CIA activities in Nicaragua
The increasing influence gained by the Sandinista National Liberation Front, a left-wing and anti-imperialist political party in Nicaragua, led to a sharp decrease in Nicaragua–United States relations, particularly after the Nicaraguan Revolution.
The Somoza government, which had assumed control of Nicaragua shortly following the withdrawal of United States military personnel in 1933, was seen to be profiteering from international relief efforts in the immediate aftermath of the earthquake.
In 1978 "Pedro Joaquin Chamorro, editor of the opposition newspaper La Prensa" was assassinated; this caused widespread protests and an increase of support for the FSLN including "non-Marxist groups".
On July 14, 1979, on behalf of President Jimmy Carter, Secretary of State Cyrus Vance sent a letter that urged Somoza to end the status quo and start the transition process following the OAS's recommendation.
[1] U.S. policy on Nicaragua began to favor support for anti-Sandinista "Contras", because most people involved in the U.S. intelligence operations, including Richard Nixon feared that "defeat for the rebels would probably lead to a violent Marxist guerrilla movement in Mexico and in other Central American countries.
Congress viewed the Reagan Administration's anti-Sandinista policies with extreme skepticism, and were under the impression that the true goal of the CIA operation in Nicaragua was to overthrow the Sandinista government.
The United States hoped that the democratic Nicaraguans would focus paramilitary operations against the Cuban presence in Nicaragua (along with other socialist groups) and use them as a rallying point for the dissident elements of the Sandinista military establishment.
To increase the odds of success, the United States worked with selected Latin American and European governments, organizations, and individuals to build international support for the objectives of the Nicaraguan democratic groups.
On December 1, 1981, President Ronald Reagan signed a classified finding that gave CIA director William J. Casey authorization to "Support and conduct ... paramilitary operations against ... Nicaragua (the government).
President Reagan allowed the CIA to carry out covert plans to help the Contras overthrow the Sandinista government while putting laws into effect that criminalized the future actions of the Central Intelligence Agency.
In 1983, the CIA replaced the 1981 document with an upgraded one, which "authorizes the provision of material support and guidance to Nicaraguan resistance groups; its goal is to induce the Sandinista government in Nicaragua to enter into meaningful negotiations with its neighboring nations.
[20] This was made easy according to documentation from the Kerry Committee wrote that "[Nicaragua] does not have a military, its law enforcement resources remain limited, and its radar system still so poor that Contra supply planes could fly in and out of the clandestine strips without being detected.
When asked to answer for the manual in the second of two debates for the 1984 presidential election, President Reagan first stated, "We have a gentleman down in Nicaragua who is on contract to the CIA, advising – supposedly on military tactics – the Contras.
The CIA initially focused on blocking the sale of weapons to El Salvador, but the deputy director argued that doing so was only dealing with one small part of the larger problem in Latin America.
October 28, the FBI found "345 kilos of cocaine" in South Florida with the intention of being sold, and the profit used "to finance a plot to assassinate Honduran President Roberto Suazo Córdova.
The sale of weapons would create goodwill in Tehran, millions for the private traders involved, and a large cash ransom to free Bill Buckley and his fellow American hostages.
"[39] The court ordered the United States to pay reparations to Nicaragua for violating international law by training and funding the Contra rebellion movement and for the mining and destruction of several Nicaraguan harbors.
Consultants, such as Professor Guilmartin, were hired to produce CIA propaganda op-ed pieces for The New York Times and The Washington Post newspapers to advance the agency's agenda in Nicaragua.
[47] "After bribing his way out of prison in Venezuela in September 1985, Luis Posada Carriles went directly to El Salvador to work on the illicit Contra resupply operations being run by Lt. Col. Oliver North.
Posada assumed the name 'Ramon Medina,' and worked as a deputy to another anti-Castro Cuban exile, Felix Rodriguez, who was in charge of a small airlift of arms and supplies to the contras in Southern Nicaragua.
[50] Pastora had complained about such charges as early as March 1985, claiming that "two 'political figures' in Washington told him last week that State Department and CIA personnel were spreading the rumor that he is linked to drug trafficking in order to isolate his movement.
Those countries have repeatedly and publicly made clear that they consider themselves to be the victims of aggression from Nicaragua, and that they desired United States assistance in meeting both subversive attacks and the conventional threat posed by the relatively immense Nicaraguan Armed Forces.
"[68] Elements of the hearings proved White's comments to be accurate, as evidence and testimony, principally from Oliver North himself, showed a well-planned strategy on the part of U.S. officials to procure hostages in exchange for U.S. weapons.
[52] Some important terms of the cease-fire (which was set to last until May) included the release of 3,300 anti-Sandinista prisoners of war, the guarantee of free expression by the Sandinista government, and the recognition of the Contras as an official political group.
The contras embarked on a process aimed ultimately at disarming themselves and allowing them to return to a different and freer Nicaragua, although they [would] not be required to lay down their weapons until a final peace agreement [was] reached.
[47] In August 1996, a series of articles titled "Dark Alliance", brought to the fore by journalist Gary Webb at the San Jose Mercury News, linked the origins of crack cocaine and its subsequent epidemic in California to the Contras.
Historian Alfred W. McCoy, writing in his 2017 book titled In the Shadows of the American Century: The Rise and Decline of US Global Power, cited the assertions made by the "Dark Alliance" reporting series that "the Contra-run drug network opened the first conduit between Columbia's ... cartels and L.A.'s black neighborhoods", with the additional belief in an accompanying editorial that "It's impossible to believe that the Central Intelligence Agency didn't know."
This 407-page report was the culmination of a comprehensive 15-month investigation by the Office of Inspector General (OIG) into allegations first raised in the San Jose Mercury News that U.S. government officials -- including Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and Department of Justice (DOJ) employees -- either ignored or protected drug dealers in Southern California who were associated with the Nicaraguan Contras.
It has not been changed in any way.Inspector General Michael R. Bromwich stated, in the epilogue, that the key issue causing the scheduled release to be deferred was the apparently lenient treatment given to a Nicaraguan, accused of drug dealing by the San Jose Mercury News.
On July 14, 1998, the Attorney General wrote us a letter stating "the law enforcement concerns that caused me to make my determination no longer warrant deferral of the public release of your report."
