Questions Raised as Panels Clear CIA Official for Contra Arms Role
A CIA station chief recalled from Costa Rica for aiding a Nicaraguan rebel arms resupply mission has been cleared of wrongdoing by two internal investigations that did not examine broader questions of CIA involvement, intelligence sources say.
Despite the legal findings, CIA superiors feel the station chief, known by the pseudonym Tomas Castillo, exercised poor judgment in relaying the messages from then-White House aide Oliver L. North, said the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Castillo, in 1984, was one of several CIA officials reprimanded in connection with publication of a psychological operation manual that counseled the contra rebels on “the selective use of violence” to “neutralize” Nicaraguan government officials, sources said.
Questions already are being raised about the thoroughness of the CIA’s review.
One intelligence source said North’s messages could not have gone to the station chief without knowledge of higher-level CIA officials, and described the reviews as a “whitewash.”
CIA spokeswoman Kathy Pherson would not discuss the investigations into Castillo’s activities or the reasons for his recall.
The two investigations were carried out by the CIA’s inspector general and the President’s Intelligence Oversight Board.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
