Tegucigalpa, the capital of [[Honduras]], was the headquarters of the [[FDN]] Contra army and a key operational center for [[Central Intelligence Agency]]-backed covert operations during the 1980s. The city served as the political and military base from which the [[Contras|Contra]] war against [[Nicaragua]] was directed.[^1] ### FDN Headquarters [[Enrique Bermudez|Enrique Bermúdez]] was persuaded to move his Legion of September 15 from [[Guatemala]] to Tegucigalpa as part of a CIA-arranged merger in August 1981 that created the FDN. The Contra army maintained its headquarters in the city, coordinating military operations, weapons shipments, and political activities. [[Fernando Chamorro|"El Negro" Chamorro]] operated from the Cuban-owned Hacienda El Pescado outside Tegucigalpa. The city's proximity to the Nicaraguan border made it the natural staging ground for cross-border attacks.[^2] ### Cocaine Trafficking [[Danilo Blandon|Danilo Blandón]] was once stopped at Tegucigalpa airport carrying $100,000 in drug proceeds to be used in a [[Bolivia|Bolivian]] drug deal while escorted by armed Contras. The incident illustrated how Honduras functioned as both a military base for the Contra army and a transit point for the drug trafficking that funded it. SETCO, owned by Honduran drug kingpin [[Juan Matta Ballesteros]], was based in the country and served as the principal air transport company for the FDN.[^3] ### Footnotes [^1]: Gary Webb, *Dark Alliance*, Ch. 6. [^2]: Gary Webb, *Dark Alliance*, Ch. 6, Ch. 5. [^3]: Gary Webb, *Dark Alliance*, Ch. 3, Ch. 14.