---
category: City
summary: Tegucigalpa, the capital of Honduras, was the headquarters of the FDN Contra
  army and a key operational center for CIA-backed covert operations during the 1980s.
tags:
- geography
- central-america
- contra-war
---

Tegucigalpa, the capital of [Honduras](/places/honduras/), was the headquarters of the [FDN](/organizations/fdn/) Contra army and a key operational center for [Central Intelligence Agency](/organizations/central-intelligence-agency/)-backed covert operations during the 1980s. The city served as the political and military base from which the [Contra](/organizations/contras/) war against [Nicaragua](/places/nicaragua/) was directed.[^1]

### FDN Headquarters

[Enrique Bermúdez](/people/enrique-bermudez/) was persuaded to move his Legion of September 15 from [Guatemala](/places/guatemala/) to Tegucigalpa as part of a CIA-arranged merger in August 1981 that created the FDN. The Contra army maintained its headquarters in the city, coordinating military operations, weapons shipments, and political activities. ["El Negro" Chamorro](/people/fernando-chamorro/) operated from the Cuban-owned Hacienda El Pescado outside Tegucigalpa. The city's proximity to the Nicaraguan border made it the natural staging ground for cross-border attacks.[^2]

### Cocaine Trafficking

[Danilo Blandón](/people/danilo-blandon/) was once stopped at Tegucigalpa airport carrying $100,000 in drug proceeds to be used in a [Bolivian](/places/bolivia/) drug deal while escorted by armed Contras. The incident illustrated how Honduras functioned as both a military base for the Contra army and a transit point for the drug trafficking that funded it. SETCO, owned by Honduran drug kingpin [Juan Matta Ballesteros](/people/juan-matta-ballesteros/), was based in the country and served as the principal air transport company for the FDN.[^3]

[^1]: Webb, Gary. *Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion.* Seven Stories Press, 1998. Ch. 6.
[^2]: Webb, Gary. *Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion.* Seven Stories Press, 1998. Ch. 6, Ch. 5.
[^3]: Webb, Gary. *Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion.* Seven Stories Press, 1998. Ch. 3, Ch. 14.