3 KEY FIGURES IN CONTRA SUPPLY LINE

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP91-00587R000200910001-1
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: July 28, 2010
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: December 10, 1986
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/07/28 :CIA-RDP91-005878000200910001-1
ARTICIEAP PJi:W YORK TIMES
ON PAGE
10 December 1986
3 Key Figures in Con ra upp y lne
BY JOSEPH B. TREASTER
Sf+tttel io The New YorU 7fmn
MIAMI, Dec. 9 -Three veterans of
the 1961 Bay ~f p~qs in-asio!? of Cuba,'
all with long ttes to the Central Intelli-
gence Agency and one of them an ac-
cused international terrorist, have
emerged as key figures in the clandes-
tine air network that delivered tons of
weapons and ammunition to the anti-
Sandinista rebels in Nicaragua
One ot. the veterans, Luia Posada_
C~a L11ss..a 58-yearold expert n,Tguer
rills warfare and demolitions, escaped
from a Venezuelan prison in August
1985 after being held for nearly 10
years on charges of masterminding a
bombing that destroyed a Cuban
airliner and killed 73 people. The case
is still pending in Venezuela.
According to American crew mem-
bers of the planes that carried the rebel
war materiel, the three Bay of Piga
veterans were instrumental in setting
up the headquarters for the supply
operation in San Salvador and in coor-
dinating cargo drops to rebel units op?
erasing inside Nicaragua.
Critics regard Mr. Posada, who has
devoted much of his life to trying to un-
dermine the Communist Government
of Fidel Castro, as a terrorist and say
his involvement with United States-
backed Nicaraguan rebels seems
starkly a[ odds with the Reagan Ad-
ministration's campaign against inter-
national terrorism. Supporters, how-
ever, regard Mr. Posada as a dedicated
Cuban nationalist and questlon the va-
lidity of the bombing charges.
U.S. Admits No Role
Reagan Administration officials
have refused to acknowledge Mr. Posa-
da's participation in the rebel supply
operation. Administration officials
have acknowledged that the United
States monitored the operation, but
they say it did not organize, finance or
direct it. However, many of those
whose participation has so far become
known have had long relationships with
United States intelligence services and
train helico
bud-
said he tear
wntch irtenda
on C. [.A. ooerat ons ''
Rodriguez, who was known in EI Salva-
` dot as Max G6mez, helped them get
permission to operate out of the main
base of the Salvadoran Air Force near.
the capital of EI Salvador and served
as liaison between them and senior Sal-'
vadoran military officers. The Amer?
icans say Mr. Rodriguez also obtained
Salvadoran Air Force identification
cards for them.
da, who used the alias Ramon taeauta,
was in charge of such administrative
matters as housing, ground transpora-
tion and daily living expenses and was
referred to as "the caretaker..,
Friends recall that iA some Cuban exile
;groups that organized raids against
Cuba to the 1980's, Mr. Posada was in
charge of supplies, including explo-
slues.
I
Fkid Llatson Wlth Cattras !
The third Bay of Pigs veteran, Ra-
fael Quintero, who is believed to be in
his middle to late 40's, met with contra
field commanders to determine what
supplies they needed and where they
wanted them dropped, then transmit-
ted the information to the headquar-
ters at Ilopango, the American tliftra
said.
The American airmen said Mr. QWn-
tero regularly shuttled between Miami,
San Salvador and the capitals of Costa
Rica and Honduras and was given the
nickname "The Traveler." They say he
also used the code name Ralph.
Cuban-American t~ef~ here sav
;E_~
Mr. Ouittiero has wor[tea on a numrxr
of C.1.A. Projects over a vests
.. ,_ --r-,-T-,1~_
~ also in a. n r.~itiatero tes-
tit in a Washington court that he had
accepted an advance of 130,000 against
a tee of it million from a former C.I.A.
agent, Edwin P. Wilson, to assaaainate
a Libyan dissident to Egypt, but later
changed his mind.
The crew members said Mr.
Rodriguez had not originally been a
part of the rebel supply operation, but
that William J. Cooper, the chief pilot,
had turned to Mr. Rodriguez for help
because of his "local contacts" and
that Mr. Rodriguez and the two other
Bay of Pigs veterans soon became im-
portant members of the team.
A Cottnectloe to Bush
The airmen said tension arose be-
tween Mr. Rodriguez and Mr. Cooper
as to who was in charge and that Mr.
Cooper seemed intimidated by aaser-
tionsfrom Mr. Rodriguez that he was a
friend of Vice President Bush. Mr.
Bush has referred to Mr. Rodriguez as
"a patriot" and said he met with him
three times, most recently at a recep-
tion in Miami on May 20 to mark
Cuba's independence.
According to many accounts, Mr.
Rodriguez and Mr. Posada worked for
about a year at the lktpartgo air base.
They were often seen in the company of
military and civilian officials of the
United States and EI Salvador as well
as members of the contra forces. At
least once, according to a United States
Embassy spokesman in El Salvador,
Mr. Rodriguez httd lunch with the
United States Ambassador, Edwin G.
I Corr.
Salvadoran Government for his work
with the Salvadoran Air Force and one
foreigner who has closely studied the
Salvadoran military said. Mr. ,
Rodriguez had "probably done more
~ hun~ to improve the military
guerrillas."
Yet officials of both the United States
and EI Salvador as well as rebel lead-
ersdeny any formal connection with ei-
ther Mr. Rodriguez or Mr. Posada.
The Presence of Mr. Rodrigusz and
Mr. Posada in EI Salvador and their
work on the contra resupply operation
was made public by Ettgene Hasentus,
a 45-yearokl American who para-
chuted from a supply plane that was
shot down in Nipragua in early Otto-
ber. Mr. Cooper and two others died in
the crash. Mr. Hasenfus has been sen-
~ fenced to 30 years in prison by a Nica-
raguan military court,
Ex-0tikW Corroborates
David A. Phillips, a retired C.LA. offi-
cial who was in charge of the agency's
Latin American operatiotta until 1975,
said in an interview that the "stories to
the press" about Mr. Posada "seem
pretty accurate," adding, "1 couldn't
think of anything to dispute, including ~;
the parts saying he was connected to
,.
A ~spoit~man for the C.I.A. would not
say whether the three men had ever
worked for the agency.
Friends of Mr. Rodriguez describe
him as a dedicated anti-Communist
and say they believe he worked without
salary in Central America. Sometimes,
the friends said, they paid for airline
tickets so that he could visit his wife
and two grown children here. There
have been persistent rumors that Mr.
Posada's escape from the Venezuelan
jail and his [ravel across the Caribbean
to El Salvador were financed by
wealthy Cuban-Americans in Miami.
In 1984 a group of Cuban-Americans
here formed a committee to raise
money for Mr. Posada, Dr. Orlando
Bosch, a Miami pediatrician and wo
others jailed in the Cuban air~ine
bombing. The group appealed to the
United Nations and Amnesty Interna-
tional to urge Venezuela to bring the
proceedings to a conclusion.
Dr. Armando Cruz and Dr. Alberto
Hernandez, two physicians who have
been identified in the past with the
committee, refused through their sec-
retaries to speak to a journalist. Sila
Cuervo, a Bay of Pigs veteran who has
also been identified with the commit-
tee, hung up shortly after a journalist
identified himself.
A Search of Phooe Records
M.r. Cuervo is the godfather of one of
Mr. Posada's sons and, according to
~ records obtained from the Salvadoran
~ telephone company, received at least
Goobn .~~
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two calls from a telephone in one of two
safehouses used by the American air
crews in El Salvador and frequented by
Mr. Rodriguez and Mr. Posada. The
telephone company records show a
number of calls to friends and relatives
of Mr. Rodriguez and Mr. Posada in
Miami from the satehouses.
Friends and relatives say they have
spoken Co Mr. Rodriguez and Mr.
.-osad:. by telephone in the last few
weeks and that they are trying to keep
out of the public eye; some have
spoken to Mr. Rodriguez in the last few
days. He is believed to be in the United
States, possibly Miami. The two others
Eare believed to be in Central America.
After the failure of the Bay of Pigs in-
vasion in 1961, Mr. Rodriguez, Mr.
'Posada and about 200 other partici-
pants were given commissions in the
United States Army. As many as 100 of
the invasion veterans, including some
who became army officers, continued
[o work closely with the C.I.A. on hun-
dreds of attempts to destroy Mr. Cas-
tro's regime.
In 1967 Mr. Rodriguez was part of a
United States Army Special Forces
team in Bolivia that helped track down
Ch~ Guevara, the Argentine-born revo-
lutionary colleague of Mr. Castro.
In Vietnam, friends say, Mr.
Rodriguez worked in helicopters of the
C.I.A.'s proprietary airline, Air Amer-
ica, and was shot down five times. In
the mid-70's, friends say, he began re-
ceiving a United States Government
disabiity pension.
In 1979 and 1980, Mr. Rodriguez
worked as an arms broker in Miami
and later, for about two years, served
as an adviser to the Argentine military.
Donald P. Gre the national se-
curity a vtser to r. Bush and a tor-
mer C.I.A. official, has said that he
recommended Mr. Rodriguez for a job
with the Salvadoran Air Force at Mr.
Rodriguez's request. How Mr. Posada
came to join Mr. Rodriguez in the rebel
supply operation is not clear.
After officer training at Fort Ben-
ning, friends say, Mr. Posada spent
most of the 1960's in raids and sabotage
attacks against Cuba under the direc-
tion of the C.I.A. station in Miami. In
the late 1960's and early 1970's he
served as an counterinsurgency advi-
sor to the Venezuelan Army and even-
tually became chief of operations for
its national police.
In 1974 he opened a private security
agency in Venezuela and also, accord-
ing to one Miami friend, began manu-
factoring silencers for handguns. He,
was arrested in October 1976 on
charges of blowing up the Cuban airlin-.
er.
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