At Odds with Kennedy

After his encounter with the Kefauver Committee hearings, Carlos realized that the government might try and deport him. To provide protection by adding to nationality confusion He had obtained a Guatemalan birth certificate. While this was done to make deportation difficult, Carlos would later pay dearly for this attempt to cause confusion. The reason for his selection of Guatemala was based on the influence and connections he had with the country, both legal and illegal. Legally, most of the fruit used by his Tomato Company came from this country, so he had well-established trading connections there, along with high level government connections. Illegally, He was also actively involved at one time in the smuggling of weapons to the leftist government, which was isolated by embargoes imposed by the U.S. government. He had also imported marijuana from Guatemala for many years. He undoubtedly had contacts there at the highest levels. And most important it was less than four hours by air from New Orleans. One never knew when a quick exit might be called for.

Based on his connections Carlos was able to obtain a Guatemalan passport. While Carlos felt he had been able to outwit the government, overlooked the fact that his old enemy, Robert Kennedy had been named Attorney General. Kennedy had never forgotten Carlos' attitude during his testimony and planned to take action as soon as possible. Marcello soon found himself, placed on a plane and deported to the country of choice - Guatemala. Even though he was aware that Marcello held a forged Guatemalan birth certificate in the name of Calogero Minacore, he decided to use this as a lever to deport Carlos. The aim was to show Marcello that the new Justice Department would take a stronger stand against organized crime and Carlos himself was to be a marked man. While Carlos sat miles away in a foreign country he had a lawyer file suit to over turn the action and permit his return to America. His lawyer joined him in Guatemala and arrangements were made for a return trip to America. However, When the party arrived at the airport to embark for their trip back to the United States, Carlos was suddenly told that his visa had been denied. Instead, he and his lawyer were taken by secret service agents into the adjoining state of El Salvador and left at an army camp. Here Carlos was informed that he would be handed over to the commander of a large military barracks. The commander informed the two men that they were to be taken to Honduras to a small, provincial airport where they would fly out from the country. However, after about six hours travel on a small, decrepit bus, the two were simply dropped off in the middle of the jungle and left stranded there. After a journey that lasted almost three days, walking up and down mountains, and in an out of jungles, the two, men, dressed in clothes meant for the city rather than a jungle adventure, wondered into a small airport and hired a plane to fly them to the Honduras capital. He finally made it back into America through the aid of some of his "friends" in Florida who in turn pulled some strings in Latin America. After spending some time in an immigration detention center, Carlos returned to New Orleans. To say the least he was upset in relation to his treatment and claimed the Justice Department was no different than the Mafia in turns of treatment of individuals.

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