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20 - ORGANIZATIONS/PARAMILITARY/ARDE.md

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+---
+category: "Paramilitary"
+tags:
+  - Organization
+  - Contra
+  - Nicaragua
+  - Costa_Rica
+  - 1980s
+  - Dark_Alliance_Investigation
+summary: Alianza Revolucionaria Democratica (ARDE) was a Contra faction based in Costa Rica and commanded by former Sandinista war hero Eden Pastora, formed when UDN-FARN merged with Pastora's group in September 1982.
+---
+The Alianza Revolucionaria Democrática (ARDE) was a [[Contras|Contra]] faction based in [[Costa Rica]] and commanded by [[Eden Pastora]], a former [[Sandinistas|Sandinista]] war hero known as "Commandante Zero."[^1]
+
+### Formation
+
+ARDE was formed in September 1982 when [[UDN-FARN]], under the leadership of [[Fernando Chamorro|"El Negro" Chamorro]] and his brother [[Edmundo Chamorro]], broke away from the [[FDN]] and united with Pastora's group. The merger made political sense because both factions shared a common trait: as former Sandinistas, they hated the ex-[[Nicaraguan National Guard|National Guard]] officers who made up the FDN.[^2]
+
+Pastora frequently outraged his [[Central Intelligence Agency]] handlers by publicly complaining about the FDN, once referring to them as "criminal mummies and gorillas." [[Enrique Bermudez|Bermúdez]] and the FDN considered Pastora a closet Communist and suspected him of being a Sandinista mole.[^2]
+
+### CIA Oversight
+
+Like Bermúdez, Pastora was put on the CIA's payroll, where he remained until mid-1984. When the Chamorros switched from the FDN to ARDE, they changed their line of command—reporting to Pastora instead of Bermúdez—but both Pastora and Bermúdez still reported to the CIA.[^2]
+
+Cocaine profits from [[Norwin Meneses]]'s [[San Francisco]] drug operation, previously channeled through UDN-FARN to the FDN, likely began being used to benefit ARDE after the September 1982 merger. The CIA retained oversight responsibility throughout.[^2]
+
+### Later Evolution
+
+UDN-FARN later left ARDE and rejoined the FDN under the umbrella group [[UNO]].[^1]
+
+### Footnotes
+
+[^1]: Webb, Gary. *Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion.* Seven Stories Press, 1998. Glossary of Organizations and Locations
+[^2]: Webb, Gary. *Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion.* Seven Stories Press, 1998. Chapter 5: "God, Fatherland and Freedom"