#contras

A interesting photo series which shows US UH-60A "Blackhawk" helicopters of different US units, which supported Operations of the Honduran Army during the Joint US-Honduran exercise "Ahuas Tara II" in early 1984. Central America became during the Reagan years to one of the major hotspot regions of the Cold War, with Nicaragua shattered by a Communist influenced revolution in 1979 and El Salvador which sank into a bloody civil war between gouverment forces and Communist rebels from the late 1970s on. It were these two nations which became to major problems for the Reagan administration. A "second Cuba" should be prevented by all means. While El Salvador saw massive support from US side, probably comparable to the US support for South Vietnam during the late 1960s and especially early 1970s, Nicaragua became the stage for a brutally fought and sinister "dirty war", organized, financed and supported by the CIA. From 1980 on the CIA launched a massive program, which supported dozens of groups in the region which fought actively against the Communist Sandinista regime in Nicaragua. Groups, which contained mostly members of the former notorious National Guard under Nicaraguan dictator Somoza, a formation responsible for countless war crimes and other atrocities. These groups went into history with their umbrella term, "Contras".

The CIAs war in Nicaragua is a topic on its own, with a massive network of sinister and "dark" channels which reached from drug trafficking to illegal arms dealings and the cooperation with the organized crime in the region. But what is mostly forgotten with this "dirty war", is the fact that regular US Armed Forces were also present in the region. Large numbers of US Army, Air Force and Navy assets were deployed to or off coast of Honduras, which became to a kind of forwarded base for the US in the region. With Honduras as the most important Ally in the region for the US. This led to a major presence of US Forces in Honduras from the early 1980s on, plus a large number of Joint US and Honduran military exercises within the country.

Such exercises were a major show of force, a strong signal to the gouverment in Nicaragua that any attempt to invade or attack Honduras would lead to a massive retaliation from US side. Beside Costa Rica in the South, it was Honduras which was used by the CIAs "Contra" forces as a major "base" and "safe haven" for its Operations into Nicaragua.

"Ahuas Tara II" was one of these large military exercises which were more as a regular training for Honduran and US forces. Up to this point it was the largest US led military exercise in Honduras and consisted over 5000 US soldiers, a carrier Strike Group, the US Battleship USS "New Jersey" (BB-62) and several additional US Navy, USMC and Air Force assets. Part of the exercise was also a simulated Amphibious landing at the East Coast of Honduras by USMC forces. In the South of the country US Special Forces supported Honduran forces in COIN (Counterinsurgency) training. The whole exercise had one major goal, to prepare the Armed Forces of both nations for a possible invasion of the South of Honduras by Nicaraguan forces.

The result: Syria dismembered, the flow of material aid to the Palestinian people and resistance disrupted as winter famine looms, the Resistance Axis weakened.

In the long run, the Empire won't win. But for now, the fall of the Syrian Arab Republic is a serious blow not only to the peoples of the region, but to all the movements and countries resisting imperialism worldwide.

Indiana Gazette  August 16, 1984

by Jack Anderson

WASHINGTON – In the Central American hinterlands, it is sometimes difficult to distinguish the CIA’s operatives from the Rev. Sun Myung Moon’s disciples. They appear to be working in harness against the communist-tainted Sandinista regime in Nicaragua.

This troubles at least one Pentagon analyst, now stationed in Korea, who has warned the White House that the CIA-Moonie connection could cause possible political damage to President Reagan’s re-election campaign.

The analyst’s unofficial memo, titled “Potential Problems,” has been slipped to my associate Donald Goldberg.

“Current Moonie involvement with government officials, contractors and grantees (in Central America) could create a major scandal,” the memo warns. “If their activities and role become public knowledge, it will unite both the left and the right in attacking the administration.”

The memo continues: “If efforts are not taken to stop their growing influence and weed out current Moonie involvement in government, the president stands a good chance of being portrayed in the media as a poor, naive incompetent who is strong on ideology and weak on common sense. …

“The likelihood of a reporter or a Democratic staff member piecing the total picture together is too great to be neglected. Any thought that this festering problem will go away if ignored is foolish.”

The “total picture” of Moon’s activities in Latin America is not clear. But there is no doubt that the Korean Messiah – now in prison for income tax evasion [and forgery and perjury] – has established a solid presence in the region, with ties to right-wing groups and U.S.-supported guerrillas.

My associate John Lee Anderson reports from Central America that CAUSA international, Moon’s political front, has representatives working in programs that help the CIA in its “contra” war against the Sandinista government.

CAUSA maintains a publicity office in Tegucigalpa, the Hondoran capital, but its principal activities are in the field. CAUSA provides cash and other aid to Hondoran-based Nicaraguan contras and Hondoran right-wing political groups. Many anti-Sandinista guerrillas wear red CAUSA T-shirts with a map of the world on them.

But CAUSA and its affiliate, the Refugee Relief Freedom Foundation, provide more than T-shirts to rebel groups. They also funnel supplies to refugee families in and near contra camps and pay for trips by rebel leaders to the United States.

One contra leader, Fernando “El Negro” Chamorro, told my associate that as early as 1981, CAUSA representatives sent him on an all-expenses paid trip to the United States to try to unify the Nicaraguan exile groups.

The airlift of supplies to the rebels by Moon’s Unification Church has escalated since congress cut off CIA funding for the contras. The administration has been attempting to “privatize” its war against the Sandinistas and is apparently willing to work with Moon’s people.

Footnote: A Unification Church spokesman denied that the church is engaged in any but religious activities in Central America.

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Sun Myung Moon organization activities in Central & South America

1. Introduction 2. ‘Illegal Aliens Joining Moonies’ – The Pittsburg Press 3. Moon’s ‘Cause’ Takes Aim At Communism in the Americas – Washington Post 4. Moon in Latin America: Building the Bases of a World Organisation – Guardian 5. Guatemala 6. Nicaragua 7. Honduras 8. Costa Rica 9. Bolivia 10. Uruguay 11. Paraguay 12. Brazil

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The Unification Church and the KCIA – ‘Privatizing’ covert action: the case of the UC

“The UC is truly anti-Christian” and produces “a species of material and spiritual slavery.” Catholic Bishops in Honduras

Sun Myung Moon’s Drug Paradise

Emperor of the Universe video transcript and link

Robert Parry’s investigations into Sun Myung Moon

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FBI and other reports on Sun Myung Moon

Contents 1. FBI Report (San Francisco office) on the UC / FFWPU, September 1975 2. “The Moonies: Government Files Trace Church from Sex Cult to Korean CIA”
 by James Coates, Chicago Tribune, Monday, March 27, 1978 3. “The pull of Sun Moon” by Berkeley Rice,  New York Magazine, May 30, 1976 4. Sun Myung Moon and Takeru Kamiyama jailed in 1984 for US tax crimes 5. The Moon Organization Academic Network by Daniel Junas,  Fall 1991 6. “The Moonies – What Rev. Moon teaches the young”
 by Harry V. Martin and David Caul, Napa Sentinel, March-April 3, 1992