The Info Web

#ContraWar

73 entries

People (41)

  • Adolfo Calero Nicaraguan businessman and political leader of the FDN, the largest Contra army, who handled Saudi and private Contra money and bought arms through Oliver North and Richard Secord from 1984 to 1986.
  • Alan Fiers Former CIA official who ran the Contra program for several years and explained how arms brokers used fraudulent end-user certificates from intermediary countries to divert weapons to the Contras.
  • Anastasio Somoza Dictator of Nicaragua whose family ruled the country for forty-six years until the Sandinista revolution in July 1979, after which his dispersed National Guard officers became the founding cadre of the Contras.
  • Bill Clinton Bill Clinton, Governor of Arkansas during the Mena smuggling period and 42nd President, whose administration ended Project Stargate in 1995 and who flew on Jeffrey Epstein's aircraft for Clinton Foundation work in 2002 and 2003.
  • Brad Brunon Los Angeles attorney who represented Danilo Blandon and provided firsthand observations about Contra fundraising through cocaine trafficking.
  • Celerino Castillo DEA agent who discovered Contra drug trafficking operations at Ilopango Air Force Base in El Salvador and had his investigation repeatedly shut down by the CIA and State Department.
  • Dennis Ainsworth San Francisco Contra supporter and Republican activist who discovered the FDN's cocaine trafficking connections and alerted the FBI, only to be ignored.
  • Donald Barrios Wealthy Nicaraguan exile, FDN supporter, and relative of former president Violeta Barrios de Chamorro who introduced Norwin Meneses to Danilo Blandon and co-founded La Parrilla restaurant in Miami as a Contra gathering place.
  • Enrique Miranda Former Sandinista intelligence officer who became a CIA double agent and DEA informant, serving as Norwin Meneses's right-hand man and providing detailed testimony about the Ilopango drug pipeline.
  • Fabio Ernesto Carrasco Pilot who flew CIA-protected weapons and drug flights for the Contras between Colombia, Costa Rica, and Florida, testifying under oath as a U.S. government witness.
  • Federico Vaughn Alleged Sandinista aide shown by President Reagan loading drugs onto an aircraft, who evidence suggests was actually a U.S. double agent working for the CIA.
  • Felix Rodriguez Cuban-born CIA paramilitary officer (Bay of Pigs infiltrator, Bolivia 1967) who from 1985 coordinated North's Contra resupply flights at Ilopango as Max Gomez and was a friend of Donald Gregg.
  • Floyd Carlton Manuel Noriega's personal pilot and drug operations manager who became the U.S. government's star witness against Noriega after sharing evidence of the dictator's drug trafficking with murdered doctor Hugo Spadafora.
  • Francisco Aviles U.S.-educated Nicaraguan lawyer and CIA asset who worked closely with the CIA in Costa Rica funneling funds to Contra organizations and was directly involved in the San Francisco Frogman case.
  • Francisco Guirola Beeche Salvadoran elite and D'Aubuisson aide caught with $5.9 million in cash at a Texas airport who later flew Contra drug flights out of Ilopango.
  • Gary Betzner Copilot who flew CIA-protected drug and weapons flights for the Contras and testified under oath as a Justice Department witness.
  • George Morales Major Colombian drug trafficker who provided aircraft, money, and weapons to Eden Pastora's ARDE Contra faction with the knowledge and approval of CIA operatives, according to sworn congressional testimony.
  • Ivan Torres Nicaraguan drug trafficker and FDN West Coast branch chief who managed Danilo Blandon's Los Angeles cocaine operations while claiming CIA awareness of his drug activities.
  • Jack Blum Former Senate investigator and chief counsel to Senator John Kerry's Subcommittee on Terrorism, Narcotics, and International Operations, widely recognized for exposing the BCCI scandal and investigating Contra-connected drug trafficking.
  • Jerry Guzzetta Bell Police Department narcotics detective whose personal vendetta against drug dealers led to the Torres brothers investigation, codenamed Project Sahara, which uncovered the massive Blandon-Ross cocaine network.
  • John Vandewerker Former CIA officer who employed Richard Wilker and knew of his weapons business activities with Ronald Lister in El Salvador.
  • Jose Guillermo Garcia Salvadoran defense minister linked to death squad activities who received Pyramid International's security proposal in 1982.
  • Joseph Fernandez CIA's Costa Rican station chief who oversaw Contra operations on the Southern Front, was heavily involved in illegal activities, and was later fired and indicted.
  • Joseph Russoniello U.S. attorney in San Francisco whose cozy relationship with the CIA coincided with the decision not to prosecute Norwin Meneses for drug trafficking in spring 1985.
  • Luis Posada Carriles Veteran CIA agent with a documented history of drug trafficking who ran day-to-day Contra resupply operations at Ilopango Air Force Base under the alias Ramon Medina.
  • Manuel Noriega Panamanian intelligence chief and commander of the Defense Forces who dealt with the CIA, the Medellin Cartel and Oliver North at once, was indicted in Miami in 1988, invaded in 1989 and convicted in 1992.
  • Octaviano Cesar CIA asset and former social director of Norwin Meneses's VIP nightclub in Managua who arranged drug deals with Colombian trafficker George Morales to fund Eden Pastora's Contra army.
  • Renato Pena FDN San Francisco representative and cocaine dealer for Norwin Meneses who was arrested in 1984 and implicated the CIA in Contra drug trafficking during DEA debriefings.
  • Richard Wilker Former CIA agent who served as technical director for Pyramid International Security Consultants' weapons operations in El Salvador.
  • Robert McFarlane Reagan's national security adviser from October 1983 to December 1985 who delegated Contra support and Iran arms contacts to Oliver North, pleaded guilty in 1988 to four misdemeanors and was pardoned in 1992.
  • Robert Nieves DEA agent who served as Norwin Meneses's control agent in Costa Rica, was accused of drug trafficking by multiple informants, and later rose to head the DEA's International Division before joining Oliver North's company.
  • Roberto D'Aubuisson Salvadoran army major and ARENA party leader who ran death squads during El Salvador's civil war, linked to weapons deals with Ronald Lister's operations.
  • Ronald Lister Former police officer who became Danilo Blandón's partner in cocaine trafficking and weapons dealing through Pyramid International Security Consultants, with suspected CIA connections.
  • Sandalio Gonzalez DEA agent in Costa Rica who handled Norwin Meneses as an informant and kept him off official DEA records while Meneses continued drug trafficking operations.
  • Scott Weekly Former Navy SEAL and weapons expert known as 'Dr. Death' who was Ronald Lister's CIA contact and participated in covert operations for the NSC and State Department while connected to the Blandon drug investigation.
  • Sebastian Gonzalez CIA-linked Contra quartermaster who managed arms flights from Panama to the Costa Rican Contras while simultaneously running a major cocaine trafficking operation with Norwin Meneses.
  • Thomas Dowling Fake Catholic priest and Contra activist who received $73,000 from Oliver North and Adolfo Calero for domestic propaganda operations.
  • Torres Brothers Nicaraguan cocaine traffickers who worked for Danilo Blandón before becoming independent suppliers to Ricky Ross, eventually rivaling Blandón in volume and sparking a bitter feud.
  • Walter Grasheim New York weapons dealer and U.S. military contractor raided by DEA agent Celerino Castillo, who was found with embassy plates, C-4 explosives, and a massive weapons cache.
  • Wanda Palacios Miami FBI informant and wife of a Colombian trafficker who witnessed Southern Air Transport planes being loaded with cocaine and unloading guns in Colombia.
  • William Downing Ronald Lister's partner in the Mundy Security Group who designed a laser sighting device for AR-15 assault rifles and was involved in procuring weapons sold to Danilo Blandón and crack dealers in Los Angeles.

Organizations (12)

  • Air America CIA proprietary airline that provided covert transportation services during the Vietnam War, linked to heroin trafficking out of the Golden Triangle region.
  • Associated Press New York news cooperative of United States newspapers and broadcasters, founded in 1846, whose Berlin photo subsidiary worked under Nazi press law and whose phone records, Gaza bureau and White House access drew government action.
  • Cabazon Security Corporation Security company formed in early 1981 by the Cabazon Band of Mission Indians and Wackenhut Services, Inc., whose correspondence also uses the name Cabazon Arms.
  • DEA The federal anti-narcotics agency whose files, informants and Central American offices recur in the Contra drug cases, the Seal sting, the Camarena search and the Stargate collection.
  • Full Gospel Business Men's Fellowship International The Full Gospel Business Men's Fellowship International is an influential organization with a history of strong military connections and wide-ranging effects on foreign policy, particularly in Central America under the Ronald Reagan administration.
  • Los Angeles Times Los Angeles newspaper that first published the Glomar Explorer story in 1975, ran a 1984 story on Sandinista cocaine trafficking drawn from officials, and in October 1996 published a three-day rebuttal of Dark Alliance.
  • Medellin Cartel The Medellín-based association of Colombian cocaine exporters whose pilots, money launderers, offers of amnesty and Central American routes recur in the Kerry subcommittee record, the Seal sting and the CIA Inspector General's Contra volumes.
  • Nicaraguan National Guard Somoza's military force that served as army, police, and intelligence service, trained at U.S. military schools, whose dispersed officers formed the founding cadre of the Contras.
  • Sandinistas Nicaraguan revolutionary front founded in 1961 that overthrew the Somoza dynasty in July 1979, governed under Daniel Ortega, and fought the CIA-backed Contras until losing the 1990 election.
  • Southern Air Transport Miami air carrier the CIA owned from August 5, 1960 to December 31, 1973, which in 1985 and 1986 serviced and supplied the Enterprise's Contra flights; later military cargo carrier.
  • Time American news magazine, first published in 1923, which ran Beaty and Gwynne's 1991 BCCI exposé and was sold by Meredith to Marc and Lynne Benioff in 2018 for 190 million dollars.
  • U.S. Customs The federal border and trade enforcement agency whose agents ran Operation C-Chase, employed Joseph Kelso as an informant, reviewed the Lister flowchart, and tasked an Army remote viewing unit to find a fugitive in 1989.

Events (4)

  • Boland Amendment Series of congressional amendments prohibiting U.S. funding for Contra military operations, widely circumvented by the Reagan administration and the CIA.
  • Dark Alliance Dark Alliance was a three-part investigative series published by the San Jose Mercury News in August 1996, exposing links between CIA-backed Contra forces and the crack cocaine epidemic in Los Angeles.
  • Freedom of Information Act The 1966 federal disclosure statute, strengthened over a presidential veto in 1974, through which the Glomar Explorer, UFO, Stargate and Contra drug records reached the public.
  • Iran-Contra Affair Two secret Reagan administration operations, arms sales to Iran for hostages and Contra aid during a congressional ban, joined by a diversion of proceeds; 14 people were charged and six pardoned.

Concepts (1)

  • Cocaine The commodity at the center of the Kerry subcommittee, CIA Inspector General and Justice Department Inspector General records on the Contras, the Colombian cartels and the Los Angeles crack market.

Places (15)

  • Arkansas U.S. state where Barry Seal based aircraft at Mena from late 1982; federal, state and CIA records on the Mena airport run from a 1983 IRS inquiry to the 1996 CIA Inspector General report.
  • Cabazon Indian Reservation Sovereign tribal territory near Indio, California used during the 1980s as a site for a CIA-linked Wackenhut Corporation weapons development and PROMIS software modification joint venture.
  • Central America Geographic region connecting North and South America that was the primary theater of Contra operations, drug trafficking, and CIA covert activities during the 1980s.
  • Colombia South American nation that was the world's primary source of cocaine during the 1980s, profoundly shaped by the operations of the Cali Drug Cartel and the Medellín cartel whose product flowed through Contra-connected trafficking networks.
  • Costa Rica Central American nation bordering Nicaragua that served as the primary base for the Southern Front Contra operations, the site of Norwin Meneses's drug empire, and the location of CIA operative John Hull's ranch.
  • El Salvador Central American nation where the CIA ran the Contra project from Ilopango Air Force Base, where DEA agent Celerino Castillo discovered Contra cocaine trafficking, and where the Salvadoran military facilitated drug-for-arms exchanges.
  • Guanacaste Province Guanacaste Province in northern Costa Rica served as headquarters for Contra drug and weapons trafficking operations during the 1980s, equipped with rural landing strips and corruptible local officials.
  • Honduras Country in Central America that served as the primary base of operations for the FDN Contra army during the 1980s and a focal point for U.S. military, drug trafficking, and covert operations.
  • Ilopango Airbase Salvadoran military air base that served as the hub for Oliver North's illegal Contra resupply operation and a center for Contra-connected cocaine trafficking during the 1980s.
  • Mena, Arkansas Western Arkansas town where Barry Seal based aircraft from late 1982; its money-laundering inquiries, a CIA 'two week exercise' and CIA records searches ran from 1983 to the 1996 Inspector General report.
  • Nicaragua Central American nation ruled by the Somoza family dictatorship for forty-six years until the Sandinista revolution in 1979, after which it became the battleground for the CIA-backed Contra war.
  • San Francisco Major California city that served as the base of operations for Norwin Meneses's cocaine trafficking network, the site of the Frogman Case, and the location of key DEA and FBI offices investigating Contra drug trafficking.
  • Soto Cano Air Base The Soto Cano Air Base, also commonly known as Palmerola Air Base, is a joint Honduras and United States military base located near Comayagua in Honduras, approximately 60 miles (97 km) from the Honduran capital of Tegucigalpa.
  • United States The United States, whose government supported the Contra war in the 1980s while its inspectors general, a Senate subcommittee and the Iran-Contra counsel examined charges that Contra-linked traffickers supplied its cocaine market.
  • Vietnam Vietnam was the site of a protracted U.S. military involvement (1955-1975) that produced veterans and intelligence networks appearing throughout this vault's coverage of Nugan Hand Bank, drug trafficking, and Iran-Contra-era covert operations.