18 lines
1.4 KiB
Markdown
18 lines
1.4 KiB
Markdown
---
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category: "Iran-Contra"
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tags:
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- person
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- cuban
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- contra-war
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summary: Felipe Vidal was a CIA contract agent who proposed creating a private army in Costa Rica to fight the Sandinistas, exemplifying the freelance military operations supporting the Contra war.
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---
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Felipe Vidal was a [[Central Intelligence Agency]] contract agent who proposed creating a "small, professionally managed" private army in [[Costa Rica]] to fight the [[Sandinistas]] in February 1986. Vidal's proposal exemplified the freelance military operations that supplemented the official Contra war effort.[^1]
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### Private Army Proposal
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Vidal proposed a privately funded military force that would operate alongside the Contras, reflecting the entrepreneurial approach to covert warfare that characterized the Reagan administration's approach to [[Central America]]. Vidal also approached [[George Morales]] with [[Marcos Aguado]] to solicit contributions to [[Eden Pastora|Pastora]]'s army. Vidal's activities illustrated how CIA-connected operatives moved freely between official operations, private military ventures, and the drug trafficking that funded them.[^2]
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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. Ch. 13.
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[^2]: Webb, Gary. *Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion.* Seven Stories Press, 1998. Ch. 13.
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