Legion of September 15 organization
also: 5th of September Legion, 15th September Legion, Legion, Legion of September 15th, Legionnaires, Legion of 15, September 15th group
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Related entities (most co-mentioned)
CIAintelligence service · 14Guatemalacountry · 9Enrique Bermudezperson · 9Contrasorganization · 6National Guard (Nicaragua)organization · 6Hondurascountry · 6Sandinistasorganization · 5Anastasio Somozaperson · 4United Statescountry · 3Nicaraguan National Policeorganization · 3Democratic Force of Nicaraguaorganization · 3Nicaraguacountry · 2Ricardo Lauperson · 2Charles Boydperson · 1Detachment 101place · 1Manuel Porroperson · 1George Moralesperson · 1Nicaraguan Democratic Unionorganization · 1Armed Resistance Democratic Forceorganization · 1Luis Palacios de Baleperson · 1Pedro Ortiz Sanintperson · 1Rattlesnake Battalionorganization · 1Fernando Chamorroperson · 1Hall's Ranchplace · 1
Claims (24)
Legion of September 15 carried_out_attack
Óscar Romero documented
“well after the CIA took over the day-to-day operations of the Contras. Still, the CIA's matter-of-fact description of the League's criminal history is too kind. Its IG never mentioned the Legion's most horrific deed. In March of 1980, they …”
▶ The Colonels Corner Dark Alliance Part 3 by Gary Webb @ 44:05
CIA recruited
Legion of September 15 documented
“everyone that he could recruit. Those who wonder how Bermudez could afford to travel so much when he didn't have a job was basically told that he was living off the profits of his Washington house. You know, the one he got as a truck driver…”
▶ The Colonels Corner Dark Alliance Part 3 by Gary Webb @ 40:56
Legion of September 15 member_of
Nicaraguan National Police documented
“Bermudez would move there and become their commander. They were actually a terrorist group. Made up mostly of former National Guard officers who had escaped from Nicaragua at the end of the war, the Legionnaires had a safe house in Guatemal…”
▶ The Colonels Corner Dark Alliance Part 3 by Gary Webb @ 41:26
Roberto D'Aubuisson financed_via
Legion of September 15 documented
“He did not. Records seized from the Salvadoran politician suspected of orchestrating Romero's murder, Roberto de Asbozonan, it's spelled D apostrophe A U B U I S S O N, revealed that he had gone to Guatemala three days after Romero's murder…”
▶ The Colonels Corner Dark Alliance Part 3 by Gary Webb @ 45:09
Ricardo Lau member_of
Legion of September 15 documented
“and made two contributions to the Nicaraguans, one for $40,000 and one for $80,000. Written underneath the amounts was the name and telephone number of Colonel Ricardo Lau, L-A-U, a former intelligence and security officer for the National …”
▶ The Colonels Corner Dark Alliance Part 3 by Gary Webb @ 45:35
Ricardo Lau member_of
Legion of September 15 host_asserted
“Acquaintances of his said that he was an undercover informant for basically their FBI. Samosa's plainclothes secret police, which rooted out subversives or anyone that they thought was Sandinista or Sandinista affiliates. Before going to Gu…”
▶ The Colonels Corner Dark Alliance Part 4 @ 19:00
Legion of September 15 trafficked
Contras documented
“if you didn't want to be in the cocaine business in the future. Besides, at that point, Bermudez's contra group, the Legion of September 15, was already busily involved in cocaine smuggling and Bermudez knew it, as did all of the CIA in tha…”
▶ The Colonels Corner Dark Alliance Part 4 @ 50:49
Manuel Porro member_of
Legion of September 15 documented
“It was determined that Norwin Menendez was a source of the cocaine. One of the men arrested in the DEA operation, Manuel Porro, would end up in Guatemala as a commander of the Legion of September 15. And the CIA would link him repeatedly to…”
▶ The Colonels Corner Dark Alliance Part 4 @ 36:42
Enrique Bermudez headed
Legion of September 15 documented
“if you didn't want to be in the cocaine business in the future. Besides, at that point, Bermudez's contra group, the Legion of September 15, was already busily involved in cocaine smuggling and Bermudez knew it, as did all of the CIA in tha…”
▶ The Colonels Corner Dark Alliance Part 4 @ 50:49
Felix Rodriguez trained
Legion of September 15 host_asserted
“the Legion of September 15. Remember, the guys that were the National Guard in Nicaragua that moved to Guatemala, then they moved them to El Salvador. And that's where Felix Rodriguez was training them all to do this. The official whose men…”
▶ The Colonels Corner Dark Alliance Part 7 @ 38:20
Luis Palacios de Bale financed_via
Legion of September 15 documented
“Another group had closer ties to Somoza. The 5th of September Legion of several hundred National Guard veterans drew its name from the 1821 date of Nicaraguan's independence from Spain. The Legion, formed in May of 81, was said to be financ…”
▶ The Colonel's Corner Safe for Democracy Part 43 (45) @ 59:35
Enrique Bermudez headed
Legion of September 15 documented
“Enrique Bermudez, a 47-year-old colonel from the former National Guard and founder of the 15th September Legion, initially served as second-in-command of the FDN forces. A Sandinista spokesman noted at the time that Bermudez was a clean rec…”
▶ The Colonel's Corner Safe for Democracy Part 43 (45) @ 1:02:05
Pedro Ortiz Sanint headed
Legion of September 15 documented
“In the early days of the anti-Sandinista 15th of September Legion, led by Pedro Ortez Sinetro, numbered fewer than a dozen men with shotguns and .22 caliber pistols. As a sergeant with the National Guard's Rattlesnake Battalion, Ortez took …”
▶ The Colonel's Corner Safe for Democracy Part 44 (46) @ 1:31
Legion of September 15 trained
CIA host_asserted
“For example, Legion of September 15th, which we've talked about in some of the earlier chapters, talks about them being the hardcore National Guard assassins and terrorists. They were hiding out primarily the senior ranks next door in Guate…”
▶ The Colonels Corner Dark Alliance Part 5 @ 2:27
Legion of September 15 member_of
National Guard (Nicaragua) host_asserted
“in Nicaragua. The Legion was entirely composed of ex-National Guard members. Naturally, one couldn't make a big splash with that in Nicaragua, even if they were to win, because it's just like the old Guard coming back. So the people at leas…”
▶ The Colonels Corner Dark Alliance Part 5 @ 21:19
Legion of September 15 member_of
Honduras documented
“We were the first people, Blanton bragged, the first group that sent a pickup truck to the Contra Revolution in Honduras. In the spring of 1981, the Legion of September 15 moved its operation from Guatemala to its new headquarters in Hondur…”
▶ The Colonels Corner Dark Alliance Part 3 by Gary Webb @ 48:41
CIA merged
Legion of September 15 host_asserted
“a violent brand of former National Guard men that were based in Guatemala. The Legion was a terrorist organization started by former Samosan bodyguards soon after Samosa's fall. It was to become the hard core at the center of the FDN after …”
▶ The Colonels Corner Dark Alliance Part 3 by Gary Webb @ 33:40
Enrique Bermudez member_of
Legion of September 15 host_asserted
“He had taken up the Nicaraguan cause because he was on the same payroll that the rest of them were. Honduras had been working with the CIA for a while at that point. Bermudez and other National Guard officers with the League of September 15…”
▶ The Colonels Corner Dark Alliance Part 5 @ 7:23
Argentina funded
Legion of September 15 host_asserted
“had been broadcasting some very honest assessments of what the brutal dictatorship was doing in Argentina. And so the Argentina dictatorship said, hey, we'll help you out monetarily-wise if you knock out that radio station. So, of course, t…”
▶ The Colonels Corner Dark Alliance Part 5 @ 8:47
Legion of September 15 attempted_assassination_of
Costa Rica host_asserted
“They didn't successfully knock out. How they tried it was they tried airdropping drums of napalm onto the station roof thinking that they could burn it down. But the broadcasters, the Argentines had already tried that. So there were beefed …”
▶ The Colonels Corner Dark Alliance Part 5 @ 9:17
Pedro Nunez Cabreza member_of
Legion of September 15 host_asserted
“just like using the same facilities that the CIA used to train the Cuban exiles to attack Cuba. It was in Buenos Aires in a residential district about half an hour from the airport where former Legion September 15 member Pedro Nunez Cabreza…”
▶ The Colonels Corner Dark Alliance Part 5 @ 13:59
Legion of September 15 member_of
National Guard (Nicaragua) host_asserted
“It was not until after the Sandinistas took control that he got disgruntled, not unlike a lot of the Cuban exiles, and decided to form his own group in Miami. So the September 15th guys were always for Somoza because they were in his Nation…”
▶ The Colonels Corner Dark Alliance Part 5 @ 18:55
CIA covered_up
Legion of September 15 documented
“Langley was informed that a suitcase full of cocaine was smuggled onto a commercial airliner in July of 1981 by a Legion officer. It was then sold in Miami and the profits given to the Contras. The CIA's inspector general found no evidence …”
▶ The Colonels Corner Dark Alliance Part 4 @ 51:38
Legion of September 15 recruited
Felix Rodriguez host_asserted
“So both the September 15th Legion and the Farn tapped into Miami's Cuban community, drawing on the Cuban exiles that were trained by the CIA. That's where they touch Gladio. So they even incorporated several of the people, as we know, Felix…”
▶ The Colonels Corner Dark Alliance Part 5 @ 3:56
Mentions (26)
▶ 25:30
was a training area and a hiding place for Contra soldiers. It was where the Legion of September 15 gathered before its raid on the Argentina radio station, which we read about several chapters back. After they dropped off arms, Morales and…
▶ 33:11
which became the biggest and most famous of the various Nicaraguan armies that would later be called the Contras. The FDN didn't officially come into existence until mid-1981, so if Blanton was raising money for Contra fighters as early as …
▶ 33:40
a violent brand of former National Guard men that were based in Guatemala. The Legion was a terrorist organization started by former Samosan bodyguards soon after Samosa's fall. It was to become the hard core at the center of the FDN after …
▶ 40:56
everyone that he could recruit. Those who wonder how Bermudez could afford to travel so much when he didn't have a job was basically told that he was living off the profits of his Washington house. You know, the one he got as a truck driver…
▶ 41:26
Bermudez would move there and become their commander. They were actually a terrorist group. Made up mostly of former National Guard officers who had escaped from Nicaragua at the end of the war, the Legionnaires had a safe house in Guatemal…
▶ 41:57
that was used as the CIA headquarters when they overthrew Guatemala in 1954. Isn't that weird? The exact same place. They're going to start training consuls there. Since there was no war for them to fight, the Legion kept in shape by hiring…
▶ 42:30
for the CIA to use all over the world. They did kidnapping, extortion, robbery. They engaged in the bombing of Nicaraguan civilian airliners. They hijacked aircraft. Nice guys. According to a June 1981 cable to CIA headquarters, the Legion …
▶ 43:00
to criminal activity in order to feed and clothe them. I'm sure they were paid well. That the CIA would know the band of terrorists so well that it would know the thinking of its commanders is not a surprise. Much of the Legion's leadership…
▶ 43:31
that opposed Somoza. They were also all advised by the CIA. One of the earliest published accounts of the Legion's existence notes that it was run by former members of Somoza's intelligence service that worked exclusively with the CIA. The …
▶ 44:05
well after the CIA took over the day-to-day operations of the Contras. Still, the CIA's matter-of-fact description of the League's criminal history is too kind. Its IG never mentioned the Legion's most horrific deed. In March of 1980, they …
▶ 45:35
and made two contributions to the Nicaraguans, one for $40,000 and one for $80,000. Written underneath the amounts was the name and telephone number of Colonel Ricardo Lau, L-A-U, a former intelligence and security officer for the National …
▶ 48:41
We were the first people, Blanton bragged, the first group that sent a pickup truck to the Contra Revolution in Honduras. In the spring of 1981, the Legion of September 15 moved its operation from Guatemala to its new headquarters in Hondur…
▶ 19:00
Acquaintances of his said that he was an undercover informant for basically their FBI. Samosa's plainclothes secret police, which rooted out subversives or anyone that they thought was Sandinista or Sandinista affiliates. Before going to Gu…
▶ 36:42
It was determined that Norwin Menendez was a source of the cocaine. One of the men arrested in the DEA operation, Manuel Porro, would end up in Guatemala as a commander of the Legion of September 15. And the CIA would link him repeatedly to…
▶ 50:49
if you didn't want to be in the cocaine business in the future. Besides, at that point, Bermudez's contra group, the Legion of September 15, was already busily involved in cocaine smuggling and Bermudez knew it, as did all of the CIA in tha…
▶ 51:11
By September of 81, Langley was informed by Cable that the Legion's leadership had made a decision to engage in drug smuggling to the U.S. in order to finance its anti-Sandinista operation. The Cable said Bermudez reportedly had advised aga…
▶ 2:27
For example, Legion of September 15th, which we've talked about in some of the earlier chapters, talks about them being the hardcore National Guard assassins and terrorists. They were hiding out primarily the senior ranks next door in Guate…
▶ 7:23
He had taken up the Nicaraguan cause because he was on the same payroll that the rest of them were. Honduras had been working with the CIA for a while at that point. Bermudez and other National Guard officers with the League of September 15…
▶ 17:24
When the CIA got involved in early 1981, its first project was trying to unite all of the groups under one umbrella called the Contras. The bands were too small to be effective and too disorganized. They weren't communicating with each othe…
▶ 18:27
Legion member, Pedro Yunez, said that they actually hated each other because the foreign commander, Fernando Chamorro, was a rabble rouser. And he had actually fought for the Sandinistas against Somoza.…
▶ 20:49
in Honduras in order to kind of co-locate themselves with this CIA initiative. So lots of bad blood between the groups. They basically wanted nothing to do with each other, resisting the CIA's desire to join forces with the Legion. The Cham…
▶ 23:50
The Chamorro brothers boycotted the meeting rather than sit in the same room with Bermudez, which was fine with Bermudez because he didn't like them either. The Legion moved to Honduras and the FDN was officially created. The Farn were push…
▶ 38:20
the Legion of September 15. Remember, the guys that were the National Guard in Nicaragua that moved to Guatemala, then they moved them to El Salvador. And that's where Felix Rodriguez was training them all to do this. The official whose men…
▶ 59:35
Another group had closer ties to Somoza. The 5th of September Legion of several hundred National Guard veterans drew its name from the 1821 date of Nicaraguan's independence from Spain. The Legion, formed in May of 81, was said to be financ…
▶ 1:02:05
Enrique Bermudez, a 47-year-old colonel from the former National Guard and founder of the 15th September Legion, initially served as second-in-command of the FDN forces. A Sandinista spokesman noted at the time that Bermudez was a clean rec…
▶ 1:31
In the early days of the anti-Sandinista 15th of September Legion, led by Pedro Ortez Sinetro, numbered fewer than a dozen men with shotguns and .22 caliber pistols. As a sergeant with the National Guard's Rattlesnake Battalion, Ortez took …