn at giving Political Information Class lectures.) LECHOV also appears to enjoy athletics — he plays tennis, attends shooting matches, arranges football games with the Cascas, and plays volleyball. He takes some sort of lessons, not necessarily Spanish, in the embassy. As for LECHOV's feeling about American movies, he was heard to tell one of the Social Security delegates, "You can really run into trash in an American film."
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FOIA release, from the cia-readingroom collection. The PDF is mirrored here; the original link is above. The text was read from the page images by GLM-OCR; expect the odd misread word. 165 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.