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---
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title: Contras
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aliases:
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- Contras
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- Contra
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- Nicaraguan Contras
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created: 2026-05-17
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updated: 2026-05-17
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category: "Paramilitary"
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tags:
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- Organization
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- Political
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- Nicaragua
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- Contra
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- 1980s
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- ColdWar
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- CIA
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- IranContra
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- DarkAllianceInvestigation
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summary: "Nicaraguan rebel groups organized and funded by the CIA to overthrow the Sandinista government, composed largely of former Somoza National Guard officers and implicated extensively in cocaine trafficking throughout the 1980s war."
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start: 1980-01-01
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summary: "Nicaraguan rebel armies of the 1980s, built largely from Somoza's National Guard and backed by the CIA and then by Oliver North's private network, whose supply lines were used by cocaine traffickers."
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start: 1980
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location: "Honduras"
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relations:
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- type: funded
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with: "[[Central Intelligence Agency]]"
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reverse: true
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start: 1981
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fn: 2
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- type: funded
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with: "[[The Enterprise (Iran-Contra)]]"
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reverse: true
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start: 1985
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end: 1986
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fn: 4
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created: 2026-05-17
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updated: 2026-09-22
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---
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The Contras were [[Nicaragua|Nicaraguan]] rebel groups organized and funded by the [[Central Intelligence Agency]] to overthrow the [[Sandinistas|Sandinista]] government of Nicaragua.[^3] Made up largely of former followers of deposed dictator [[Anastasio Somoza]] and his [[Nicaraguan National Guard|National Guard]], the Contras were the darlings of the [[Ronald Reagan|Reagan]] administration's anti-Communist foreign policy. Multiple Contra factions were implicated in [[cocaine]] trafficking during the 1980s war.[^1]
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### Major Contra Factions
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The Contras were the armed opposition to the [[Sandinistas|Sandinista]] government of [[Nicaragua]] from 1980 to 1990. Their largest army, the [[FDN]], was built around officers of [[Anastasio Somoza]]'s [[Nicaraguan National Guard|National Guard]] and based in [[Honduras]]; the southern armies of [[Eden Pastora]]'s [[ARDE]] and of [[UDN-FARN]], under [[Fernando Chamorro|Fernando "El Negro" Chamorro]], operated from [[Costa Rica]].[^1][^2]
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The largest and best-equipped faction was the [[FDN|Fuerza Democrática Nicaragüense (FDN)]], created by the CIA, based in [[Honduras]], and commanded by [[Enrique Bermudez|Enrique Bermúdez]].[^2] The [[UDN-FARN]] was based in [[Costa Rica]] and commanded by [[Fernando Chamorro|"El Negro" Chamorro]]. [[ARDE]] was commanded by former Sandinista hero [[Eden Pastora|"Commandante Zero"]] and was also based in Costa Rica. The later umbrella group [[UNO]] was a CIA-inspired attempt to unite all factions under one banner.
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### Formation
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### Drug Trafficking
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The [[Legion of September 15]], formed in 1980 and led by [[Enrique Bermudez|Enrique Bermúdez]] and Justiniano Pérez, became the military arm of the Nicaraguan Democratic Revolutionary Alliance (ADREN). In May 1981 the ADREN, the Nicaraguan Democratic Union and MISURASATA agreed in principle to combine; the FDN was established in September 1981, and the merger was completed in early 1982.[^2] According to [[Gary Webb]], the CIA had begun reassembling National Guard officers in 1980, and [[Dewey Clarridge]], chief of its Latin America Division from 1981 to 1984, directed the program and recruited Pastora in 1981.[^1] [[Adolfo Calero]] left Nicaragua in December 1982 and became the FDN's president and commander-in-chief.[^2] In mid-1985 the factions were joined in the United Nicaraguan Opposition ([[UNO]]) under Calero, [[Arturo Cruz]] and [[Alfonso Robelo]].[^2]
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The [[John Kerry|Kerry]] Committee investigation (1987-1988) by the [[Senate Foreign Relations Committee]] uncovered direct links between drug dealers and the Contras.[^1] Contra leaders acknowledged receiving drug profits with the apparent knowledge of the CIA. Drug dealers admitted under oath to giving money to the Contras and passed polygraph tests. Pilots admitted flying weapons south and cocaine and marijuana north, landing in at least one instance at [[Homestead Air Force Base|Homestead]] Air Force Base in [[Florida]].
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### Money
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[[Norwin Meneses]] worked for the Contras as a recruiter, arms supplier, and benefactor during the entire war.[^2] [[Danilo Blandon|Danilo Blandón]] sold cocaine in [[Los Angeles]] to raise funds for the Contras in the early 1980s and founded the FDN chapter in Los Angeles. Multiple Contra officials were identified by the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]] as being involved in or connected to drug trafficking, including [[Aristides Sanchez|Aristides Sánchez]], [[Fernando Sanchez|Fernando Sánchez]], [[Renato Pena|Renato Peña]], [[Vicente Rappaccioli]], and [[Marcos Aguado]].
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Congress restricted aid to the Contras from 1982 in the [[Boland Amendment|Boland amendments]]; the House voted 228 to 195 on July 28, 1983, to stop all aid, and the amendment of October 1984 barred any agency of the government from supporting them.[^1] [[Oliver North]] of the [[National Security Council]] then organized private supply. The [[The Enterprise (Iran-Contra)|Enterprise]] run by [[Richard Secord]] and [[Albert Hakim]] took in money from the arms sales to [[Iran]] and from private donors; about 3.8 million dollars of its receipts reached the Contra supply operation.[^4] The fundraiser [[Carl Channell]] brought North to [[Nelson Bunker Hunt]], who gave 475,000 dollars in 1985 to the tax-exempt foundation through which Channell raised money for the Contras.[^4][^5] Before North's network existed, the National Security Council had channeled money to the Contras through [[Saudi Arabia]] and the [[Bank of Credit and Commerce International]].[^6] In mid-1985 Congress voted 27 million dollars in "humanitarian" aid, administered by the [[State Department]]'s [[NHAO|Nicaraguan Humanitarian Assistance Office]], which hired air carriers including [[SETCO]], owned by the Honduran trafficker [[Juan Matta Ballesteros]], and [[Frigorificos de Puntarenas]], a Costa Rican seafood company controlled by Miami traffickers.[^1] The Enterprise flew supplies from Hangar No. 4 at [[Ilopango]] in [[El Salvador]]; the shootdown of one of its aircraft over Nicaragua on October 5, 1986, and the capture of [[Eugene Hasenfus]] exposed the operation.[^1][^4]
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The [[Frogman Case]], the largest cocaine bust in West Coast history at the time, exposed direct links between Contra drug traffickers in [[San Francisco]] and the CIA. When defense attorneys obtained letters from CIA assets [[Francisco Aviles]] and Vicente Rappaccioli claiming seized drug money belonged to the Contras, the CIA intervened to suppress the connection. A secret 1987 [[DEA]] report noted that a defendant in the Frogman case had made 51 phone calls to the FDN office in San Francisco.[^4]
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### Drugs
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### Political Context
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In September 1981 the CIA received an allegation that the ADREN had decided to smuggle drugs into the [[United States]] to finance its war, beginning with cocaine carried to [[Miami]] on a commercial flight in July 1981; it sent the report to the State Department and others on September 14 and to the [[DEA]], the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]], Customs and Treasury on October 28, 1981.[^2]
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The Contras were a creation of the CIA, assembled from the remnants of Somoza's defeated National Guard. After the Sandinistas overthrew Somoza in July 1979, National Guard officers who escaped poured across the borders into [[El Salvador]], Honduras, and Costa Rica. The CIA began reassembling these forces in 1980 under the direction of [[Dewey Clarridge]].[^1]
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The [[Frogman Case]] of 1982 and 1983, a federal task force investigation in [[San Francisco]] that arrested more than fifty defendants and seized 555 pounds of cocaine, included [[Julio Zavala]] and [[Carlos Cabezas]]. When Zavala's lawyer sought depositions in Costa Rica to show that 36,000 dollars seized from him had been given to him by Contra officials, the CIA's Costa Rica station learned of the plan, a CIA lawyer met the prosecutor, the depositions were canceled and the money was returned. A memorandum by the CIA lawyer said the depositions could damage "the CIA's image and program in [[Central America]]," and CIA records stated that the money was returned at the CIA's request; the U.S. Attorney, [[Joseph Russoniello]], said it was returned because the case was not worth the cost. The [[Department of Justice|Justice Department]]'s inspector general concluded that Zavala or people acting for him had fabricated the claim that the money was the Contras'. Cabezas testified that drug profits from the ring went to the Contras. According to Webb, the letters came from [[Francisco Aviles]] and [[Vicente Rappaccioli]], whom the CIA's Costa Rica station described as Contra officials and agency assets, and a DEA report of 1987 noted that a defendant in the case had made 51 telephone calls to the FDN office in San Francisco.[^1][^3]
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The DEA office in Costa Rica used [[Norwin Meneses]], who had raised money and bought equipment for the FDN, as a source of information from July 1986 and as a registered informant from 1987; in January 1987 the FBI in San Francisco asked whether an indictment of him "will result in national security problems with other agencies," and it deferred his prosecution.[^3] His associate [[Danilo Blandon|Danilo Blandón]], who sold cocaine in [[Los Angeles]] to [[Ricky Ross]], became a paid informant of the Justice Department in 1994.[^3] According to Webb, Blandón founded the FDN's Los Angeles chapter and sold cocaine in the early 1980s to raise money for it, and the FBI identified the Contra officials [[Aristides Sanchez|Aristides Sánchez]], [[Fernando Sanchez|Fernando Sánchez]], [[Renato Pena|Renato Peña]], Rappaccioli and [[Marcos Aguado]] as involved in or connected to drug trafficking.[^1]
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The Senate subcommittee under [[John Kerry]] reported in December 1988 on drug trafficking by people supporting the Contras.[^7] Webb summarized its findings: Contra leaders acknowledged receiving drug profits with the apparent knowledge of the CIA, traffickers testified under oath that they had given money to the Contras and passed polygraph tests, and pilots described flying weapons south and cocaine and marijuana north, in one instance landing at [[Homestead Air Force Base]] in Florida.[^1] In 1998 the CIA's inspector general, [[Fred Hitz]], testified that the agency "did not, in an expeditious or consistent fashion, cut off relationships with individuals supporting the Contra program who were alleged to have engaged in drug trafficking activity."[^1] The Justice Department's report on the affair, signed on December 17, 1997, was held back by Attorney General [[Janet Reno]] under section 8E of the Inspector General Act, "the first time that publication of one of our reports has been prevented in this manner," and released in July 1998.[^3]
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### Prosecutions
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[[Alan Fiers]], chief of the CIA's Central American Task Force, pleaded guilty to withholding information from Congress; Clarridge was indicted in 1991 for perjury and false statements.[^1] On December 24, 1992, President [[George H.W. Bush]] pardoned both, with [[Caspar Weinberger]], Clair George, [[Elliott Abrams]] and [[Robert McFarlane]];[^4] Attorney General [[William Barr]] had advised him to pardon the Iran-Contra defendants and favored "the broadest" pardons.[^8]
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### Footnotes
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[^1]: Webb, Gary. *Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion.* Seven Stories Press, 1998. Prologue: "It was like they didn't want to know"
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[^2]: Webb, Gary. *Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion.* Seven Stories Press, 1998. Cast of Characters
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[^3]: Webb, Gary. *Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion.* Seven Stories Press, 1998. Glossary of Organizations and Locations
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[^4]: Webb, Gary. *Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion.* Seven Stories Press, 1998. Chapter 5: "God, Fatherland and Freedom"
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[^1]: Webb, Gary. *Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion.* Seven Stories Press, 1998.
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[^2]: Central Intelligence Agency, Office of Inspector General. *Allegations of Connections Between CIA and the Contras in Cocaine Trafficking to the United States,* Volume II: *The Contra Story,* October 8, 1998, sections on organizations, Adolfo Calero and Enrique Bermudez. https://irp.fas.org/cia/product/cocaine2/
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[^3]: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the Inspector General. *The CIA-Contra-Crack Cocaine Controversy: A Review of the Justice Department's Investigations and Prosecutions.* December 1997, executive summary, chapters II, III and VIII, appendix E and epilogue. https://oig.justice.gov/sites/default/files/legacy/special/9712/
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[^4]: Walsh, Lawrence E. *Final Report of the Independent Counsel for Iran/Contra Matters.* 1993, including the summary of prosecutions. https://irp.fas.org/offdocs/walsh/
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[^5]: Gwynne, S. C. "Bunker Hunt," *Texas Monthly,* September 2001.
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[^6]: Beaty, Jonathan, and S. C. Gwynne. *The Outlaw Bank: A Wild Ride into the Secret Heart of BCCI.* Random House, 1993.
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[^7]: U.S. Senate, Committee on Foreign Relations, Subcommittee on Terrorism, Narcotics and International Operations. *Drugs, Law Enforcement and Foreign Policy.* S. Prt. 100-165, December 1988. https://archive.org/details/Kerry-Report-Drugs-Contras
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[^8]: Miller Center, University of Virginia. "William P. Barr Oral History," April 5, 2001. https://millercenter.org/the-presidency/presidential-oral-histories/william-p-barr-oral-history
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@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ tags:
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summary: FARN (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias Nicaragüenses) was the UDN-FARN Contra faction that operated on Costa Rica's Southern Front and was deeply involved in cocaine trafficking.
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location: "Costa Rica"
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---
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FARN (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias Nicaragüenses) was the military wing of the [[UDN-FARN]] Contra faction that operated on [[Costa Rica]]'s Southern Front and was deeply involved in [[cocaine]] trafficking. The organization was led by [[Fernando Chamorro|Fernando "El Negro" Chamorro]], with [[Edmundo Chamorro]] as deputy commander.[^1]
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FARN (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias Nicaragüenses) was the military wing of the [[UDN-FARN]] Contra faction that operated on [[Costa Rica]]'s Southern Front and was deeply involved in [[Cocaine]] trafficking. The organization was led by [[Fernando Chamorro|Fernando "El Negro" Chamorro]], with [[Edmundo Chamorro]] as deputy commander.[^1]
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### Drug Trafficking on the Southern Front
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@ -4,8 +4,27 @@ aliases:
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- FDN
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- Fuerza Democrática Nicaragüense
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- Nicaraguan Democratic Force
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relations:
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- type: head_of
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with: "[[Enrique Bermudez]]"
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reverse: true
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start: 1981-09
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end: 1990-02
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role: "chief of the general staff, then chief of military affairs"
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fn: 7
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- type: head_of
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with: "[[Adolfo Calero]]"
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reverse: true
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start: 1983
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role: "president and commander-in-chief"
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fn: 7
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- type: funded
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with: "[[Central Intelligence Agency]]"
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reverse: true
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start: 1981
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fn: 3
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created: 2026-05-17
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updated: 2026-05-17
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updated: 2026-09-22
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category: "Paramilitary"
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tags:
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- Organization
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@ -15,34 +34,36 @@ tags:
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- 1980s
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- DarkAllianceInvestigation
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summary: "The FDN was the largest and best-armed Contra faction, created by the CIA and commanded by Enrique Bermudez, with documented connections to cocaine trafficking for fundraising."
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start: 1981-08-01
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start: 1981
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location: "Honduras"
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---
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The Fuerza Democrática Nicaragüense was the largest, most well-armed, and best-trained of all the [[Contras|Contra]] factions.[^3] Created by the [[Central Intelligence Agency]], based in [[Honduras]], and commanded by [[Enrique Bermudez|Enrique Bermúdez]], a former [[Nicaraguan National Guard|National Guardsman]]. The FDN's political wing was led by [[Adolfo Calero]], a longtime CIA agent and former manager of the Coca-Cola bottling plant in [[Managua]].
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### Leadership
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Enrique Bermúdez ("Commandante 380") served as supreme military commander. Adolfo Calero was selected by the CIA in 1983 to lead the political wing and worked closely with [[Oliver North]]. [[Aristides Sanchez|Aristides Sánchez]] was head of supplies and logistics, went on the CIA payroll in the early 1980s as an aide to Bermúdez, and allegedly served as the conduit for [[cocaine]] money flowing from the [[Norwin Meneses|Meneses]] drug ring in [[California]].
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Enrique Bermúdez ("Commandante 380") served as supreme military commander. According to [[Gary Webb]], the CIA selected Adolfo Calero in 1983 to lead the political wing; he worked closely with [[Oliver North]]. In the CIA inspector general's account, Calero left Nicaragua in protest against Sandinista policies in December 1982, joined the FDN leadership, sought support in Panama, [[Costa Rica]] and Colombia in January 1983, and became the FDN's president and commander-in-chief. Bermúdez, a National Guard engineer officer from 1952 to 1979 and defense attaché in Washington from 1976, was removed as chief of the general staff in late 1982 but remained the de facto military leader; in February 1984 the general staff was replaced by a combined command with Calero as commander-in-chief and Bermúdez as chief of military affairs. He was ousted in February 1990 and assassinated in Managua on February 16, 1991.[^7] [[Aristides Sanchez|Aristides Sánchez]] was head of supplies and logistics, went on the CIA payroll in the early 1980s as an aide to Bermúdez, and allegedly served as the conduit for [[Cocaine]] money flowing from the [[Norwin Meneses|Meneses]] drug ring in [[California]].
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### Drug Trafficking Connections
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Multiple FDN officials were implicated in drug trafficking. [[Renato Pena|Renato Peña]], the FDN spokesman in [[San Francisco]], was one of Norwin Meneses's cocaine dealers and admitted hauling millions in drug profits from San Francisco to [[Los Angeles]] for delivery to the Contras. Peña was present "on many occasions" when Meneses telephoned FDN commander Enrique Bermúdez in Honduras to discuss requests for gun silencers, cross bows, and other military equipment.[^5] [[Fernando Sanchez|Fernando Sánchez]], the FDN's representative in [[Guatemala]], was identified by the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]] in November 1982 as a cocaine supplier to the [[Frogman Case|Frogman drug ring]]. Aristides Sánchez allegedly served as the conduit for cocaine money from the Meneses operation and personally received drug cash from [[Carlos Cabezas]] at the Contras' [[Miami]] offices.[^1] [[Danilo Blandon|Danilo Blandón]] founded the FDN chapter in Los Angeles and used cocaine sales to fund the Contras.[^1]
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In September 1981 the CIA received an allegation that the ADREN, the organization whose military arm was the Legion of September 15, had decided to smuggle drugs into the [[United States]] to finance its activities, beginning with cocaine carried to [[Miami]] on a commercial flight in July 1981. The agency sent the report to the [[State Department]], the [[Defense Intelligence Agency|DIA]], the [[NSA]], U.S. Southern Command and the ambassadors in [[Central America]] on September 14, 1981, and to the [[DEA]], the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]], Customs and Treasury on October 28, 1981, under the title "ADREN Operations to Smuggle Narcotics Into the U.S. to Finance Its Anti-Sandinista Activities." In February 1982 CIA headquarters answered a name trace that Bermúdez "is not associated with the 'renegade' 15th of September Legion members," whom it described as engaged in drug smuggling. The inspector general found no record that either allegation about Bermúdez was reported to Congress.[^7]
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A secret 1987 [[DEA]] report stated that a defendant in the Frogman Case had made 51 phone calls to the FDN office in San Francisco, and a DEA informant had met with traffickers at the FDN office.[^4]
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Multiple FDN officials were implicated in drug trafficking. [[Renato Pena|Renato Peña]], the FDN spokesman in [[San Francisco]], was one of Norwin Meneses's cocaine dealers and admitted hauling millions in drug profits from San Francisco to [[Los Angeles]] for delivery to the Contras. Peña was present "on many occasions" when Meneses telephoned FDN commander Enrique Bermúdez in Honduras to discuss requests for gun silencers, cross bows, and other military equipment.[^5] [[Fernando Sanchez|Fernando Sánchez]], the FDN's representative in [[Guatemala]], was identified by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in November 1982 as a cocaine supplier to the [[Frogman Case|Frogman drug ring]]. Aristides Sánchez allegedly served as the conduit for cocaine money from the Meneses operation and personally received drug cash from [[Carlos Cabezas]] at the Contras' Miami offices.[^1] [[Danilo Blandon|Danilo Blandón]] founded the FDN chapter in Los Angeles and used cocaine sales to fund the Contras.[^1]
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A secret 1987 DEA report stated that a defendant in the Frogman Case had made 51 phone calls to the FDN office in San Francisco, and a DEA informant had met with traffickers at the FDN office.[^4]
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### Origins and Creation
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The FDN was officially created in August 1981 when the CIA forced a merger between Bermúdez's [[Legion of September 15]] and [[UDN-FARN]]. The merger was signed in the upstairs rec room of the Legion's rented safe house in [[Guatemala City]], with an Argentine military officer observing. Former FDN director Edgar Chamorro stated in a World Court affidavit that the CIA paid for the meeting, rented the building, and drafted the agreement: "The name of the organization, the members of the political junta and the members of the general staff were all chosen or approved by the CIA."
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The FDN was officially created in August 1981 when the CIA forced a merger between Bermúdez's [[Legion of September 15]] and [[UDN-FARN]]. The merger was signed in the upstairs rec room of the Legion's rented safe house in [[Guatemala City]], with an Argentine military officer observing. Former FDN director [[Edgar Chamorro]] stated in a World Court affidavit that the CIA paid for the meeting, rented the building, and drafted the agreement: "The name of the organization, the members of the political junta and the members of the general staff were all chosen or approved by the CIA." The CIA inspector general's chronology, drawn from station cables, records that the ADREN, the Nicaraguan Democratic Union and MISURASATA agreed in principle in May 1981 to combine, that the FDN "was established in September 1981" with a general staff of Bermúdez, Justiniano Pérez, [[Ricardo Lau]] and Juan Francisco Rivera, and that the merger "was completed in early 1982."[^7]
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The CIA's role was authorized under National Security Decision Directive #17, signed by [[Ronald Reagan|President Reagan]] in late 1981, which allocated $19.95 million for covert operations against the [[Sandinistas]]. The funds were channeled through the Argentine military to preserve CIA "deniability."
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The CIA selected Aristides Sánchez - a close friend of Norwin Meneses and brother of Fernando Sánchez ([[Anastasio Somoza|Somoza]]'s last ambassador to Guatemala), Troilo Sánchez (Norwin's business partner), and Enrique Sánchez (partner in a Miami restaurant with Donald Barrios) - to assist Bermúdez. Oliver North later called Aristides Sánchez "Calero's hatchet man."[^3] Norwin Meneses stated: "I dealt directly with Bermúdez, and occasionally his assistant on minor things. I also worked with Aristides Sanchez. He was a very good friend of mine."
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The CIA selected Aristides Sánchez - a close friend of Norwin Meneses and brother of Fernando Sánchez ([[Anastasio Somoza|Somoza]]'s last ambassador to Guatemala), Troilo Sánchez (Norwin's business partner), and Enrique Sánchez (partner in a Miami restaurant with [[Donald Barrios]]) - to assist Bermúdez. Oliver North later called Aristides Sánchez "Calero's hatchet man."[^3] Norwin Meneses stated: "I dealt directly with Bermúdez, and occasionally his assistant on minor things. I also worked with Aristides Sanchez. He was a very good friend of mine."
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### Weapons Supply Network
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[[Ronald Lister]] and [[Pyramid International Security Consultants]] established weapons manufacturing operations in [[El Salvador]] that supplied arms to the Contras. Lister partnered with FDN supporters Danilo Blandón and Norwin Meneses in selling weapons abroad. The FDN could not collect sufficient funds to finalize an arms deal with Lister, but Lister and his associates set up a weapons plant in downtown [[San Salvador]] that manufactured guns airlifted to Contra camps in Honduras.[^5]
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[[Ronald Lister]] and [[Pyramid International Security Consultants]] established weapons manufacturing operations in [[El Salvador]] that supplied arms to the Contras. Lister partnered with FDN supporters Danilo Blandón and Norwin Meneses in selling weapons abroad. The FDN could not collect sufficient funds to finalize an arms deal with Lister, but Lister and his associates set up a weapons plant in downtown [[San Salvador]] that manufactured guns airlifted to Contra camps in Honduras.[^5] The [[Department of Justice|Justice Department]]'s inspector general concluded that Lister "would have liked to sell military and security weaponry and equipment to the Contras and to factions in El Salvador but we found no evidence showing that he did."[^8]
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Air cargo company [[Hondu Carib Cargo]], operated by Mario Calero - brother of FDN political leader Adolfo Calero - flew FDN supply missions. The owner of Hondu Carib was pilot [[Frank Moss]], identified in a 1989 Senate report as having been investigated for narcotics offenses by ten different law enforcement agencies. A DC-4 Moss used was seized by the DEA in 1987 with marijuana residue and notes containing the names of two CIA officers and the phone number of [[Robert Owen]], Oliver North's courier.[^5]
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Air cargo company [[Hondu Carib Cargo]], operated by [[Mario Calero]] - brother of FDN political leader Adolfo Calero - flew FDN supply missions. The owner of Hondu Carib was pilot [[Frank Moss]], identified in a 1989 Senate report as having been investigated for narcotics offenses by ten different law enforcement agencies. A DC-4 Moss used was seized by the DEA in 1987 with marijuana residue and notes containing the names of two CIA officers and the phone number of [[Robert Owen]], Oliver North's courier.[^5]
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### Later Reorganization
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@ -60,3 +81,5 @@ During the winter of 1984–85, the FDN reached its lowest ebb on the battlefiel
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[^4]: Webb, Gary. *Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion.* Seven Stories Press, 1998. Chapter 5: "God, Fatherland and Freedom"
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[^5]: Webb, Gary. *Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion.* Seven Stories Press, 1998. Chapter 6: "They were doing their patriotic duty"
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[^6]: Webb, Gary. *Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion.* Seven Stories Press, 1998. Chapter 10: "Teach a man a craft and he's liable to practice it"
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[^7]: Central Intelligence Agency, Office of Inspector General. *Allegations of Connections Between CIA and the Contras in Cocaine Trafficking to the United States,* Volume II: *The Contra Story,* October 8, 1998, sections on organizations and on Adolfo Calero, Enrique Bermudez and Mario Calero. https://irp.fas.org/cia/product/cocaine2/
|
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[^8]: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the Inspector General. *The CIA-Contra-Crack Cocaine Controversy: A Review of the Justice Department's Investigations and Prosecutions.* December 1997, chapter V. https://oig.justice.gov/sites/default/files/legacy/special/9712/
|
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@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ aliases:
|
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- UDN-FARN
|
||||
- Union Democrática Nicaragüense
|
||||
created: 2026-05-17
|
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updated: 2026-05-17
|
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updated: 2026-09-22
|
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category: "Paramilitary"
|
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tags:
|
||||
- Organization
|
||||
|
|
@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ The group made the first donation of military supplies to the Contra cause in fa
|
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|
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The CIA pressured UDN-FARN to merge with [[Enrique Bermudez|Bermúdez]]'s [[Legion of September 15]]. The Chamorro brothers resisted, regarding many of the ex-[[Nicaraguan National Guard|National Guard]] men as war criminals who could never win popular support. "The Legion was entirely composed of ex-National Guards. Naturally one couldn't make a big splash with that in Nicaragua," said UDN-FARN commander William Baltodano Herrera.
|
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|
||||
The CIA eventually forced the merger by having their Honduran allies withdraw support from the Chamorros and back Bermúdez instead. In August 1981, an Argentine military officer watched as Bermúdez signed a one-paragraph document merging the two groups into the FDN. The Chamorro brothers boycotted the meeting.
|
||||
The CIA eventually forced the merger by having their Honduran allies withdraw support from the Chamorros and back Bermúdez instead. In August 1981, an Argentine military officer watched as Bermúdez signed a one-paragraph document merging the two groups into the FDN. The Chamorro brothers boycotted the meeting. The CIA inspector general's chronology, drawn from station cables, records that the Nicaraguan Democratic Union agreed in principle with the ADREN and MISURASATA in May 1981 to combine, that the FDN was established in September 1981, and that the merger of the Union and the ADREN was completed in early 1982.[^5]
|
||||
|
||||
### After the FDN
|
||||
|
||||
|
|
@ -53,3 +53,4 @@ When Fernando Chamorro and Edmundo Chamorro broke from the FDN in September 1982
|
|||
[^2]: Webb, Gary. *Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion.* Seven Stories Press, 1998. Cast of Characters
|
||||
[^3]: Webb, Gary. *Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion.* Seven Stories Press, 1998. Glossary of Organizations and Locations
|
||||
[^4]: Webb, Gary. *Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion.* Seven Stories Press, 1998. Chapter 5: "God, Fatherland and Freedom"
|
||||
[^5]: Central Intelligence Agency, Office of Inspector General. *Allegations of Connections Between CIA and the Contras in Cocaine Trafficking to the United States,* Volume II: *The Contra Story,* October 8, 1998, section on organizations. https://irp.fas.org/cia/product/cocaine2/
|
||||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ UNO (United Nicaraguan Opposition) was a [[Central Intelligence Agency]]-inspire
|
|||
|
||||
### Purpose and Structure
|
||||
|
||||
UNO existed mostly as a public relations creation. The [[State Department]] used UNO to deny drug links, assuring Congress that "DEA has examined allegations of linkages between members of the UNO/[[FARN]] and suspected traffickers. It has found no information indicating that members of this group have been involved in narcotics trafficking." This assurance came despite extensive evidence to the contrary, including wiretaps capturing Contra commanders discussing [[cocaine]] shipments and [[DEA]] reports linking UNO members to drug trafficking.[^2]
|
||||
UNO existed mostly as a public relations creation. The [[State Department]] used UNO to deny drug links, assuring Congress that "DEA has examined allegations of linkages between members of the UNO/[[FARN]] and suspected traffickers. It has found no information indicating that members of this group have been involved in narcotics trafficking." This assurance came despite extensive evidence to the contrary, including wiretaps capturing Contra commanders discussing [[Cocaine]] shipments and [[DEA]] reports linking UNO members to drug trafficking.[^2]
|
||||
|
||||
### Facade of Unity
|
||||
|
||||
|
|
|
|||
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