Platform

Organizations in South Central Los Angeles and Watts have called for a Justice Department investigation of published reports that have renewed speculation about the link in the 1980s between Nicaragua’s Contra rebels and the spread of rock cocaine in Los Angeles. A continuing unknown in the equation is whether the U.S. government, particularly the CIA, knew of and even encouraged the trade as a way to finance the rebel movement against Nicaragua’s leftist Sandinista government in the period before the Contras got U.S. government funding. The reports also pointed to Contra links to large-scale gun sales in Los Angeles. MARY BOYKIN spoke with local activists about the issue and JIM BLAIR interviewed a UCLA professor who has written about U.S. policy, drugs and terrorism.

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ALICE “SWEET ALICE” HARRIS

Founder, Parents of Watts

I am praying to God that government agencies hear us and believe this thing has happened. Then I hope that they will want to help us save our children and save our community.

All along, I know that the people in Watts who were selling crack cocaine didn’t know where [it came from] and didn’t go out of Watts. They surely weren’t at the [Mexican] border. I am sure it had to be brought to them because they were on their feet, [without cars]. Some were on bicycles.

And the guns. I have had people in my community tell me that it happens all the time that guns are brought to Watts by the truckload. I got a call once to come and see this happen [at a public housing project]. When I got to Nickerson Gardens, all the guns were out of the truck but I saw children running away from the truck with the guns. We walked through the neighborhood telling parents to please do something about those guns that the small children had.

I have three children who were affected by drugs; one daughter died from using rock cocaine. That’s why I donated a house and started Parents of Watts. I didn’t want another mother to suffer like I had to suffer without resources.

Sometimes in a meeting outside of my community, a speaker will get up and say, “Well, you know the programs out there in that Watts area are not effective. We have a better program over here by the ocean. All we need you to do is just refer your people to us.” Not effective? What they don’t know is that if it hadn’t been for the moms and pops that stayed in our community and put our feet down, in spite of the consequences, that many more of our children would have gotten on crack cocaine.

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GLENN BROWN

President, Black American Political Assn. of California, Los Angeles chapter

The starting point for BAPAC’s requesting an independent investigation into the CIA’s alleged involvement in bringing drugs into our country and our neighborhood is the investigation reported in the San Jose Mercury News. BAPAC’s leadership is not making any types of allegations or conclusions. That’s why we are asking for an investigation.

There have always been drugs in our community, but crack cocaine devastated and wiped out a generation. If the allegations are true, we seek money, labor, materials and medical care for the babies of crack-addicted mothers. For those on crack, we seek continued medical care and vocational training. These things are needed to repair a community.

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MINNIE SWEET GOINGS

Crenshaw resident, member of Black American Political Assn. of California

There have been several attempts along the way since the mid-80s to investigate this cocaine pipeline because we can’t grow cocaine here in the black community. There are no manufacturers available to manufacture guns of the heavy supplies that are in inner-cities. Then where is it coming from?

Cocaine is coming in by the kilos, the multi-kilos. What is the punishment for those who are bringing in multi-kilos to that of a kid who is caught on the street with 10 or 15 rocks, the trash of the cocaine industry? These kids are serving 10- to 25-year mandatory sentences.

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ALAN FENSTER

Attorney for convicted drug dealer Ricky Ross, who has been named as the chief point of connection between Nicaraguan drug sellers and the L.A. market

There is no question that we found a lot of smoke, but we haven’t found the source of the fire yet. Rep. Maxine Waters [D-L.A.]is extremely focused on this and is going to do everything she can to find the source of that fire.

You know who knows all of this is, of course: the CIA. They are stonewalling it just like they did the Iran-Contra hearings. Yes, it is correct that I do not have any specific proof other than common sense. And we know that the CIA was involved with the Contras. And we know that the Contras were making their money from the sale of drugs through Ricky Ross and others.

We have A to B and B to C, so they are just saying that there is no connection between A and C. That’s where I am hoping that congressional hearings will lay it out.

If you put your head in the sand and ignore the history of this government--the Vietnam War and all the illicit conduct that we’ve engaged in regarding Central and South America during the last 100 years, then you can say, “Oh, you haven’t proved it to me.”

But if you live in the real world and you know that the CIA was involved with the Contras and you know the Contras were selling drugs to raise money for their counterrevolution, only an idiot could say that there was no connection.