Reference no: EM132927445

Contra soldiers

• As with Burma, Laos and Afghanistan before it -- where the U.S. had helped fight wars -- Nicaragua had a narcotics trade--a fact which was brought to the CIA's attention while the Contra effort was barely off the ground. In 1981 members of the Nicaraguan Revolutionary Democratic Alliance (ADREN) were working alongside CIA officers to overthrow the new Sandinista government.. As noted in the Hitz report, a cable to CIA headquarters stated that ADREN leadership had decided to "engage in drug smuggling to the United States in order to finance its anti-Sandinista operations." The cable stated that an "initial trial run" had taken place in July 1981, when drugs were transported via plane to Miami.
• In what would prove common during the Contra war, the CIA never followed up on the allegations, or bothered to verify whether the "initial run" had taken place, according to the Hitz report. ADREN disbanded in 1982. But some members joined the Nicaraguan Democratic Force (FDN), which worked with the CIA.
• In another instance, the CIA received allegations that five members of the Democratic Revolutionary Alliance (ADREN) -- those fighting along the border of Nicaragua and Costa Rica - were involved in drug trafficking. The five were allegedly working with known drug trafficker Jorge Morales.
• Although the CIA broke off contact with the ARDE in 1984, it continued to have contact with four of the five members who associated with Sr. Morales until 1987.

Question 1: "In the context of this struggle between the Contras and the Sandinistas, there were accusations flying left and right, some of which were probably meritorious, and a good many of which were part of the battle they were involved in," Hitz said. The question for the CIA officer in the field was, how do you deal with those accusations?