CONFESSIONS OF A 'CONTRA'

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP91-00587R000100030008-2
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: March 8, 2011
• Sequence Number: 8
• Publication Date: August 5, 1985
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/03/08: CIA-RDP91-00587R000100030008-2
F7"1E AP RREQ 1 NEW REPUBLIC
On PAG 5 August 1985
How the CIA masterminds the Nicaraguan
CONFESSIONS OF A 'CONTRA'
BY EDGAR CHAMORRO WITH JEFFERSON MORLEY
Miami
f-IN DECEMBER 7, 1982, 1 met with five Nicaraguans
v and two Americans in an executive suite at the Four
Ambassadors Hotel in downtown Miami to rehearse for a
press conference we would be holding the next day. The
Nicaraguans were prominent (and in my case not so prom-
inent) opponents of the Somoza and Sandinista regimes
who were to be introduced as directors of the Nicaraguan
Democratic Force (FDN), that is, the contras. The Ameri-
cans were CIA agents. The one in charge, known to us as
Tony Feldman, was accompanied by Thomas Castillo, one
of his several assistants. They wanted to make sure we
said the right things in our first joint public appearance.
Feldman introduced two lawyers from Washington who
briefed us on the Neutrality Act, the American law prohib-
iting private citizens from waging war on another country
Edgar Chamorro served as a director of the anti-Sandinista
rebel organization, the Nicaraguan Democratic Force,
from 1982 to 1984. He now lives in Key Biscayne, Florida.
from U.S. territory. Feldman was worried we were going
to tell the press that we were trying to overthrow the
Sandinistas, which, of course, is exactly what we wanted
to do. He emphasized that we should say instead that we
were trying to "create conditions for democracy." After
the briefing we asked each other the questions we were
likely to face in the morning.
"Where have you been getting money?" someone
asked.
"Say your sources want to remain confidential," Feld-
man advised-a truthful and very clever answer.
"Have you had any contact with U.S. government
officials?"
The CIA men agreed there was no way to finesse this
one. We simply had to lie and say, "No." We practiced like
this for three hours.
The press conference, held in Fort Lauderdale to avoid
the risk of demonstrations in Miami, was all very solemn
and pompous. We filed into the Hilton Conference Center
one at a time, as if we were a government taking power;
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/03/08: CIA-RDP91-00587R000100030008-2