Aristides Sanchez
Wealthy Somoza-era landowner who became the head of supplies and logistics for the FDN, went on the CIA payroll, and allegedly served as the conduit for cocaine money from the Meneses drug ring in California.
Aristides Sánchez was a wealthy landowner under 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 Bermúdez and allegedly served as the conduit for cocaine money flowing from the 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 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 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.
Sources
- Webb, Gary. Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion. Seven Stories Press, 1998. Cast of Characters ↩
- Webb, Gary. Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion. Seven Stories Press, 1998. Chapter 4: "I never sent cash" ↩
- Webb, Gary. Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion. Seven Stories Press, 1998. Chapter 5: "God, Fatherland and Freedom" ↩
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