---
title: Francisco Aviles
aliases:
  - Francisco Aviles
  - Francisco Aviles Saenz
created: 2026-05-17
updated: 2026-05-18
category: "Intelligence & Government"
tags:
  - Person
  - CIA
  - ContraWar
  - Nicaragua
  - CostaRica
  - 1980s
  - DarkAllianceInvestigation
summary: "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 Aviles Saenz was a U.S.-educated Nicaraguan attorney, [[Central Intelligence Agency]] asset, and [[UDN-FARN]] official who played a central role in the attempt to recover drug money seized during the [[Frogman Case]].[^1]

### Background

Aviles was the brother-in-law of [[Horacio Pereira]], [[Norwin Meneses]]'s top cocaine dealer in [[Costa Rica]]. He was educated in the [[United States]] and served as the international relations secretary for UDN-FARN. He helped set up the Committee in Defense of Democracy in [[Nicaragua]], described as a CIA front in San José, Costa Rica, with money from Venezuelan sources.[^2]

### The Frogman Case Intervention

When [[Julio Zavala]] was arrested in February 1983, police seized $36,020 from his nightstand. Aviles wrote to U.S. District Judge Robert Peckham identifying himself as a UDN-FARN official and claiming the money belonged to the Contras. Zavala, he stated, was the assistant treasurer of the Conservative Party of Nicaraguans in Exile (PCNE) and a longtime member of UDN-FARN, which "fights for the restoration of the democratic system in the Republic of Nicaragua...under the slogan 'God, Fatherland and Freedom.'" Aviles offered to testify to Zavala's position.[^2]

Aviles provided supporting documents including Zavala's UDN-FARN credentials, a letter appointing him as assistant treasurer of PCNE, a receipt showing the group had given him $45,000, and Aviles's own sworn statement.[^2]

### CIA Protection

The CIA's Costa Rican station cabled Langley warning that Aviles was a Contra official and CIA asset belonging to an organization that had "unwittingly received CIA support." CIA headquarters discovered Aviles had attended an August 1982 conference in [[Miami]] where he was elected to the board of directors of the PCNE, which was receiving CIA money.[^2]

CIA lawyer Lee Strickland flew to [[San Francisco]] to ensure the depositions did not proceed. Strickland told prosecutor Mark Zanides the CIA "would be immensely grateful if these depositions did not go forward." The government ultimately returned the $36,020 to Aviles and Zavala in October 1984.[^2]

After the case, Aviles was appointed to the general staff of UDN-FARN in 1985. The 1998 CIA Inspector General's report claimed that repeated references to Aviles as a CIA asset in the 1984 cables were "mistakes." Aviles was working for the Nicaraguan government as of 1998.[^1]

### Footnotes

[^1]: Webb, Gary. *Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion.* Seven Stories Press, 1998. Cast of Characters
[^2]: Webb, Gary. *Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion.* Seven Stories Press, 1998. Chapter 5: "God, Fatherland and Freedom"