The following account of the 1963 Oswald-Bringuier interactions is taken from the definitive book on the JFK assassination Reclaiming History by Vincent Bugliosi.
Oswald first communicated with the Fair Play for Cuba Committee (FPCC), a US organization that supported Fidel Castro's revolution even after it became apparent that the bearded leader had turned to communism, in 1962. In the first part of 1963, Oswald requested informational pamphlets from the FPCC and finally "formal membership" in the group. When Oswald wrote about forming his own chapter of the FPCC in New Orleans, Vincent Lee, National Director of the group, pointed out the difficulties with such an endeavor. Undaunted, Oswald ordered 1000 "Hands Off Cuba" handbills. Later, he ordered membership applications and membership cards.
Oswald's actions in regard to the FPCC seemed to have two basic purposes. First, according to author Priscilla Johnson McMillan, he wanted to "change American policy toward Cuba by peaceful political action at the grass-roots level." Secondly, he sought to "win the trust of the Castro government" which he had first expressed support for in late 1958 before Castro had even assumed power. Indeed, Oswald's wife Marina told the Warren Commission, "I only know that his basic desire was to get to Cuba by any means, and that all the rest of it was window dressing for that purpose."
In June of 1963 Oswald took his FPCC literature to the Dumaine Street Wharf in New Orleans where the USS Wasp was docked and attempted to distribute the information to US servicemen and civilians before he was stopped. On August 5th, Oswald walked into Casa Roca, a clothing store managed by Bringuier. A fierce opponent of Castro, Bringuier's brother had been a member of Brigade 2506, the ill-fated group that had landed in Cuba during the CIA-backed Bay of Pigs mission.
Oswald was aware that Bringuier was associated with the DRE because he had called the newspaper to get information on Cuban exile organizations and had been given the address of Bringuier's store. After confirming that Bringuier was anti-Castro, Oswald offered to train the exiles in "guerilla warfare" and even accompany them on a raid. Bringuier was suspicious of Oswald believing he could be either a Castro agent or an FBI man. Oswald returned to Casa Roca the following day and after finding that Bringuier was not there left his Marine Corps guidebook.
On August 9th, Oswald appeared in the 700 block of Canal street again passing out leaflets. He was seen there by Celso Hernandez, a Cuban refugee who had recently arrived in the states and did not know Oswald. Hernandez spoke no English and could not communicate with Oswald. He hurried off to alert Bringuier whose Casa Roca store was nearby. Bringuier originally decided to do a counter demonstration with Hernandez and another exile named Miguel Cruz. After the trio was unable to locate Oswald, Bringuier returned to his store.
Soon after, Cruz returned to the store and told Bringuier that the man he had seen earlier was back on Canal Street. When Bringuier and Cruz arrived on the scene the former was outraged to find that the man was Oswald. Oswald smiled when he saw Bringuier and tried to shake his hand which only made him angrier. Bringuier explained to the crowd that had gathered that Oswald was a communist who just days before had been representing himself as an anti-Castro activist. The crowd turned against Oswald with chants of "traitor" and "communist" and someone pushed Oswald.
At that moment a policeman appeared on the scene and ordered Bringuier and his friends to leave and let Oswald pass out the literature since he was breaking no law. Bringuier explained his position but the policeman was not interested and instead went for backup. In the officer's absence, Hernandez threw some of the leaflets into the air. Bringuier wanted to punch Oswald but thought better of it when he realized he would be creating a martyr after Oswald said, "Okay, Carlos, if you want to hit me, hit me."
Soon after, two squad cars arrived and arrested Oswald and the three Cubans and charged them with disturbing the peace. The men were taken to the police station on North Rampart Street where they were questioned. Bringuier and his cohorts made bail but Oswald had to spend the night in jail. Before his release, Oswald was questioned by both the New Orleans police and the FBI. Oswald eventually paid a ten dollar fine while the charges against the Cubans were dismissed.
Johann Rush, a cameraman for WDSU-TV in New Orleans, filmed Oswald emerging from the courtroom and had a brief conversation with him. Rush gave Oswald a business card and told him to call when he planned further protests. Oswald eagerly reported the Canal Street affair to Vincent Lee but the latter was not impressed by Oswald's undisciplined methods. Shortly after the incident Bringuier received a call from Bill Stuckey who had a weekly program on WDSU radio. Stuckey wanted Oswald's address and Bringuier supplied it from court papers. Bringuier asked Stuckey why he wanted the address and the newsman told him that he wanted to interview Oswald. Even though Stuckey offered to also interview Bringuier, the Cuban exile instead suggested a radio debate between him and Oswald.
Stuckey didn't accept Bringuier's suggestion prompting him to take action. Bringuier staged a press conference filmed by Rush which featured two exiles just back in the states after a raid on their Cuban homeland. In the meantime, the Canal Street incident made the newspapers and the delighted Oswald reported it to Arnold Johnson of the US Communist party. Next, Oswald contacted Rush to let him know that he would be distributing FPCC literature near the International Trade Mart. On August 16th, he did just that and paid two men to help him thereby giving the appearance that his one-man operation was really larger. In this instance, there was no repeat of the scene on Canal Street since Bringuier didn't learn of the matter in time to take action. The footage shot by Rush and a competing cameraman was broadcast on the news that night.
That evening, when someone brought one of the leaflets that Oswald was passing out near the Trade Mart to Bringuier, he noticed an address on Magazine Street instead of the Post Office box that previous leaflets had. A friend of Bringuier's, Carlos Quiroga, decided to pay Oswald a visit to see what he could learn about him. Posing as a Castro supporter, Quiroga spent about an hour talking to Oswald. Since Oswald suspected Quiroga had been sent by Bringuier or possibly was an FBI agent, he told the Cuban little. But Oswald made the mistake of speaking with his daughter in Russian. Quiroga returned to Bringuier with the startling news that Oswald had a possible connection to the Soviet Union.
The day after Oswald appeared at the Trade Mart, Bill Stuckey visited him early in the morning. Stuckey asked the former Marine to appear on his radio show that night to discuss the Cuban situation. Oswald agreed and arrived at the studio at 5 pm for the taped interview. Oswald performed fairly well and Stuckey recorded thirty seven minutes which he cut down to four and a half for broadcast. Although station management declined to broadcast the entire interview, they were impressed enough to suggest a debate between Oswald and local anti-communists that would run for 25 minutes. Oswald accepted the debate which featured Bringuier and Information Council of the Americas (INCA) Executive Director Ed Butler.
During the debate, the fact that Oswald had defected to and lived in the Soviet Union was quickly exposed thanks to information previously obtained by Butler. Oswald spent much of the debate defending himself rather than the Castro revolution. As Stuckey would later say, "We finished [Oswald] on that program. I think that after that program the Fair Play for Cuba Committee, if there ever was one in New Orleans, had no future there, because we had publicly linked the Fair Play for Cuba Committee with a fellow who lived in Russia for three years and who was an admitted Marxist." Indeed, author Gerald Posner called the debate a "humiliation" that helped propel Oswald into the sniper's nest.