Hugo Spadafora person
also: Dr. Hugo Sedata Fora, Spada Fora, Spadafore, the doctor, the good doctor, the slain rebel, Dr. Hugo Spadaforto
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Related entities (most co-mentioned)
Costa Ricacountry · 13Panamacountry · 11Manuel Noriegaperson · 10CIAintelligence service · 8Murder of Hugo Spadaforaevent · 7DEAintelligence service · 7Sebastian Gonzalezperson · 7Contrasorganization · 6Robert Nevesperson · 5Floyd Carlton Caceresperson · 4Eden Pastoraperson · 3Horacio Perinaperson · 3Panama Cityplace · 3Gustavo Gaviriaperson · 2The New York Timesorganization · 2Langleyplace · 1San Joséplace · 1Invasion of Panamaevent · 1Fuerza Democrática Nacionalorganization · 1Nicholas Barlettaperson · 1Brigada Internacional Simón Bolivarorganization · 1William Caseyperson · 1Indiacountry · 1John Poindexterperson · 1
Claims (6)
Manuel Noriega ordered_assassination_of
Hugo Spadafora documented
“Nicholas Barletta announced an immediate investigation into his murder. It was to be one of Barletta's last official acts. A few weeks later, he was forced to resign by Manuel Noriega, the commander of the country's military. And the promis…”
▶ The Colonels Corner Dark Alliance Part 13 @ 8:11
Hugo Spadafora member_of
Brigada Internacional Simón Bolivar documented
“a brigade of jungle fighters. It was called the Brigada Internacional Simón Bolivar in support of Pastora's southern forces. After the Sandinistas became too oppressive for Pastora's liking, he joined the CIA and took over the command of th…”
▶ The Colonels Corner Dark Alliance Part 13 @ 7:11
John Poindexter covered_up
Hugo Spadafora documented
“been in attendance, Poindexter did bring up Spadafore's murder, but only to give Noriega some friendly advice on how to handle it. Poindexter spoke of the need to have a group of officers be sent abroad outside of Panama while the situation…”
▶ The Colonels Corner Dark Alliance Part 13 @ 32:33
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
Manuel Noriega trafficked
Hugo Spadafora host_asserted
“which may be the reason the Times sidestepped the issue involved drugs in the CIA. When Noriega's goons hauled Spadafora off a bus at a Pandemanian border, he was on his way to Panama City, where he intended to publicly release information …”
▶ The Colonels Corner Dark Alliance Part 13 @ 10:04
Sebastian Gonzalez ordered_assassination_of
Hugo Spadafora documented
“Now he's surrounded because he comes over here. He's finished, Gonzalez said. Yes, Perino replied. If he shows up over there, you'll get him. The district attorney in the Pandemanian province where Spadafora was murdered ordered Gonzalez ar…”
▶ The Colonels Corner Dark Alliance Part 13 @ 17:34
Mentions (27)
▶ 4:43
That they're even able to do that. But whatever. It ain't going to stop us and it's not going to slow us down. All right. Let's get into it. We're on chapter 12. It's called This Guy Talks to God. So you remember that we had talked to. Well…
▶ 5:16
I wish they had just like Smith and Jones names. In September 1985, they found everything but his head. The rest of him had been tied up in a U.S. mail sack and dumped under a bridge at the border of Costa Rica and Panama. His body bore evi…
▶ 5:43
so that he could not close his legs. And then something had been jammed up his rear end, tearing it apart. His testicles were swollen horribly, a result of prolonged torture. His ribs were broken. And then while he was still alive, his head…
▶ 6:13
through the research we did in the Office of Public Safety. So it is very likely these same types of torture techniques were used on him. The horrors of Hugo Spadafora's death brought thousands of people into the streets in Panama City, whe…
▶ 6:42
He was an unusual mix of a warrior and a middle class professional. When he was murdered, Spada Fora had been fighting for the Contras in Nicaragua at the side of his old friend, Edan Pastora. That's the guy the CIA doesn't like. They had f…
▶ 7:11
a brigade of jungle fighters. It was called the Brigada Internacional Simón Bolivar in support of Pastora's southern forces. After the Sandinistas became too oppressive for Pastora's liking, he joined the CIA and took over the command of th…
▶ 7:41
moved to Costa Rica to take up arms with Pastora once again, this time against his old Marxist comrades. The Reagan administration's Contra PR machine couldn't have dreamed up a better freedom fighter than Spadafora. The DEA called him repo…
▶ 8:11
Nicholas Barletta announced an immediate investigation into his murder. It was to be one of Barletta's last official acts. A few weeks later, he was forced to resign by Manuel Noriega, the commander of the country's military. And the promis…
▶ 8:41
by a Panamanian court in 1993. The New York Times in June of 1986 story that first exposed Noriega as a drug dealer and money launderer cited Spadafore's murder as an example of why U.S. government officials were growing tired of the tyrant…
▶ 9:36
So Noriega's fine as long as he's useful to the CIA. But the Times story left unaddressed a rather obvious question. Why would a cunning political strategist like Noriega take the risky step of having the popular Spadafora, Panama's former …
▶ 10:04
which may be the reason the Times sidestepped the issue involved drugs in the CIA. When Noriega's goons hauled Spadafora off a bus at a Pandemanian border, he was on his way to Panama City, where he intended to publicly release information …
▶ 10:33
He is aiding Pastora, the guy on the Contra team that refused drug money. He would not work with the CIA using proceeds from drug trafficking. This guy was his key guerrilla fighter. Before leaving for Panama, Spadafora had excitedly told f…
▶ 11:02
and he was convinced that the revelation would sink the tyrant. In the months before the murder, the doctor had befriended a drug and arms smuggler who once ran Noriega's drug operation, Floyd Carlton Caceres. Carlton, who also served as No…
▶ 13:52
on whose ranch the theft supposedly had taken place. Hall ransomed the girl back unharmed and blamed it on the communists, i.e. the Sandinistas. After that, Carlton bolted Central America altogether and took refuge in Miami, the U.S. headqu…
▶ 14:19
to unmask Noriega, and he was successful in obtaining truth that would imperil Noriega. That, in large part, was due to Carlton, who had later astonished DEA officials with his photographic recall of Noriega's drug deals. Carlton eventually…
▶ 14:49
gave Spadafora the names of other pilots involved and the dates of specific drug flights through Costa Rica. He also implicated Noriega's high school buddy, Gatchin Gonzalez, who was then hiding out in Panama from a Costa Rican cocaine indi…
▶ 15:09
When he was finished, Carlton said, Spadafora announced, I am going to have a bomb explode in Panama. I am going to set it off with all the information that I have. Spadafora hurried back to Costa Rica and began sharing his discoveries with…
▶ 15:38
And San Jose was quickly relayed back to the CIA headquarters in Langley, which was informed that Hugo Spadafora had made quote-unquote vague allegations to DEA that Gonzalez, Manuel Noriega, and other Contra leaders were engaged in drug tr…
▶ 16:04
met Spadafora twice, and Spadafora had promised that he would provide evidence of drug trafficking by Gonzalez. If Neves needed a way to confirm the doctor's explosive claims, he had just the man to do it. His deep cover informant, none oth…
▶ 16:34
that Spadafora was trying to unmask, Gonzalez. Somehow, Menendez's lieutenants got wind that Spadafora was planning, and they began devising a counterattack. During their investigation of Menendez's aide, Horacio Perina, the Costa Rican pol…
▶ 17:04
So they're eavesdropping and listening to them plotting this guy's murder. Costa Rican newspaper obtained copies of the tapes and printed transcripts. One ploy Gonzalez and Perina battled around was paying a witness in one of the provinces …
▶ 17:34
Now he's surrounded because he comes over here. He's finished, Gonzalez said. Yes, Perino replied. If he shows up over there, you'll get him. The district attorney in the Pandemanian province where Spadafora was murdered ordered Gonzalez ar…
▶ 18:01
He strenuously denied any involvement in the death, but Spadafora's family remains convinced Gonzalez played a major role. I mean, he's on tape planning it. Though Noriega apparently felt the information Spadafora possessed was important en…
▶ 18:32
and said that he did nothing with the information the doctor risked his life to bring him. Since Noriega's drug dealing was the official reason the United States invaded Panama four years later, Neves' perverse inaction is astonishing, but …
▶ 19:59
did not try to contact me again. And the only thing that I asked was for protection for myself and my family. And at that time, I had no problems with the American justice system, unquote. Judging from the DEA's response to a freedom of inf…
▶ 32:33
been in attendance, Poindexter did bring up Spadafore's murder, but only to give Noriega some friendly advice on how to handle it. Poindexter spoke of the need to have a group of officers be sent abroad outside of Panama while the situation…
▶ 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…