Felipe Vidal was a [[Central Intelligence Agency]] contract agent who proposed creating a "small, professionally managed" private army in [[Costa Rica]] to fight the [[Sandinistas]] in February 1986. Vidal's proposal exemplified the freelance military operations that supplemented the official Contra war effort.[^1] ### Private Army Proposal Vidal proposed a privately funded military force that would operate alongside the Contras, reflecting the entrepreneurial approach to covert warfare that characterized the Reagan administration's approach to [[Central America]]. Vidal also approached [[George Morales]] with [[Marcos Aguado]] to solicit contributions to [[Eden Pastora|Pastora]]'s army. Vidal's activities illustrated how CIA-connected operatives moved freely between official operations, private military ventures, and the drug trafficking that funded them.[^2] ### Footnotes [^1]: Gary Webb, *Dark Alliance*, Ch. 13. [^2]: Gary Webb, *Dark Alliance*, Ch. 13.