---
category: Iran-Contra
summary: Felipe Vidal was a CIA contract agent who proposed creating a private army
  in Costa Rica to fight the Sandinistas, exemplifying the freelance military operations
  supporting the Contra war.
tags:
- person
- cuban
- contra-war
---

Felipe Vidal was a [Central Intelligence Agency](/organizations/central-intelligence-agency/) contract agent who proposed creating a "small, professionally managed" private army in [Costa Rica](/places/costa-rica/) to fight the [Sandinistas](/organizations/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](/places/central-america/). Vidal also approached [George Morales](/people/george-morales/) with [Marcos Aguado](/people/marcos-aguado/) to solicit contributions to [Pastora](/people/eden-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]

[^1]: Webb, Gary. *Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion.* Seven Stories Press, 1998. Ch. 13.
[^2]: Webb, Gary. *Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion.* Seven Stories Press, 1998. Ch. 13.