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169 lines
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HTML
169 lines
9.5 KiB
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<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
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<title>contra</title>
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<link rel="stylesheet" href="../CSSstyle.css"/>
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<!--Fill in your link line for CSS and JS in the XSLT here! -->
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</head>
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<body>
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<h1 id="title-index">contra</h1>
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<div id="conspiracy">
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<p>SOLDIER OF FORTUNE DIES MYSTERIOUSLY AFTER
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TALKING TO CONGRESSIONAL INVESTIGATORS</p>
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<p>by Vince Bielski and Dennis Bernstein</p>
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<p> A county coroner in Los Angeles has yet to announce the
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cause of death of Steven Carr, a 27-year-old U.S. mercenary who
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has provided Congress with much of what it knows about weapons
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shipments to the contras. Had Carr lived, he was also expected to
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testified in federal court against 29 contra supporters allegedly
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involved in cocaine trafficking, an assassination attempt on
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former contra leader Eden Pastora and a scheme to kill U.S
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Ambassador to Costa Rica Lewis Tambs.</p>
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<p> While Detective Mel Arnold of the Los Angeles Police
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Department said the department is investigating the possibility
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that Carr was murdered, at this point he said there doesn't
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appear to be any evidence of "foul play." But in the days before
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his death, Carr told several people that he feared he would be
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assassinated. He was "very paranoid and frightened" because of
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his role as a witness, Carr's sister Ann of Naples, Fla., said.</p>
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<p> Here is what the police are saying about Carr's death. He
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died at 4 am on December 13 in a parking lot near his friend's
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apartment in Van Nuys, Calif., where he was staying. In the
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predawn hours on this Saturday morning, while his friend,
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Jacqueline Scott, was asleep, Carr left the apartment for an
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unknown reason. After spending an undetermined amount of time
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outside, Carr began making noise which awoke Scott. Arnold said
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he could not describe the type of noise Carr was making. Scott
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found Carr in the parking lot, who was "distressed and having
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coordination problems." Soon after he died from a "probable
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cocaine overdose." Asked if the police found any physical
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evidence of cocaine use in the area of the apartment or parking
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lot, Arnold said "no comment."</p>
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<p> Dan Sheehan, an attorney with the Christic Institute in
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Washington which filed the law suit against the 29 contra
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supporter, said Carr used cocaine, but called him "an educated
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user." Martha Honey, a reporter for the BBC, became friends with
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Carr while he was a mercenary in Costa Rica. She said Carr was
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not the type of person who would kill himself because he was
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under pressure. "Stevie was a survivor. He had this ability to get
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himself in trouble but he always seemed to bounce back. He had a
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great sense of humor."</p>
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<p> The source of his fears were not just the contra
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supporters whose alleged crimes he revealed, but also the U.S.
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government. Carr said that while he was in Costa Rica, U.S.
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embassy officials threatened to jail him if he squealed on their
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contra operation in Costa Rica.</p>
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<p> In April 1985 Carr was arrested by Costa Rican authorities
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for violating the country's neutrality and sent to prison. Carr
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was one of several mercenaries based in northern Costa Rica on
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land owned and managed by a U.S. citizen and reported <span class="ORG" title="ORG">CIA</span>
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operative named John Hull. Evidence from several sources suggests
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that the contras operate what amounts to a military base on
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property controlled by Hull as well as an airbase for the
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movement of cocaine from <span class="GPE" title="GPE">Columbia</span> into the United States.</p>
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<p> While in jail, Carr spilled the beans about the contra
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operation. To reporters, he claimed that Hull had told him that
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Hull was the <span class="ORG" title="ORG">CIA</span> liaison to the contras and was receiving $10000 a
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month from the National Security Council to help finance the
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operation. Carr told Honey why he was revealing such secrets:
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"Carr said that the mercenaries had been led to believe that
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their mercenary activity was sanctioned by top U.S. military and
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Costa Rican officials. He was extremely bitter at having been
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arrested."</p>
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<p> Honey compiled information from Carr and other sources into
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a book focusing on the role of Hull and other contra supporters in
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the May 1984 assassination attempt against Pastora in Nicaragua
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in which a bomb explosion killed eight people and injured
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Pastora. Hull sued Honey, and her colleague Tony Avirgan, for
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libel in May 1986. Carr received a subpoena to appear at the
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trial, where he was to be a key witness for the reporters'
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defense.</p>
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<p> On May 16, Carr was released from jail. He later described
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the events which took place in his life over the course of the
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next week to Honey and an U.S. congressional aide involved in an
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investigation of the arms supply network to the contras.</p>
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<p> Carr said that Hull bailed him out of jail as a way of
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persuading him to testify on Hull's behalf. Hull requested that
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Carr testify that the reporters forced him to make the charges
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against Hull, Carr said.</p>
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<p> That same day, Carr said he went to the U.S. embassy to
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determine why he was arrested for participating in a war that the
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U.S. supports. He said he met with two officials, Kirk Kotula,
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the counsel general and John Jones, the acting chief of the
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consulute.</p>
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<p> According to Honey's notes of her conversation with Carr
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about his meeting with the officials, Carr said: "The officials
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told me they knew all about Hull's contra operation and they had
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me call him. He picked up the phone instantly, as if he had been
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waiting for my call.</p>
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<p> "They said if I go to court and testify in your behalf I'll
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go to jail whether I tell the truth or not. I had no choice in
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the matter. The embassy told me to get the hell out of Dodge or
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I'd go back to La Reforma prison. They told me that the bus to
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Panama leaves at 7:30 pm and to be on it," he said.</p>
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<p> Carr spent the next three days staying at Honey's house. On
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night of May 19, Carr left the house to visit a friend, and the
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following day, the U.S. embassy told the court that Carr was in
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their custody and that he would appear at the trial, Honey said.
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However, Carr said on May 20, following U.S. embassy orders, he
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took a bus to Panama, and with the help to the U.S. embassy
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there, flew to Miami a few days later. Upon his return, Carr was
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put in jail in Naples, Fla., for a prior offense.</p>
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<p> Kotula said he had talked with Carr, but denied the he had
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threatened him or forced him to leave Costa Rica. "That's not
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true, at least by me. I did not threaten him with any such thing.
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I couldn't do that, what would be the possible motive. I can't
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put people in jail and I can't get people out of jail.</p>
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<p> "I tried to convince Steve Carr when I first met him not to
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go and join up with some bunch of guys. He was nothing but a
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overgrown child who had read too many John Wayne comic books."</p>
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<p> Jonathan Winer, an aide to Sen. John Kerry D-Mass., said
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the Senator's office is investigating the matter. "There are
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obviously some very serious questions regarding the U.S.
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embassy's role in Steven Carr leaving Costa Rica," he said.</p>
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<p> After Carr's return to the U.S., congressional investigators
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said they had planned on bringing him before Congress. His
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testimony, based on his participation on a March 6, 1985 arms
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shipment from Fort Lauderdale to Ilogango Air Base in El
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Salvador, would have linked Felix Rodriguez--the ex-<span class="ORG" title="ORG">CIA</span> agent who
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reportedly met with Donald Gregg, aide to Vice President George
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Bush--to that weapons shipment, Sheehan said.</p>
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<p> "He is the guy that can prove that the March 6
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shipment of weapons that flew out of the Fort Lauderdale Airport
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went to Ilopango airport," said Sheehan. "He witnessed and can
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identify Felix Rodriguez as the guy who off loaded the weapons to
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smaller planes which were then flown to Hull's ranch in Costa
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Rica."</p>
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<p> In early 1986, Carr and two other eye-witnesses told federal
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authorities that several major players in the arms supply network
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were involved in the shipment, including Tom Posey, head of the
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mercenary group Civilian Materiel Assistance, Robert <span class="PERSON" title="PERSON">Owen</span>,
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reportedly a liaison to fired Lt. Col. Oliver <span class="LOC" title="LOC">North</span>, and Hull,
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Sheehan said.</p>
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<p> With no criminal indictment by October, Sheehan alleged
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before a congressional committee that the Justice Department had
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engaged in a "willfull conspiracy...to obstruct justice....A
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number of telephone calls were then placed to Mr. Kellner (the
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U.S. Attorney in Miami) personally by Edwin Meese...instructing
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Mr. Kellner 'to proceed very, very, very slowly' in any
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investigation of this case." Kellner has said he
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has talked with Meese about the case, but denied Sheehan's
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allegation.</p>
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<p> A grand jury has recently formed in Miami to reportedly hear
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evidence about the March 6 weapons shipment. But the one person
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who could have provided the grand jury with an eye-witness
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account that the weapons were transported from U.S. soil to El
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Salvador--evidence which is essential in making a case that the
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U.S. Neutrality Act and the Arms Export Control Act were
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violated--is now dead.</p>
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<p> "A great deal of the information Carr provided did check
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out. It will now be harder for anyone to bring a prosecution with
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Steven's testimony now unavailable, and I think that is very
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unfortunate," Winer said.
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-----------------------------------------------------------------
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e, and I think that is very
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unfortunate,"</p>
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</div>
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</body>
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</html>
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