HONDURAN ISLAND USED AS CIA BASE FOR CONTRAS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000504430007-2
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: February 27, 2012
• Sequence Number: 7
• Publication Date: January 15, 1987
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/02/28: CIA-RDP90-00965R000504430007-2
k;.` r1V LOS ANGELES TIMES
1; ,1anuarv 1987
Honduran Island Used as CIA
Base for Contras
that time, Nicaragua served as an
7 air base for the ri
ht-wi
b
C
g
ng
u
an
rebels.
TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras-A Sources said that last month one
remote Honduran island in the of the CIA-contracted supply
Caribbean off Honduras has re- planes operating out of the islands
poetedly become the main depot for crashed in the sea and sank. They
a CIA-run military operation sup- `{ said the plane was of Spanish
plying rebels fighting to oust the E... OND""as manufacture, with twin turbo en-
Sandinista government of Nicara- r.q,Ki9?b? T'~., gines, and that it had a mechanical
gua. O failure. They said it carried no
Rebel sources and military ob- cargo at the time. One source said
savers, who asked that they not be the crew was made up of Ameri-
frtrther identified, said Americans cans, and that none were injured.
are overseeing rebel supply opera- An average of two supply flights
does on one of the Swan Islands,
? a week have been arriving at the
once a v4 port base for the abortive Swan Islands site, along with some
CIA-backed invasion of Cuba at the shipments by sea, the sources said.
Hey of pigs. Em Angdn Times They said there is a 6,000-foot
They said that since October, grass airstrip and a couple of
when President Reagan signed recently built warehouses.
legislation authorizing $100 million month at Eglin Air Force Base in From the island. they said. then
in military and other aid to the Florida supplies are ferried to Aguacate, a
rebels, U.&-bought weapons and Since December, U.S. and rebel Honduran air base long used by the
military supplies have been deliv- sources said, the newly equipped contras, and Palmerola. headquar-
ered regularly to the larger of the insurgent forces, or contras, have ters of the U.S.-Honduras pint task
Swan Islands, which are two been infiltrating into Nicaragua in force Bravo. A rebel source said
specks of limestone owned by Hon- small groups from their bases in that contra pilots air-drop the
duras and lying about 110 miles Honduras. Contra civilian leader supplies to their men in Nicaragua.
north of the Honduran coast. Adolfo Calero says that 10,000
The sources said that other piec- contras are inside Nicaragua. Ac- "The goal." one source said, "is
es of the U.S. aid program are also cording to Pentagon officials, 7,000 to eventually be able to run [from
in place. have infiltrated, but Nicaraguan the island] right into Nicaragua."
-At least two American intelli- and diplomatic sources say the The shipments, the sources say,
gence agents are based at the number-is much lower. have included uniforms and other
rebels' headquarters, at Yamales in The Swan Islands site is said to equipment for 10,000 men, 3,000
southern Honduras. have been selected for the supply shoulder-fired light anti-tank
-A second group of rebels, operation because of the Honduran weapons, several thousand M-79
nearly 140 men, has arrived in the government's desire to keep contra grenade launchers and about 35
United States for military training. activities out of public view, in Soviet-made SAM-7 portable
..,..- U - ground-to-air missiles.
completed a six-week course last sy and to head off diplomatic "The troops are OK now," a
complaints from Nicaragua. The contra leader said. 'lbey are a lot
Sandinista government of Nicara- better off than before,"
gua has filed suit against Honduras One rebel source said the contras
in the World Court for allowing the expect to receive about 100 U.S.-
contras to operate from Honduran made Red Eye missiles. This is a
territory. weapon similar to the SAM-7.
"The Hondurans want a lower "When you receive U.S. money,"
profile," one source here said. he said in reference to the U.S.
"They want this out of the lime- weapons, "it's fair you buy their
light." product."
Also, the Swan Islands were The sources here said that on
considered safe from any possible Jan. 4, about 140 contras began the
attack. second six-week training course
The sparsely inhabited larger offered by U.S. Special Forces
island, two miles long, served as a under the military aid package.
CIA-run radio operation center for Most of the trainees are members
anti-Castro rebels during their at- of the Nicaraguan Democratic
tack on the Bay of Pigs in 1961. At Force (FDN), the largest armed
rebel group. Its military leader is
Enrique Bermudez and its civilian
leader is Calero.
Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/02/28: CIA-RDP90-00965R000504430007-2
 Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/02/28: CIA-RDP90-00965R000504430007-2
An FDN source complained that
the U.S. trainers had tried to
"brainwash" contra commanders
into leaving the FDN and joining
the United Nicaraguan Opposition
(UNO), a contra umbrella group.
"They kept saying that UNO is
best, that the FDN should disap-
pear," the source said bitterly.
UNO, formed under pressure
from U.S. officials, is run by Calero
and the more politically moderate
Alfonso Robelo and Arturo Cruz.
The FDN's military leader, Ber-
mudez, was a colonel in the Nicara-
guan National Guard under the
dictator Anastasio Somoza, who
was ousted by the Marxist-led
Sandinistas in 1979. Bermudez has
been a controversial figure, consid-
ered too right-wing by some con-
tras and ineffective by some. U.S.
officials have been trying to in-
crease the power of Cruz and
Robelo within UNO, but the two
represent few armed contras.
The FDN source said the trainers
were "anti-nationalistic." They
compared the pressure to a suc-
cessful CIA effort last year to
persuade Costa Rica-based rebel
commanders to abandon their lead-
er, Eden Pastora, and join UNO.
They reportedly were assured of
receiving arms and supplies in
exchange for leaving Pastora.
"The FDN commanders protest-
ed," one source said. "They said
they have been in the FDN for five
years and they agreed to partici -
pate in the UNO alliance as long as
their right to keep their own
movement was respected."
Pilot, Paratroop Tralniag
The training reportedly includes
instruction in leadership, demoli-
tion, the use of mortars and artil-
lery, ambush tactics and first aid.
Some contras, the sources said, will
soon be trained as pilots and para-
troopers, either in Honduras or the
United States.
Contra leaders and other sources
say the insurgents have been infil-
trating into Nicaragua from areas
east of the Honduran salient where
the contra headquarters is situated.
"Their strategy previously was
based on massive infiltrations, from
1,000 to 2,000 people," a political
analyst said. "But since last Octo-
ber the Sandinistas have shown
that is not possible. The Sandinistas
put 14,000 to 16,000 troops along
the border."
In October, the contras and San-
dinistas engaged in conventional
combat in Honduras that resulted
in hundreds of casualties on both
sides. In December, the Sandinistas
again attacked the contras in Hon-
duras, and the Honduran air force
retaliated by bombing targets in
northern Nicaragua.
"The contras are now in the
stage of penetrating Nicaragua in
small units, something they should
have done a long time ago," the
analyst said.
"The next stage is to be able to
stay in Nicaragua and stay alive.
The only way they are going to do
that is if they change their attitude
and instead of seeing a Sandinista
in every farmer, see a potential
anti-Sandinista."
This month the contras began a
propaganda campaign known as
Radio Liberacion, with a 50,000-
watt transmitter in El Salvador.
The broadcast, heard nightly, is
still in the test stage.
"By March, the situation is going
to be very difficult for the Sandin-
istas," a rebel leader said.
According to a rebel source, "two
or three" U.S. intelligence agents
are based at the Yamales camp in
Honduras, about 12 miles east of
Las Trojes and 12 miles from the
Nicaraguan border. He declined to
say specifically what the Ameri-
cans are doing.
The legislation providing the
$100 million in aid prohibits U.S.
officials from furnishing "any
training or other service" within 20
miles of the border, but it appar-
ently does not prohibit U.S. intelli-
gence gathering.
"The U.S. Embassy scrupulously
respects this and all other legisla-
tion," an embassy spokesman said.
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Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/02/28: CIA-RDP90-00965R000504430007-2