Aristides Sánchez was a wealthy landowner under [[Anastasio Somoza|Somoza]] who became the head of supplies and logistics for the [[FDN]]. He went on the [[Central Intelligence Agency]] payroll in the early 1980s as an aide to [[Enrique Bermudez|Enrique Bermúdez]] and allegedly served as the conduit for [[cocaine]] money flowing from the [[Norwin Meneses|Meneses]] drug ring in [[California]].[^1] He died in [[Miami]] in 1993.[^1] ### Family Connections to the Meneses Network Sánchez was a close friend of Norwin Meneses. His brother Fernando Sánchez had been Somoza's last ambassador to [[Guatemala]] after [[Edmundo Meneses]] was assassinated. Another brother, [[Troilo Sanchez|Troilo Sánchez]], was one of Norwin Meneses's friends and business partners in [[Managua]]. Yet another brother, Enrique Sánchez, was partners in a Miami restaurant with Donald Barrios, the man [[Danilo Blandon|Danilo Blandón]] claims introduced him to Norwin Meneses.[^2] Norwin Meneses stated: "I dealt directly with Bermúdez, and occasionally his assistant on minor things. I also worked with Aristides Sanchez. He was a very good friend of mine."[^2] [[Carlos Cabezas]] told the CIA that "he never specifically told Aristides Sanchez that the money came from drug proceeds but only that it was from Troilo. Cabezas said he assumed Aristides Sanchez must have known what Troilo was involved in."[^3] Other Contras certainly did. Former Contra official Leonardo Zeledón Rodríguez told UPI in 1986 that "Troilo sold 200 pounds of cocaine and received $6.1 million for it."[^3] ### Role in the FDN The CIA selected Sánchez to assist Enrique Bermúdez in running the FDN after the August 1981 merger that created the organization.[^2] He went on the CIA payroll and reported daily to his CIA overseers. Together with Bermúdez, Sánchez became the heart and soul of the military side of the Contra organization. The political side was left to CIA agent [[Adolfo Calero]], who also worked closely with Sánchez. [[Oliver North]] later called Sánchez "Calero's hatchet man."[^2] Sánchez became one of the Contras' top political and military strategists, plotting logistics, buying supplies, and delivering weapons, as the [[Miami Herald]] reported in his 1993 obituary.[^2] Throughout the 1980s he was consistently described in the press as the Contras' supply chief. ### Footnotes [^1]: Gary Webb, *Dark Alliance*, Cast of Characters [^2]: Gary Webb, *Dark Alliance*, Chapter 4: "I never sent cash" [^3]: Gary Webb, *Dark Alliance*, Chapter 5: "God, Fatherland and Freedom"