No Knowledge of Drug Link, Ex-Guerrilla Leader Testifies
|
|
A former Nicaraguan resistance leader told Senate investigators today that he was unaware that a financial backer had earned his money by selling crack cocaine in California. ”Only when he was arrested in San Diego” did he know, the rebel leader, Eden Pastora Gomez, said of Oscar Danilo Blandon, who has acknowledged trafficking in drugs. Mr. Pastora and a comrade in the resistance, Adolfo Calero, dismissed rumors that the Central Intelligence Agency had supported or winked at drug trafficking as a source of money for the war against the Nicaraguan Government in the 1980’s. ”It is preposterous,” said Mr. Calero, who ran a Coca-Cola bottling plant in Nicaragua before giving it up to become commander in chief of the rebels. Asked whether he knew of any C.I.A. involvement in drugs, Mr. Calero replied: ”Never. I have a very high opinion of the C.I.A. people I dealt with.” He added, ”They seemed to be God-fearing family men, dedicated to the cause.” Senator Arlen Specter, the Pennsylvania Republican who is chairman of the Intelligence Committee, convened the hearing to examine reports in The San Jose Mercury News that the proliferation of crack in the United States in the 1980’s could be traced to two Nicaraguan dealers who worked with the rebels. More : query.nytimes.com |