US OVERSAW SUPPLIES TO REBELS, OFFICIALS SAY

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP91-00587R000200970008-8
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 6, 2010
• Sequence Number: 8
• Publication Date: December 8, 1986
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/08/06: CIA-RDP91-00587R000200970008-8
. r.~als in Central America were more in-
volved in the covert program to supply
Nicaraguan rebels than they at first in-
dicated, according to three'American
diplomats and to Americans who flew
guns to the rebels.
United States officials apparently
,pined approval from Central Amer-
ican. governments for supply flights to
the rebels early this year when such
,flights were legal under the State De-
partment's program to send them
slonlethal aid.
But many of the same American
Might crews, planes and airfields were
jtspd then and later to deliver weapons
to the rebels, according to American of-
ficials and Americans who flew the
guns to the rebels.
'Stretching the Meaning'
"They're stretching the meaning of
private when they talk about this," said
an American who flew on the rebel
lligthts. "It would be more accurate to
say that this was a privately run opera-
Pressure Called Intaese
When the present Costa Rican Gov-
ernment took office this year, it closed
the airstrip as part of a crackdown on
contra operations. The action. brought
an appeal from American officials "for
a little more help" for the rebels, ac-
cording to a senior Costa Rican official.
"You wouldn't believe the pressure we
were under," the official said.
Civilian and military officials in El
Salvador and Honduras said in inter-
views in recent weeks that they permit-
ted the covert program to begin be-
tion that was officially manipulated."' cause they were told by American offi-
United States officials in El Salva- ciao that it had official American
dor, Honduras and Costa Rica kept backing. It appears that only such offi- I
close track of the secret weapons cial backing allowed the contra supply
flights to the contras throughout the
program and in some instances appear
to have helped them, according to
American flight crewi and to three
American officials, .
But they said daily management of
the program was purposely left to pri-
vately contracted American flight
crews. These, they said, were aided by
three Cuban-Americans, all former
C.I.A. agents.
The prohibition against daily involve-
ment was forced by Congressional re-
strictions against aiding the contras
militarily, according to two American
diplomats.
Rebel Plane Is Downed
The supply flights came to light w
a rebel cargo plane was shot down
Mlcaragua two months ago. Since
edly said the flights were strictly pri-
vate.
-Three American officials said the
United States Ambassador to Ell Salva-
dor, Edwin G. Corr, was regularly in-
formed of the Secret supply effort,
which was based at the main Salvado-
ran Air Force base at llopango.
An embassy spokesman said such
monitoring was a necessary port of the
Ambassador's work and that no Amer-
ican official had done anything "illegal
or improper" in regard to the rebel
supply program.
In Costa Rica, those involved in the
program built a secret airstrip last
March in the town of Liberia near the
sensitive Nicaraguan border with the
help of the local police commander. Ac-
cording to a close friend of -the com-
mander, he kept in frequent contact
with American Embassy officials.
flights to regularly enter Honduran air-
space at odd hours along the volatile
Nicaraguan border, which is monitored
24 hours a day by a 'highly sophisti-
cated radar that until recently was
overseen by an American military ad-
viser, according to diplomats in Hon-
duras.
Official American backing also ac-
counts for why the American air crews
on rebel planes were given a ware-
house at the main Salvadoran air base
at Ilopango, were issued Salvadoran
Air Force identity cards and were al-
lowed to keep safe houses in the capital
of San Salvador.
In addition, the chief former-C.I.A.
8 December 1986
ording to embassy officials. Several)
flights said they often met American
officials during their work In El Salva-
dor and Honduras.
Two members of the American Em-
bassy military group in El Salvador
monitored weapons flights, as did
C.I.A. agents at the main contra air
base in Aguacate in Honduras, the
crew.grembers said. in some instances
it appears that American officials may
have aided weapons flights, particu-
larly in helping arrange arms drops to
rebel units operating in Nicaragua
near the Costa Rican border.
By JAMES LeMOYN~
Spru1 to 11w' Now Yurk Tim
Arms Pledge Reported
According. to two Nicaraguan rebel
officials, the C.I.A. promised weapon
to rebel combat units along the border
in May and June. Under legally permit-
ted "intelligence sharing," a C.I.A.
agent asked the rebels if they were in
need Of with the understanding being official said,
affirmative answer meant that arms
would be delivered.
According to three Americans who
delivered the promised weapons, the
three Cuban-Americans working as
liaisons for the supply program based
in El Salvador carried the orders for
where and when arms were to be de-
livered.
One of the agents, code-named
"Ralph," was referred to as "The
Traveler" because he shuttle 'between
the United States, Costa Rica, Hon-
duras and El Salvador, setting up
weapons drops. There is no evidence
that Ralph, who is believed to be Rsfgu
Quintero. former C.A agent, met
operatives.
But telephone records from rebe4
safe houses in El Salvador show suc-
cessive cto what appears calls on the same
days pto be the home of
a C.I.A. agent in Costa Rica and to the
American Embassy there, as well as to
a White House office used by Lieut. Col.
Oliver L. North and to the company of
Richard V. Seeord; a retired United
States Air Force general. General Se-
cord appears to be a key intermediary
in both contra and Iran arms deals.
Colonel Said to Be Involved
In El Salvador, according to two
Americans who flew contra supply
missions, Col. James Steele, the head of
the United States Embassy military
group, monitored the operation and
was at the military airport several
times when weapons supply flights left
for Nicaragua. Other American mili-
tary men and C.I.A. agents were also at
the airport, the crew members said.
In addition, members of the embas-
sy's military group lent handguns to
some rebel flight crews for their per-
sonal use, one of the American crew
members said.
According to Eugene Hasenfus, the
American crew member who was cap-
tured when a Nicaraguan unit shot
down the rebel plane two months ago,
killing three other crew members,
Colonel Steele once visited a rebel safe
house to reprimand contrallight crews
for being undisciplined, forcing the
departure of three pilots.
An American official in El Salvador
said it was true that Colonel Steele had
Continued
Two Americans who flew weapons
from the airstrip said it was built by
three Americans who had been con-
tracted by Richard Gadd, a retired
American military officer who also
had a State Department contract to de-
)iver nonlethal aid to the contras. They,
said the same crews that new the
nonlethal aid flew the guns to the
rebels. Mr. Gadd has refused to com-
ment.
tJS Oversaw SuppIiesL
U..~. 'To Rebels, Officials Say
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 Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/08/06: CIA-RDP91-00587R000200970008-8
reprimanded rebel flight crews for
rowdiness and had also kept Ambassa-
dor Corr informed of "what was going
on with the contra flights."
But the American official insis
that Colonel Steele had not "directed on
participated" in the rebel flights. An(
Administration official said that
there
were arguments within the Unit d,
States Government about the supply
program and that C.I.A. agents had
complained that it was poorly run, a,
conclusion that was reinforced when+
incriminating documents were found inf
the plane downed in Nicaragua.
In contrast, a Nicaraguan rebel offi-
cial noted that when a C.I.A. contra
supply plane crashed in Costa Rica in
1983, no documents were found and the
C.I.A. agent in charge of the operation
ordered that jaws be removed from
bodies to prevent dental identification.
But when asked if American officials
felt it had been worth supporting such a
high-risk operation with so little appar-
ent daily control, a senior American
diplomat in Central America said in an.
interview that the answer might be of-.
firmative. "The hard-liners in Wash-
ington probably think it was worth-
while," he said. "They paid a cost, but
they kept the contras alive until Con-
gress approved new military aid to
them."
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/08/06: CIA-RDP91-00587R000200970008-8