Fuerza Democrática Nacional organization
also: FDN board, FDN directorate, FDN senior leadership, contra, CIA's new Contra army, the FDN
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Related entities (most co-mentioned)
Nicaraguacountry · 10CIAintelligence service · 9Enrique Bermudezperson · 9Edward Chamorroperson · 7Hondurascountry · 6Seth Rosenfeldperson · 6Eden Pastoraperson · 6Carlos Cabezasperson · 5Costa Ricacountry · 5Julio Zavalaperson · 5Norwin Menendezperson · 5Adolfo Caleroperson · 4Edward Kennedyperson · 4Miamiplace · 4U.S. State Departmentorganization · 4United Statescountry · 4Sandinistasorganization · 4Ricardo Lauperson · 3Daniel Blantonperson · 3Contrasorganization · 3National Guard (Nicaragua)organization · 3Anastasio Somozaperson · 3Joseph Rosonelloperson · 3Frogman Caseevent · 3
Claims (15)
Israel supplied_arms_to
Fuerza Democrática Nacional documented
“Israeli aid was far greater in what would be called Operation Tripped Kettle. In 1983, Tel Aviv furnished $10 million worth of equipment captured in Lebanon from the PLO the previous year, supposedly. The La Jolla, California company called…”
▶ The Colonel's Corner Safe for Democracy Part 44 (46) @ 49:16
Daniel Blanton member_of
Fuerza Democrática Nacional documented
“But we have to lie to everybody in order to take their money because they're never going to just openly fund a dictatorship again. And this was all revealed by the CIA. The colonel asked the group to adopt the colors and the flag of the FDN…”
▶ The Colonels Corner Dark Alliance Part 3 by Gary Webb @ 47:34
Enrique Bermudez member_of
Fuerza Democrática Nacional host_asserted
“Quote, it is clear that there is a network of drug trafficking through the Contras. And it goes right up to Calero, Aldolfo Calero and Enrique Bermudez. And we have people who will testify and who have unquote. But the idea of diving into s…”
▶ The Colonels Corner Dark Alliance Part 16 @ 33:38
José Daniel Contreras member_of
Fuerza Democrática Nacional host_asserted
“Quote, it is clear that there is a network of drug trafficking through the Contras. And it goes right up to Calero, Aldolfo Calero and Enrique Bermudez. And we have people who will testify and who have unquote. But the idea of diving into s…”
▶ The Colonels Corner Dark Alliance Part 16 @ 33:38
Fuerza Democrática Nacional assassinated
Hugo Spadafora documented
“At the request of the Foreign Relations Committee Chairman, Senator Richard Lugar of Indiana, Perry gave the committee a list of areas that needed investigation, among them the murder of Dr. Hugo Spadaforto by Contras engaged in drug smuggl…”
▶ The Colonels Corner Dark Alliance Part 16 @ 35:39
Seth Rosenfeld exposed
Fuerza Democrática Nacional documented
“Coming on the heels of several Associated Press reports by Robert Perry and Brian Barger about Contra cocaine trafficking in Costa Rica, Rosenfeld's story provided the first hard evidence of a Contra drug ring operating inside the United St…”
▶ The Colonels Corner Dark Alliance Part 16 @ 38:35
Joseph Rosonello covered_up
Fuerza Democrática Nacional documented
“Rosanello indignantly wrote that there is absolutely no evidence of CIA involvement. Rosenfeld didn't accuse the CIA, but thank you for adding that. Incredibly, he made the same claim regarding the Contras. There's no evidence to warrant th…”
▶ The Colonels Corner Dark Alliance Part 16 @ 40:07
José Rodríguez member_of
Fuerza Democrática Nacional documented
“Rodriguez, who said he was beaten, paralyzed and left for dead because he he had denounced contra involvement in drug dealing. He specifically identified Norwin Menendez's partner, Trujillo Sanchez, as being involved and said Sanchez had be…”
▶ The Colonels Corner Dark Alliance Part 16 @ 43:12
Norwin Menendez member_of
Fuerza Democrática Nacional documented
“had another major front page story in the Examiner, exposing Norwin Menendez's cocaine trafficking network and his involvement with the Contras in San Francisco and Los Angeles. Rosenfeld reported on Menendez's meeting with CIA agents Enriq…”
▶ The Colonels Corner Dark Alliance Part 16 @ 43:45
Norwin Menendez funded
Fuerza Democrática Nacional documented
“He reported that the Contra spokesperson in San Francisco had been convicted of cocaine charges. He disclosed Menendez's donations and Contra fundraisers. The Menendez's story was considerably more damaging to the Contras than the Frogman s…”
▶ The Colonels Corner Dark Alliance Part 16 @ 44:14
Edward Chamorro admitted
Fuerza Democrática Nacional documented
“asked Chamorro about the FDN's assassinations. Knowing the troops often mulled over murders and other atrocities, the propaganda chief admitted that there had been some excesses. Human rights criticisms resulted. Contras grumbled about Cham…”
▶ The Colonel's Corner Safe for Democracy Part 44 (46) @ 35:08
CIA funded
Fuerza Democrática Nacional documented
“asked Chamorro about the FDN's assassinations. Knowing the troops often mulled over murders and other atrocities, the propaganda chief admitted that there had been some excesses. Human rights criticisms resulted. Contras grumbled about Cham…”
▶ The Colonel's Corner Safe for Democracy Part 44 (46) @ 35:08
Dewey Claridge supplied_arms_to
Fuerza Democrática Nacional documented
“while the indigenous rebel group peaked at around 3,000. Colonel Bermudez spent much of his time at the base, Tegu, where the FDN had radio stations and a hospital. He planned a big push for the summer and fall. Operation Marathon. At Langl…”
▶ The Colonel's Corner Safe for Democracy Part 44 (46) @ 39:59
Summit Aviation supplied_arms_to
Fuerza Democrática Nacional documented
“In February of 84, the planes were armed with rocket pods by Summit Aviation, another CIA proprietary, in Delaware. Although there were claims that the elephant herd provided all manner of items to the Contra, in fact, the only aircraft, a …”
▶ The Colonel's Corner Safe for Democracy Part 44 (46) @ 48:45
Sandinistas shot_down
Fuerza Democrática Nacional documented
“October 3rd, the FDN supply flight was shot down by Sandinistas over northern Nicaragua. One man among the crew died, but two were taken prisoner. Both had been National Guardsmen under Somoza. Nicaraguan operations were indirectly responsi…”
▶ The Colonel's Corner Safe for Democracy Part 44 (46) @ 55:05
Mentions (47)
▶ 33:10
Kerry's chief investigator in D.C. was Jack Bloom. He detailed some of the charges Kerry's staff had looked into, and he told the senators that, quote, the narcotics are coming into the United States not by pound, not by the bag, but by the…
▶ 33:38
Quote, it is clear that there is a network of drug trafficking through the Contras. And it goes right up to Calero, Aldolfo Calero and Enrique Bermudez. And we have people who will testify and who have unquote. But the idea of diving into s…
▶ 35:39
At the request of the Foreign Relations Committee Chairman, Senator Richard Lugar of Indiana, Perry gave the committee a list of areas that needed investigation, among them the murder of Dr. Hugo Spadaforto by Contras engaged in drug smuggl…
▶ 36:06
Colombia, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, and the United States, in which the Contras and American supporters, with the apparent knowledge of Contra leadership, handled the transport of cocaine produced in Colombia shipped to Nicaragua in the region…
▶ 36:32
That have also surfaced regarding the drug smuggling operations involving sprint boats operating out of Texas, Louisiana and Florida. The Foreign Relations Committee voted to approve Kerry's request for a behind the scenes investigation, bu…
▶ 37:35
They won't do it. They didn't want to respond. They didn't want to provide any information. But some information trickled out anyway, and it got awfully close to exposing the Norwin Menendez-Daniello Blanton drug operation. In the spring of…
▶ 38:03
found in Zavala's nightstand. Remember they gave it back because it was for the Contras. It was reported that Zavala's claim from a prison cell in Arizona that he personally delivered about $500,000 in drug profits to the Contras in Costa R…
▶ 38:35
Coming on the heels of several Associated Press reports by Robert Perry and Brian Barger about Contra cocaine trafficking in Costa Rica, Rosenfeld's story provided the first hard evidence of a Contra drug ring operating inside the United St…
▶ 39:33
That's supposed to be prosecuting drug cases. He's chastising the media for revealing the drug operations. He's not going to prosecute him. So it's going to make him look bad. Crazy, crazy, crazy. He went on to say he suggested that it was …
▶ 40:07
Rosanello indignantly wrote that there is absolutely no evidence of CIA involvement. Rosenfeld didn't accuse the CIA, but thank you for adding that. Incredibly, he made the same claim regarding the Contras. There's no evidence to warrant th…
▶ 40:37
In a futile attempt to explain away their conduct. Okay, so we're going to believe all the other stuff they said, just not that part. Rosanello did not disclose that Carlos Cabreza, as a witness for his office, had testified about selling d…
▶ 41:08
And he writes a letter to a reporter who actually says what he already knows to be true, accusing them of lying. U.S. attorney guys. Nor did he mention that two high-ranking FDN barn officials had written letters to the court attesting to Z…
▶ 41:41
He also forgot about the 1982 FBI teletypes that named Contra officials Fernando and Trujillo Sanchez as the drug ring suppliers. They're both, by the way, Contras, too. In a white paper subsequently circulated to Congress by the U.S. State…
▶ 42:10
And Rosenfeld's story was dismissed as gobbledygook. One upping Rosanello, the State Department claimed that Capresa and Zavala had never said anything about the Contras until long after their conviction. They did not, quote, they did not r…
▶ 42:39
but waited two years before making these allegations, which, as indicated, could not be confirmed, unquote. Congress was assured that the DEA had examined allegations of linkage to the Contras and had found none. But it couldn't have been l…
▶ 43:12
Rodriguez, who said he was beaten, paralyzed and left for dead because he he had denounced contra involvement in drug dealing. He specifically identified Norwin Menendez's partner, Trujillo Sanchez, as being involved and said Sanchez had be…
▶ 43:45
had another major front page story in the Examiner, exposing Norwin Menendez's cocaine trafficking network and his involvement with the Contras in San Francisco and Los Angeles. Rosenfeld reported on Menendez's meeting with CIA agents Enriq…
▶ 44:14
He reported that the Contra spokesperson in San Francisco had been convicted of cocaine charges. He disclosed Menendez's donations and Contra fundraisers. The Menendez's story was considerably more damaging to the Contras than the Frogman s…
▶ 44:41
a major international cocaine and arms trafficker. Yet it drew no response from the administration, no angry denunciations from federal prosecutors. The State Department's white paper, which belittled every other allegation of the Contra dr…
▶ 45:07
Though the examiner's expose appeared just two days before the House of Representatives was scheduled to take up the highly controversial issue of $100 million of our money to the Contras, not a single major newspaper published this story. …
▶ 46:33
for the Contras in Los Angeles. His little exile group was moving up in the world and had switched from cocktail parties and car theft and loan fraud. They had also become an official part of the CIA's new Contra army, the FDN. In 1981, CIA…
▶ 47:34
But we have to lie to everybody in order to take their money because they're never going to just openly fund a dictatorship again. And this was all revealed by the CIA. The colonel asked the group to adopt the colors and the flag of the FDN…
▶ 2:33
cattle from ordinary farmers. According to the FDN Chief of Logistics Captain Armando Lopez, the first CIA weapons arrived in early 1982. This shipment consisted of 92 Belgium automatic rifles, four machine guns, and two mortars. We were al…
▶ 3:05
The first serious strike occurred in mid-March when FDN units blew up two road bridges in northern Nicaragua. The next day, the government declared a state of emergency. By the end of the month, Managua could point to half a dozen instances…
▶ 16:56
putting the Contras under scrutiny. At this stage, the CIA pressed for a broadened anti-Sandinista coalition. Even Claridge acknowledged that the prevalence of the Somocitas among the FDN senior leadership amounted to a negative because the…
▶ 17:53
Exile leader Edgar Chamorro met with the chief gruner and his head of political operations, Joseph Fernandez, to plan a sort of Congress of perhaps about 20 Nicaraguans, in which Bermudez would merely be one voice. In early December, a new …
▶ 18:21
at a Miami press conference. Chamorro became FDN's public relations director, but all the exiles were primed first by CIA officers in a hotel room. In other words, they independently talked to them all and then pretended like it was a unila…
▶ 18:54
The FDN board selected a recent exile, Adolfo Calero, as its chairman. Calero was soon known to be the public face of the Contras. Dewey Claridge met the board a month later going to Miami with Gruner and Fernandez in tow. The FDN publicize…
▶ 20:52
The FDN claimed 7,000 troops in Honduras in early 1983. Others credited it at around 5,000. There were also a couple of thousand indigenous people in Honduras, while Eden Pastora had another 700 soldiers in Costa Rica. Internal reports show…
▶ 21:18
The indigenous people and Pastora's fighters actually counted in the statistics given out by the FDN strength. So they were just double counting people. The FDN put its troops into task force that spent their time in camp or on forays into …
▶ 22:18
Negroponte advocated pushing Eden Pastora hard to activate a southern front, raising the visibility of U.S. contacts with Calero, and doing more to gain the confidence of the intelligence committees in Congress, encouraging members to go to…
▶ 24:13
He refused to do anything with drug money. The author may or may not know that. The CIA cooked up a propaganda coup, producing a video of Pastora speaking, which would be broadcast from a transmitter smuggled to a site near Managua. Then th…
▶ 24:42
on her own time at home. She could not even get Pastora to take off his fancy rings or Rolex watch for the taping. The FDN had its own problems and struggles between factions favoring Nicaraguan civilians and those preferring Somocita's lea…
▶ 25:11
shortchanged on supplies in favor of the Contras. In addition to Honduran government, feared both the FDN troops on his territory and Nicaraguan incursions to get to their base camps. Among the troops, Colonel Bermudez demanded fidelity, ph…
▶ 25:42
had become the unquestioned commander. Any remaining doubt concerning whether he would act independently was gone. In Honduras, the CIA-minted FDN board did not have the presence to exert any control. They made just one visit to the camp as…
▶ 26:12
and set up shop there. More often, individuals went, but then they seemed scattered, with Bermudez the reigning chief. On one occasion, several Contra intelligence officers actually told FDN commissioners that Bermudez and his chief intel, …
▶ 26:42
the commissioners that was also on the CIA's payroll. The FDN directors could do nothing to investigate the charges, which Bermudez just dismissed. Allegations of human rights abuses inside Nicaragua actually reflected widespread injury as …
▶ 30:01
Constantly striving to deny that, the rebels argued the only a small portion of the troops had been in the Somoza government. The FDN troops numbered about 2,000 in 1983, but they publicly claimed 7,000. Perhaps they had grown to 6,000 by 1…
▶ 30:34
By then, they were claiming they had 15,000. In the spring of 87, Contra leaders claimed a strength of 16,000. Somoza's guard at its peak had 8,000. So who knows what the real numbers are? Reports were that several thousand soldiers remaine…
▶ 32:05
of the worst kind of Somoza influence, refusing to join any united front in which he participated. Months after the FDN announced Lau's resignation, records propagandist Edgar Samaro noted, Lau was still the last person to talk to Bermudez …
▶ 32:36
authorities forced Lau to leave the country in late 1984. National Guard connections remained the Achilles heel of the Contras. Of all of the FDN directorate, Edgar Chamorro was in the best position to know the conditions in the field. Many…
▶ 33:04
Hours every day in Europe, the U.S., and Puerto Rico generating funds. You know, talking to the drug dealers like we studied in Gary Webb's book. Calero took the CIA and the exiles as his constituency. Some directors stayed in Miami. Chamor…
▶ 33:36
There he wrote the releases and organized the visits of journalists to the FDN camps. Soon his office alone was spending $2,000 a month to improve the Contra's image. One of Chamorro's projects began the drafting of a manual called the Blue…
▶ 34:04
Perhaps the political education can help counteract the brutality of the military leadership and the abuse that they were experiencing. Imagine somebody that beats the hell out of these people if they don't do what they're told, handing out…
▶ 34:38
and the weekly newsletter, which Shamaro also ran, limited any meaningful material that was included in the manual because it was straight up hypocrisy propaganda. Meanwhile, the FDN, trying to clean up its act, was trying, according to the…
▶ 35:08
asked Chamorro about the FDN's assassinations. Knowing the troops often mulled over murders and other atrocities, the propaganda chief admitted that there had been some excesses. Human rights criticisms resulted. Contras grumbled about Cham…
▶ 35:39
An agency contract officer, John Kirkpatrick, wrote it. Kirkpatrick worked with Shimaro in Taegu several hours a day for weeks. A former Green Beret and veteran of Korea and Vietnam, Kirkpatrick drank too much and denounced FDN leaders whil…