Francisco Aviles
U.S.-educated Nicaraguan lawyer and CIA asset who worked closely with the CIA in Costa Rica funneling funds to Contra organizations and was directly involved in the San Francisco Frogman case.
Francisco Aviles Saenz was a U.S.-educated Nicaraguan attorney, Central Intelligence Agency asset, and UDN-FARN official who played a central role in the attempt to recover drug money seized during the Frogman Case.1
Background
Aviles was the brother-in-law of Horacio Pereira, Norwin Meneses's top cocaine dealer in Costa Rica. He was educated in the United States and served as the international relations secretary for UDN-FARN. He helped set up the Committee in Defense of Democracy in Nicaragua, described as a CIA front in San José, Costa Rica, with money from Venezuelan sources.2
The Frogman Case Intervention
When Julio Zavala was arrested in February 1983, police seized $36,020 from his nightstand. Aviles wrote to U.S. District Judge Robert Peckham identifying himself as a UDN-FARN official and claiming the money belonged to the Contras. Zavala, he stated, was the assistant treasurer of the Conservative Party of Nicaraguans in Exile (PCNE) and a longtime member of UDN-FARN, which "fights for the restoration of the democratic system in the Republic of Nicaragua...under the slogan 'God, Fatherland and Freedom.'" Aviles offered to testify to Zavala's position.2
Aviles provided supporting documents including Zavala's UDN-FARN credentials, a letter appointing him as assistant treasurer of PCNE, a receipt showing the group had given him $45,000, and Aviles's own sworn statement.2
CIA Protection
The CIA's Costa Rican station cabled Langley warning that Aviles was a Contra official and CIA asset belonging to an organization that had "unwittingly received CIA support." CIA headquarters discovered Aviles had attended an August 1982 conference in Miami where he was elected to the board of directors of the PCNE, which was receiving CIA money.2
CIA lawyer Lee Strickland flew to San Francisco to ensure the depositions did not proceed. Strickland told prosecutor Mark Zanides the CIA "would be immensely grateful if these depositions did not go forward." The government ultimately returned the $36,020 to Aviles and Zavala in October 1984.2
After the case, Aviles was appointed to the general staff of UDN-FARN in 1985. The 1998 CIA Inspector General's report claimed that repeated references to Aviles as a CIA asset in the 1984 cables were "mistakes." Aviles was working for the Nicaraguan government as of 1998.1
Sources
Local network
Francisco Aviles's direct connections. Click any node to navigate, drag to pan, scroll (or pinch) to zoom. + 2‑hop expands the neighborhood one level further.