Ilopango Air Base place
also: El Pango airfield, El Opango, air base in El Salvador, military airfield outside of San Salvador, El Opango air base, El Opengo Air Base
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Related entities (most co-mentioned)
San Salvadorplace · 16Contrasorganization · 10Felix Rodriguezperson · 10Celerino Castillo IIIperson · 8Juan Rafael Bustilloperson · 7DEAintelligence service · 5Luis Posada Carrilesperson · 5El Salvadorcountry · 4Oliver Northperson · 4CIAintelligence service · 4Guatemalacountry · 4Salvadoran Armed Forcesorganization · 3Mergaperson · 2Marcos Aguardoperson · 2Nestor Pinoperson · 2Francisco Garola Baseliperson · 1William R. Bodeperson · 1Former CIA Agentorganization · 1Saleh Castilloperson · 1William Cooperperson · 1Wallace Sawyerperson · 1Sandinistasorganization · 1U.S. State Departmentorganization · 1Venezuelacountry · 1
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▶ 3:34
to basically outline the entire operation that was being ran out of El Salvador. So he got some people that began telling him how many of the hangers at, I'm not even sure how you say the name, it's I-L-O-P-A-N-G-O, El Opango.…
▶ 4:04
air base in El Salvador. That's where they're running a significant portion of the arms, the drugs, and the air operations out of. So, and it's under the control of the El Salvadorian death squad, narco-terrorists, and it's where Felix Rodr…
▶ 4:35
So it says it didn't take him very long to discover what was going on at the airbase. Two days into his new job as the DEA's regional office in Guatemala City in October 1985, Castillo said the agent in charge, Robert Stia, took him aside a…
▶ 7:32
Castillo put his boss warning about Ilopango down to bureaucratic caution and went about his job, which was to train and recruit Guatemalan and Salvadorian policemen to become soldiers in America's worldwide war on drugs. Since the DEA coul…
▶ 8:03
squads that the DEA could trust enough to work with and allow them to make the arrest and also to provide them intelligence from other countries. But no matter where he went, it seemed like the air base kept getting mentioned by all of the …
▶ 9:37
The Contras were also dealing in cocaine, he told Castillo. He said they were using a small air force to do it that was based at Ilopango, and they were ferrying war materials for the cause. He justified the trafficking by blaming the U.S. …
▶ 11:44
that the information about the drugs was probably true. He heard the same rumors, and he confirmed that there was indeed a small Air Force base there, and that allegedly they were flying supplies to the Contra. But it really wasn't very sec…
▶ 12:41
told the Iran investigators in 1991. Anyone who ever flew into that air base could see something like that was going on. When looking down at the base from the air, one could see one side of the airfield had ragtag operations and dilapidate…
▶ 13:09
looked brand new, had lift trucks, state-of-the-art aircraft, and people on the ground doing all the air ops. The modern facilities all belong to the American operation, the officer said, adding that he didn't know if it was CIA operation o…
▶ 13:34
While CIA officers denied that they were running the show, they did finally admit they were keeping a very close eye on it. Yeah, sure you were. Quote, we had a capability, indeed, a responsibility for reporting what had been happening at I…
▶ 19:31
date the Contras' use of Ilopango to September 1985 when North wrote to Rodriguez asking him to use his influence with the Salvadoran Air Force commander Juan Rafael Bustillo, a secure hangar for the Contras to use as supply flights. Rodrig…
▶ 19:56
He greased the skids with Bustillo and eventually became the overseer of Norse Contra resupply operations at the El Salvador base. The Contras had been using El Opango with General Bustillo's blessing since 1983, when Norwin Menendez's frie…
▶ 20:26
made arrangements to base Eden Pastora's group in that location. Since he could not devote all of his time to North Secret Air Force, Rodriguez wrote, I found someone to manage the base resupply operations on a day-to-day basis at the air b…
▶ 20:57
by his real name, Luis Carrillas. The names are crazy. With men like Luis Carrillas, and he went by Posada, because you know how they do the middle name instead of the last name? Luis Posada Pasilas. So the rest of the book will refer to hi…
▶ 28:04
He spent 10 years in jail. He escaped in the summer of 1985 and went underground. He resurfaced at the airbase in El Salvador in 1986, working as Felix Rodriguez's right-hand man, telling investigators that Rodriguez and other Cuban friends…
▶ 28:36
and relocate to El Salvador. Upon arriving in El Salvador, Posada stayed with Rodriguez for two or three days. Rodriguez then helped Posada get a house in San Salvador where he was living for the next year or two, running the airbase for Fe…
▶ 29:07
Though allegations of contra drug trafficking was swirling around the El Salvador base, DEA agent Castillo was having difficulty getting firsthand evidence of it. For one thing, the air base was very protective. It sat high atop a plateau s…
▶ 29:37
tightly guarded by San Salvadorian military. If he was ever going to find out the truth, he figured he needed to get on that side of the base. He went to the Salvadoran Air Force commander, Bastillo, and asked for permission, but was given …
▶ 30:04
The agent from the DEA branch office in Guatemala City came to San Salvador seeking access to the air base. The New Republic reported in 1990, adding that Bastillo stalled all such requests for Castillo. There was never a good reason given …
▶ 30:34
So Castillo improvised. He recruited a Salvadorian named Merga, who wrote the flight plans for private planes on the civilian side of the base. Merga had excellent contacts on the military side and could come and go at will. He became Casti…
▶ 31:05
Mergen knew all about the Contra's drug running, Castillo said, because he was filling out the flight plans and inspecting their aircraft. The pilots were so brazen that they told him they were flying dope to the United States and money to …
▶ 33:02
Garola Baseli. He was one of El Salvador's most influential families. How Chico Garola wound up in El Opango flying for the Contras is an illuminating tell. He should have been sitting in federal prison in the United States.…
▶ 22:11
on the Civil War in El Salvador, you know, where we were training the death squads and then pretended they were a political party. Pena was a close friend of former CIA agent, the star of our show, Felix Rodriguez, who was overseeing Norse …
▶ 22:40
Like Rodriguez, Pino was close to the Salvadoran Air Force General Rafael Bustillo, the guy who ran El Opengo Air Base. Pino referred to Bustillo as family, and the Salvadoran general sometimes stayed at Pino's house in Virginia when he was…
▶ 25:31
El Pango airfield. That fall, Oliver North convinced him to add the task of liaison between the El Salvadoran air operations and private benefactors. Working closely with the Salvadoran air commander, General Rafael Bustelo Rodriguez, arran…
▶ 28:43
But the CIA doesn't know anything about any of this stuff. There, Posada worked as a helper. He rented three houses in nice districts for Sawyer's pilots and a hotel in San Salvador for visitors and the mechanics. You know, doing logistics …
▶ 29:43
Project Democracy aircraft were also not all they could be. Flying into Ilopango in February of 86, the first C-7 developed engine trouble and made a forced landing. The press reported the incident, but another security breach, which was an…
▶ 1:01:31
The New York Times reported in 1992, quote, Felix Rodriguez, a retired CIA officer who spent most of his career on the shadowy side of espionage business, appeared today in federal court to testify in the trial of the agency's former chief …
▶ 1:02:00
who fought the Sandinista government in Nicaragua in the mid-1980s. When asked what he did for Colonel North's operation, Mr. Rodriguez said, I coordinated for them at the Ilopango Air Base outside of San Salvador by arranging for refueling…