Envoy Pressed Costa Ricans for Airstrip Use

The U.S. ambassador to Costa Rica asked the government there at least twice since June to allow a secret air operation to use a remote airstrip in northern Costa Rica for ferrying arms to rebels in Nicaragua, a top Costa Rican official said Friday.

Ambassador Lewis Tambs’ efforts on behalf of the rebel resupply missions, the source said, came while the Administration was barred by Congress from assisting contra military actions. Coupled with the disclosure that the senior U.S. military adviser in El Salvador closely monitored the air resupply network, Tambs’ involvement indicates a significantly greater role by U.S. officials than has been acknowledged.

Tambs contacted Costa Rican officials to “press” them to permit aircraft from the clandestine operation to land at the 1.2-mile dirt strip, the senior Costa Rican official said. The strip, by far the largest private airfield in Costa Rica, was refurbished early this year under the supervision of two Americans, sources said.

Tambs, who is in Washington on a visit, could not be reached for comment Friday, but an Administration official said the ambassador could have been requesting use of the airstrip as a staging area for drops of non-lethal aid to contras inside nearby Nicaragua.

In his comments Friday, the official said the State Department had paid for a private air cargo company to drop the non-lethal aid into Nicaraguan war zones.