The Legion of September 15 was an early [[Contras|Contra]] group made up primarily of ex-[[Nicaraguan National Guard|National Guardsmen]], based in [[Guatemala]] and later [[Honduras]]. It was commanded by [[Ricardo Lau|Ricardo "El Chino" Lau]] and [[Enrique Bermudez|Enrique Bermúdez]] and later became the core of the [[FDN]], the largest and most powerful Contra faction.[^2] ### Origins and Operations The Legion was started by former [[Anastasio Somoza|Somoza]] bodyguards soon after Somoza's fall in July 1979. Its members had a safe house in [[Guatemala City]] and trained on a farm near the Honduran border called Detachment 101, located in the same town (Esquipulas) that had served as headquarters for the [[Central Intelligence Agency]]-backed group that overthrew the Guatemalan government in 1954. Before the Contra war began in earnest, the Legion sustained itself through criminal operations. The CIA acknowledged in 1998 that the Legion "to some extent engaged in kidnapping, extortion, and robbery to fund its operations" and also "engaged in the bombing of Nicaraguan civilian airliners and airliner hijackings as methods of attacking the [[Sandinistas|Sandinista]] government." A June 1981 cable to CIA headquarters noted the Legion's commanders "see themselves as being forced to stoop to criminal activities in order to feed and clothe their cadre." ### Connection to Archbishop Romero Assassination The Legion's most horrific attributed act was the March 1980 assassination of Archbishop Oscar Romero of [[San Salvador]], who was shot through the heart while celebrating Mass. Records seized from right-wing Salvadoran politician Roberto D'Aubuisson revealed that D'Aubuisson traveled to Guatemala three days after Romero's murder and made two "contributions to Nicaraguans" ($40,000 and $80,000) with the name and telephone number of Colonel Ricardo Lau written underneath. Lau was running the Legion of September 15 prior to Bermúdez's appointment as commander. Lau was never charged.[^1] ### Intelligence Connections Much of the Legion's leadership had worked with or for the CIA during their previous lives as Somoza's secret agents, rooting out dissidents for the dictator's [[OSN|Office of National Security]], which was advised by the CIA. The CIA admitted that during 1981-82 it was receiving regular reports that Lau and seven other Legion commanders were "involved in criminal activities."[^1][^1] ### Reorganization In spring 1981, the Legion moved its operations from Guatemala to new headquarters in Honduras. In August 1981, the CIA merged the Legion with two smaller resistance groups to form the FDN, the largest and most powerful Contra faction. ### Footnotes [^1]: Gary Webb, *Dark Alliance*, Chapter 2: "We were the first" [^2]: Gary Webb, *Dark Alliance*, Glossary of Organizations and Locations