Robert McFarlane

Robert "Bud" McFarlane served as President Ronald Reagan's national security adviser during the period when the Contras reached their lowest ebb, both on the battlefield and in the battle for U.S. public opinion during the winter of 1984–85.¹

Advice to FDN Leadership

In January 1985, as the FDN spent its last batch of Central Intelligence Agency money and Contra forces retreated from Nicaragua into Honduras, McFarlane told FDN leader Adolfo Calero that perhaps it was time to start thinking about "cutting both our losses and theirs." The administration's prestige was riding on the Contras; Reagan had compared them to the founding fathers of the American Revolution during a speech. The FDN's only ray of hope was to withdraw from battle and lie low until spring, when Congress agreed to let the administration make one more pitch for funding.¹

Context

McFarlane's pessimistic counsel came after twelve months of consecutive public relations disasters for the Contra project, including the CIA's seeding of Nicaraguan harbors with mines, a bombing at Eden Pastora's jungle headquarters, the public exposure of a CIA-printed terrorism manual, and the passage of a stringent Boland Amendment in October 1984 that cut off all U.S. government funding for the Contras.¹