CIA RECALLS STATION CHIEF FROM COSTA RICA

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000504130012-9
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: February 27, 2012
• Sequence Number: 12
• Publication Date: January 17, 1987
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/02/28: CIA-RDP90-00965R000504130012-9
By Doyle McManus
and Michael Wines
CIA Recalls Station Chief From Costa Rica
WASHINGTON POST
17 January 1987
Central Intelligence Agency than
has been reported, the sources said.
The station chief, whose name
has not been di
l
d
i
vu
ge
,
s thought to
The CIA recalled its chief officer have relayed messages between
in Costa Rica last week for aiding contra groups in Costa Rica and
the private airlift of weapons to Ni- members of the secret air force
caraguan contras during a ban on operated by retired major general
U.S. military aid to them, adminis- Richard V. Secord, the sources
tration and congressional sources said.
said. According to one source, the CIA
The intelligence agency told the station chief also passed messages
Senate Select Committee on Intel- about the airlift directly to North,
ligence this week that it recalled its who was then an aide to the Nation-
station chief from the U.S. Embassy al Security Council. A congressional
in San Jose, the Costa Rican capital, aide said that the Senate intelli-
because of "unauthorized contacts gence committee was investigating
with private benefactors" who were that issue but that it had not yet
aiding the rebels, a knowledgeable drawn conclusions.
source said. The incident raises new ques-
Congress is investigating that tions about the CIA's role in the
incident as well as other reports airlift, which dropped tons of weap-
that Lt. Col. Oliver L. North, the ons and ammunition to rebels inside
White House aide who oversaw Nicaragua until one of its planes
was shot down Oct. 5, killing three
both the administration's efforts to crewmen and delivering a fourth
win private support for the contras into the hands of the Sandinista re-
and its secret arms sales to [ran, gime.
received more assistance from the The CIA has repeatedly denied
any role in the airlift. Congressional
sources noted that the agency's
report to the Senate intelligence
committee condemned the station
chief's actions as unauthorized.
But they said that Congress was
investigating reports that the offi-
cer's actions were encouraged by
senior officials at CIA headquarters
outside Washington and that Nortlx
reported many of his activities in
Central America to the agency as'
well.
Kathy Pherson, speaking for the
CIA, said that she could not com-
ment on the reported recall of the
station chief. "All I can say is that
the CIA has complied with all con-
gressional restrictions on assistance
to the contras," she said.
Congress banned U.S. military
aid to the contras, who are fighting
the government of Nicaragua, from
mid-1984 until last October. Under
a 1985 revision of the law, the CIA
was allowed to provide the rebels
with intelligence information and
communications equipment but no
other military assistance.
Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/02/28: CIA-RDP90-00965R000504130012-9