PRIVATE GROUPS STEP UP AID TO 'CONTRAS'

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000706510002-4
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: February 22, 2012
• Sequence Number: 2
• Publication Date: May 3, 1985
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/02/22 : CIA-RDP9O-00965ROO0706510002-4
X
By Peter H. Stone
Sprnal to Thr Wo.hmptnn Voct
Whether President Reagan ever wins
congressional approval of funds for rebels
fighting Nicaragua's leftist Sandinista gov-
ernment, a private-sector campaign involv-
ing well-known conservatives is intensifying
its efforts to keep the insurgents well-
supplied.
The rebels continue to claim that they
are well-funded, though it is impossible to
establish precisely where the money is com-
ing from. The two most prominent and ac-
tive support groups identified so far are the
World Anti- u ' e e (WACL) and,
its U.. chapter, the United States Council,
for World Freedom (USCWF). The head of
botfC organizations - is retired Army major
caraguan border, Jenkins said.
inglaub said the U.S. drive by USCWF
general John K. Si ub, who was ousted noting that the chapters in Brazil and Ar- ! S
K
d
as chief o s of U.S. orces in South
its allies is bringing in just under
o- . gentina are large and active. an
rea in 1977 when he publicly criticized The. humanitarian side of Singlaub's $500,000 a month, one third to one half of
President Jimmy Carter. drive-collecting medicine, food, clothing it from a group of wealthy Texas conserva-
Singlaub apparently is an informal link and other nonlethal aid-has focused on i tives. They include Bert Hurlbut, president
among several other organizations raising domestic donors. This effort, he said, "has of First Texas Royalty and Exploration Co.,
money and political support for the "contra" the support of the White House, the Pen- Prominent, conservative donor Ellen St.
rebels, whom they call "freedom fighters." tagon and [the Department of] State.." - John Garwood and Mr. and Mrs. John How-
The boards, donors and membership lists of Singlaub works actively for the Ni- ell of Howell Instruments. All confirmed
these groups overlap, often reading like. a caraguan rebels' cause. Six weeks ago he that they had made donations.
"Who's Who".of the right. They say that in was at a contra training camp with Calero I Singlaub set up the, U.S. Council for
the wake of congressional refusal to provide offering advice and encouragement and World Freedom in Phoenix, Ariz., in late
U.S. aid to the rebels, it is up to private promising to do more fund-raising. Within ! 1981 with a loan of about $20,000 from
citizens to show U.S. support for democrat- days, the general was seeking donations at Taiwan, according to retired Air Force lieu.
' is efforts worldwide. ' a Palm Springs meeting of the conservative,' tenant colonel Albert Koen, who was
Adolfo Calero, political chief of the Ni- 400-member Council for National Policy, USCWF treasurer until May 1984. Koen
caraguan Democratic Force, the largest made up of business, religious and political said conservative Colorado businessman
rebel group, said in an interview that "a sub- leaders, of which he is a board-member. Joseph Coors was one of the group's few
- stantial-part" of his arms'funds have come Singlaub also is a board member of West '
through Singlaub. He said his cash flow has, ern Goals, a conservative educational group; early backers and remains a staunch sup-
improved recently, and estimated his total founded by the late Rep. Larry McDonald Porter. -
. receipts at "close to $10 million," of which (D-Ga.), and is on the -advisory board of Ref-i The USCWF board includes several
40 percent is arms and the rest nonlethal ugee Relief International, an organization' prominent conservatives: Retired lieuten-
help. ant general Daniel 0. Graham of High Fron-
that has aided Salvadoran refugees that was g "Star Wazs" lobby, vice chair-
aid 'organizations send humanitarian established by editors of Soldier of Fortune'; tier, the as
aid to refugees in the area and try to avoid - magazine, a journal specializing in stories' man; Anna Chennault, president 'of Trans-
supplying any of the various armed groups.: about mercenaries. Singlaub has said he has portation and Communications (TAC) 1n-
The Connecticut-based Americares Foun- helped raise funds for Friends of the Amer-' ternational;- John Fisher of the American
dation, for example, dispatched $14 million icas, a Louisiana-based,group chaired by`, Security Council; former U.S. 'represent-
.-in medical aid last year, mostly to El Sal- Louisiana state Rep. Woody Jenkins, a con- ative John LeBoutillier (R-N.Y.), and Sam-
11 vador, and plans $20 million this year, dis- servative Democrat. my Y. Jung, a Korean business consultant.,
tributed through Knights of Malta groups' Hurlbut, who sits on the advisory-board
of the USCWF, said he heard about Sing=
laub through High Frontier while helping it
raise funds. Since he joined iii" 1982,."the
,%'ASH1V,T N L11T
3 ',Liu 19:5
Private Groups Step Up Aid
jj I21.8 ?'FF.~6 ~
DI FA.-'
to 'Contras,
regionwide. About $3 million of that has
gone to refugees in Honduras, where many
of the families of Nicaraguan contras are
living.
The president of the Americares Foun-
dation, Robert C. Macauley, acknowledged
that there is no way to guarantee that re-
cipients are apolitical. Other aid donors,
such as Singlaub, openly are helping the
"contras" fight the Sandinistas.
In a recent interview, Singlaub said that
he has raised almost $2 million outside the
United States for arms for the Nicaraguan,
rebels, primarily through the World Anti-:
Communist League. (U.S. law bans fund
raising inside U.S. borders for weapons -to,
be sent overseas.) He and Calero said they,
were seeking military and financial help
from WALL chapters in South America,
Jenkins said in an interview that his group
has sent $1.5 million in medical aid to ref-
ugee groups in Honduras, including some
Miskito Indians. His wife, Diane, a group
director, said the aid includes 25,000 "shoe-
boxes" from private donors.
"They're like little CARE packages [with]
a pound of beef, rice, soap, vitamins, can-
dles and salt," she said, and sometimes in-
clude fishing lines, hooks and a mirror or
photographs of the donors. She said they
are worth $25 to $30 each.
Imposition of U.S. economic sanctions
against Nicaragua, announced Wednesday
by President Reagan, will lead to "thou-
sands of people fleeing out of Nicaragua,
and we hope to increase our efforts," espe-
cially on the Pacific Coast near the Ni-
Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/02/22 : CIA-RDP9O-00965ROO0706510002-4
 Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/02/22 : CIA-RDP90-00965R000706510002-4
general and I have been working the fund- "This program has been coordinated M?
Q -
raising side of the street," Hurlbut said. He the jHonduranj president s wife, the amba.- nam war he ran a classified covert operation
has traveled around the world with Singlaub sador's wife and my wife," Woellner said. from 1966 to 1461+ known as the Studies
and said the general is "treated like royalty Former U.S. ambassador to Honduras Phil- and Observation Grou or SOG. Using
by resistance forces everywhere." ip Sanchez is now head of Causa's U.S. about 10,000 men, G ran secret raids
Hurlbut has been heading the private branch, and its board of directors includes sabotage and svc oloold cal o rations in
drive in Texas with Singlaub. He said he Daniel Graham of High Frontier and Lloyd North Vietnam, Cambodia and pe
.
and Mrs. Garwood have contributed more Bucher, commander of the USS Pueblo
than $100,000, but emphasized that the when it was captured by North Korea. His deputy during that program was Brig.
money is used for medicine, food and cloth- WACL's most visible annual activities Gen. Harry C. Aderholt, who now runs the
in for the contras, their families and ref- have been its conventions and its World Florida-based Air Commando Association
g that transports donated medical and other
ugees. Freedom Day rallies. Since the early 1970s,
"hone of the funds from this country go WACL conventions in Europe, Latin Amer- supplies to refugees, primarily in El Sal-
for hardware. We've sohcited funds else- ica and Asia have drawn delegates from 100 vador.
where for that. The entire WACL board is member countries and international groups. Another transport organization, the Ci-
trying to help out with arms," Hurlbut said. Recently they have included representa- vilian Military Assistance Group, headed by
The WACL chapter in France "has been tives from the anti-Castro Cuban terrorist Tom Posey and based in Alabama, claims
very good in helping out" and the one in group Alpha 66 and the far right Italian po- more than 1,000 members nationwide and
Britain "has been getting more involved," he litical party Italian Social Movement. The has sent several volunteer teams to fight
said, referring to arms purchases. Chapters Italian terrorist group Ordine Novo, Cro- with the contras. Two of its men were killed
in Taiwan, South Korea and Saudi Arabia atian terrorist organizations and the Argen- Sept. 1 when their helicopter was' shot
are among.the most active and generous, tine AAA death squads also were repre- down over Nicaragua.
sented, according to freelance writer Hen- Last year, Singlaub headed a panel for
each contributing more than $100,000 a rik Kruger, author of the book "The Great Fred kle, the undersecretary o defense
year for WACL general operating purposes Heroin Coup." for policy, which recommended the use of
and more for emergencies or special pro- Calero mentioned that he attended the more unconventional warfare tactics in
jects, Hurlbut said. His statements could WACL convention last September in San Central America. Also last year, Sin laub
not be independently confirmed. Diego and discussed contra needs with two set up a private center in boulder old.
The World Anti-Communist League was WACL board members: Ku and Belgian called the Institute for Regional and Inter-
formed in' Taiwan in 1967 as an outgrowth Sen. Robert Close, a retired general who national Studies. a said it will "recruit peo-
of the Asian Peoples Anti-Communist heads the European branch. "They said they pie" with intelligence-gathering an psvcho-
League, a regional alliance against commu- logical o erations skills to. train the Sal-
n
nism launched at the behest of Chiang Kai- II were going to help and my understanding is, vapor police and perhaps the Nicaragua
retie s
" Cal
ro said
th
h
th
t th
h
'
.
.
roug
,
e
ave come
a
ey
-WACL board ,,.
shek after the Korean war.
member and honorary chairman Dr. Iiiu, Hurlbut said some USCWF board mem- Singlaub is now ,.planning this year's'
Cheng-kang, head of the Taiwan chapter, 'bers have helped in innovative ways. Sam- USCWF conference in Dallas this Septem-
has been a high level member of the ruling my Jung, the Korean consultant to Amez- her. The final night's.schedule is set: it will
Nationalist Party in Taiwan.for almost 50 ican, Korean and Taiwanese firms, has ob- be a "Freedom Fighters Ball and Banquet"
years. tained a large quantity of clothing for 'the to support the contras.
Hurlbut maintained that the Taiwan and contras at reduced rates. Hurlbut: said he is St ff
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n rt
r panne mang co
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W
South Korea chapters are sending $50,000 trying to get a wealthy clothing manufac- this report.
per month each to the contras. But Singlaub turer in Taiwan to provide similarly inex-
"
and that pensive clothing for the rebels, and said he
said that was "wishful thinking
Hurlbut was not in a position to know the has approached the Mormon church about
figures. providing seed'packages in large quantities.
Some WACL chapters have close ties to In .the past month, Singlaub has made
the Unification Church of the 'Rev. Sun fund-raising trips to Fort Worth and Palm
Myung Moon. The Japanese chapter of Springs, Fla., where he said he 'obtained
WACL was founded in the late 1960s by about $100,000 in commitments from fel-
Rvoichi Sasakawa, a wealthy conservative low members of the Council for National
businessman who now heads the Japanese Policy. The 400 or so members of this
Shipbuilding Industry Foundation. He was group, -headed until recently by Woody
jailed as a war criminal after World War II Jenkins, are religious, business and political
and subsequently helped ,start the Unifica- conservatives including oil magnate Nelson
tion Church in Japan. Bunker Hunt, Christian Broadcasting Net-'
An arm of the Unification Church called work chief Pat Robertson, singer Pat Boone
Causa has run media seminars around Latin ` and Robert J. Perry of Perry Homes.
America for several years in the "cause" of An aide to Hunt confirmed that he 'lids
anti-communism. -Its director, retired gen-
eral E. David Woellner, said the group has
"set up our own channels of shipment and
programs" to aid refugee groups in Hondu-
ras with food, clothing, toys, blankets and
canvas for tents. He said the estimated $1
million in aid the group has sent since mid-
1984 included a field kitchen, and that for-
mer U.S. ambassador John Negroponte had
provided "cooperation."
donated funds to aid Miskito Indians; Hurl-
but said Perry was a contibutor to refugee
aid, but Perry could not be reached. - ' "'
Much of Sinnelauub's 35-vear-milita ca-
reer in-voted classified programs and co-
vert operations, starting with the ice o
Strategic Services in or war 11 and then
as a CIA station chief in ukden, China. He
was deputy CIA station chief in 'South Korea
during the war there, and during the iet-
Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/02/22 : CIA-RDP90-00965R000706510002-4