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20 - ORGANIZATIONS/PRIVATE/USACA.md

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+---
+category: "Private Organization"
+tags:
+  - Organization
+  - Organization/Political
+  - United_States
+  - San_Francisco
+  - 1980s
+  - Contra_War
+  - Dark_Alliance_Investigation
+summary: San Francisco Contra support group founded by Don Sinicco at the request of Adolfo Calero, infiltrated by drug trafficker Norwin Meneses.
+---
+United Support Against Communism in the Americas (USACA) was a small [[San Francisco]] [[Contras|Contra]] support organization founded by [[Don Sinicco]] at the request of [[FDN]] political leader [[Adolfo Calero]].[^1]
+
+### Formation and Activities
+
+Sinicco formed USACA in late 1983 after Calero contacted him because of his letter-writing campaign to San Francisco newspapers protesting pro-[[Sandinistas|Sandinista]] coverage. The group's founding members included middle-class Nicaraguan exiles, Cuban anti-Communists (the Mendoza brothers), and [[Dennis Ainsworth]], a well-connected Republican who transformed the group's effectiveness. Ainsworth arranged events at exclusive venues like the Olympic Club, the [[Commonwealth Club]], and the [[St. Francis Yacht Club]], where he organized a private reception for Calero with sixty influential business leaders on June 4, 1984.[^1]
+
+Other founding members included Father [[Thomas Dowling]], who passed himself off as a Roman Catholic priest but was ordained in a splinter church, and who later received about $73,000 from [[Oliver North]] and Calero for domestic propaganda work. Dowling was also heavily involved with CAUSA, part of the Rev. [[Sun-Myung Moon]]'s [[Unification Church]], which funneled money and supplies to the Contras during the [[Central Intelligence Agency]] funding cutoff.[^1]
+
+### Norwin Meneses's Infiltration
+
+[[Norwin Meneses]] entered the group by paying the dinner bill for a party at Caesar's Italian Restaurant following the yacht club reception. He began attending USACA meetings, contributing $160 in cash and paying for dinners. Sinicco's records listed "Mr. Meneces' [sic] contribution" as one of USACA's "seven successes." Meneses was later photographed with Calero at a USACA cocktail party, huddled in the kitchen with FDN officials.[^1]
+
+### Footnotes
+
+[^1]: Webb, Gary. *Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion.* Seven Stories Press, 1998. Chapter 9: "He would have had me by the tail"