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Central America

Geographic region connecting North and South America that was the primary theater of Contra operations, drug trafficking, and CIA covert activities during the 1980s.

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Central America is the geographic region connecting North and South America that was the primary theater of operations for the Contra war, cocaine trafficking, and Central Intelligence Agency covert activities during the 1980s.1

Contra War Theater

The Central American nations of Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador, Costa Rica, and Guatemala formed the battleground for the U.S.-backed Contra war against the Sandinista government of Nicaragua. The FDN operated from Honduras, while ARDE and UDN-FARN were based in Costa Rica. Ilopango Air Force Base in El Salvador served as the hub for Oliver North's Contra air force.2

Drug Trafficking Corridor

Central America was the transit corridor for cocaine flowing from Colombia and Bolivia to the United States. CIA-connected pilots and Contra aircraft moved drugs through airstrips in Costa Rica, Ilopango in El Salvador, and forward operating bases in Honduras. DEA agent Celerino Castillo documented Contra drug shipments from Ilopango, and Enrique Miranda testified about cocaine flights from El Salvador to U.S. military airfields in Texas.3

Sources

  1. Webb, Gary. Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion. Seven Stories Press, 1998. Glossary of Organizations and Locations ↩
  2. Webb, Gary. Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion. Seven Stories Press, 1998. Chapter 13: "The wrong kind of friends" ↩
  3. Webb, Gary. Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion. Seven Stories Press, 1998. Chapter 13: "The wrong kind of friends" ↩

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