$Unique_ID{bob01032} $Pretitle{} $Title{Iran-Contra Affair: The Report Chapter 7C September 1986: The Santa Elena Airfield} $Subtitle{} $Author{Various} $Affiliation{} $Subject{north airfield government press costa conference arias officials poindexter tambs} $Date{1987} $Log{} Title: Iran-Contra Affair: The Report Author: Various Date: 1987 Chapter 7C September 1986: The Santa Elena Airfield Soon after North had turned aside the Congressional inquiry, he learned of a new threat of exposure, this one involving the Santa Elena airfield in Costa Rica. It came just as Congress was taking steps to fund the Contras again. The airfield at Santa Elena had been built with the covert assistance of several U.S. Government officials, including North, Tambs, and Castillo. Completed in early 1986, the airfield was originally intended to serve as an abort base and refueling site for resupply aircraft, but never became a crucial element in the operation. The new Costa Rican Government that took office in May 1986, requested that the field not be used to aid the Contras. Ambassador Tambs agreed, and the operation relied on alternative means to drop supplies to Resistance troops inside Nicaragua. North learned late Friday, September 5, that the Costa Rican Government planned a press conference about the airfield the next morning. Officials at the press conference, North was told, would reveal that Santa Elena had been used as part of an operation to resupply the Contras and that U.S. Government officials were involved with the airfield. In response, North mobilized several government officials to pressure high Costa Rican officials to call off the press conference. North told a good deal of the story in a PROF sent the next day to Poindexter: "Last night at 2330 our Project Democracy rep. in Costa Rica called to advise" that the Arias Government would hold a press conference the next morning "announcing that an illegal support operation for the Contras had been taking place from an airfield in Costa Rica for over a year." North wrote that Secord and CIA Station Chief Tomas Castillo would be "predominantly mentioned." From North's notebook it appears that he too was in danger of being mentioned at the press conference. The first entry relating to the incident reads: "0005 - call from [Castillo] - Security Minister plans to make public Udall role w/Base West [Santa Elena airfield] and allege violation of C[osta] R[ican] law by Udall, Bacon, North, Secord, et al." North immediately arranged a conference call with Elliott Abrams and Louis Tambs. North claimed in his PROF note to Poindexter that the three officials agreed that North would call President Arias and make two threats: if the press conference proceeded as scheduled Arias would not be permitted to meet with President Reagan and he "w[ould] never see a nickel of the $80 M that [Agency for International Development Director M. Peter] McPherson had promised him" the day before. North's notebook also reflected his intention to threaten a foreign government if necessary to maintain secrecy. The entry reads: 0008 - Conf . . . . Call to Elliott Abrams and Amb Lew Tambs - Tell Arias: - Never set foot in W.H. - Never get 5 [cents] of $80 M promised by McPherson. According to North's PROF Note to Poindexter, Abrams and another Government official passed "the same word" to President Arias. However, according to their testimony, neither North, Abrams, nor the other official called Arias. North testified that he falsified the facts in his PROF note to "protect" the other officials involved. He did not offer any explanation why he felt it necessary to hide the facts from Poindexter, who knew details of the resupply operation, including the existence of the airfield. Ambassador Tambs did call President Arias. The purpose, he testified, was to "dissuade him from this press conference. Abrams recalled instructing Tambs before the call to President Arias that revelation of the airfield would put at risk Arias' upcoming meeting with President Reagan. Tambs testified that he merely told President Arias that it would not be prudent to hold the planned press conference in light of the pending case before the International Court of Justice. In his PROF note, North assured Poindexter that steps had been taken to ensure that the NSC-coordinated Contra operation would not be linked to the airfield: "As a precaution the Project a/c [aircraft] were flown to [another base] last night and no project personnel remain on site at the field." The next day, Poindexter indicated his approval of North's actions. He wrote in a PROF: "Thanks, Ollie. You did the right thing, but let's try to keep it quiet." Airfield Revealed: Damage Control Although the initial news conference was cancelled, the Costa Rican Government announced the existence of the airfield three weeks later. On September 26, the Costa Rican Interior Minister told reporters that his government had discovered and shut down an airfield that had been used for resupplying the Contras, for trafficking drugs, or both. Secord and North were not mentioned, although the name of the Enterprise Panamanian company that built the airfield, Udall Resources, Inc., was revealed, as was the pseudonym (Robert Olmstead) of William Haskell, the man who purchased the land. The airfield had not been used in the resupply operation for several months, and the press conference had compromised its location and purpose. Nonetheless, action was taken to ensure that the roles of U.S. officials and the Enterprise remained concealed. In a PROF note, North told Poindexter: "There are no USG fingerprints on any of the operation." Udall Resources, which North described as "a proprietary of Project Democracy," will "cease to exist by noon today." The company's resources - $48,000 - were moved to another Panamanian account. And Udall's office in Panama "is now gone as are all files and paperwork." Olmstead, North added, "is not the name of the agent - Olmstead does not exist." In a second PROF note to Poindexter written that day, North blamed the failure to head off the press conference in part on the absence of Ambassador Tambs, who was on leave. North wrote that Tambs "put this thing back in its box two weeks ago when I called you in the middle of the night to threaten that Arias would not get in the door of the oval office if this came out. North's PROF continued with a lengthy slur directed against Costa Rican officials who exposed activities in their own country. North concluded the message: Believe we have taken all appropriate damage control measures to keep any USG fingerprints off this and with Elliott and [CIA Chief Castillo], have worked up appropriate "if asked" press guidance. The press guidance went to Poindexter for approval on September 30. The guidance, which according to the cover memo had been coordinated with Elliott Abrams, the CIA Chief of the Central American Task Force (C/CATF) and Richard Armitage, Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs, consisted of answers to two likely questions. The first potential question and suggested answer were: [Question:] Did U.S. personnel supervise construction of the airstrip in Northern Costa Rica? [Answer:] The U.S. Embassy in San Jose, Costa Rica, has reported that during the Administration of Former President Monge the Ministry of Public Security was offered the use of a site on the Santa Elena Peninsula which could be used as an extension of the civil guard training center at Murcielago. The site included a serviceable airstrip which could have supplemented the small one which is located near the training center. The offer was reportedly made by the owners of the property who had apparently decided to abandon plans for a tourism project. The Embassy has no information on the Ministry's decision concerning the offer. The answer concluded: "No U.S. Government funds were allocated or used in connection with this site nor were any U.S. Government personnel involved in its construction." The press guidance thus concealed the involvement in the airfield's construction of North, Tambs, and Castillo. The suggested answer in the press guidance to the second possible question was also misleading: [Question:] Was the airstrip intended for use by the Contras? [Answer:] The Government of Costa Rica has made clear its position that it will not permit the use of its territory for military action against neighboring states. The U.S. Government respects that position. In fact, the airfield had been used to help the Contras. The Costa Rican Government had already revealed that the airfield's purpose had been to help the Contras, to traffic drugs, or both. Among the officials who had helped prepare the guidance, Abrams and CIA Central American Task Force Chief acknowledged knowing that the airfield was intended to help the Contras and that U.S. citizens - if not Government officials - were involved. North and Poindexter, to whom the press guidance was sent for approval, knew the airfield was part of the covert operation to help the Resistance. The steps taken to keep reporters from finding "USG fingerprints" on the airfield were successful for the time being. Not until October 24 did evidence emerge suggesting ties between the airfield and the U.S. Government. That revelation would come from Eugene Hasenfus after he was shot down and captured by the Sandinistas.