MANY OF THOSE INVOLVED IN THE REAGAN Administration’s war against Nicaragua shared a
common desire to consolidate support for right-wing
guerrillas. While their schemes ranged from political ad-
vocacy groups to profit-making entities like the Enterprise
of North, Secord and Hakim, all offered ways to keep wars
going after funds are cut off by Congress.
A June 1985 gathering in Jamba, Angola-base camp
of Jonas Savimbi’s army, Unita-was meant to mirror the
solidarity conferences of socialist organizations. It
brought together guerrillas fighting against the govern-
ments of Laos, Afghanistan and Nicaragua, as well as
Angola. Kampuchean factions led by Prince Sihanouk and
Son Sann had been invited but were unable to attend.
The meeting was sponsored by Citizens for America,
headed by millionaire Lewis Lehrman, member of the
Heritage Foundation Board of Directors and 1984 candi-
date for governor of New York. Lehrman read a message
from President Reagan and the gathering proclaimed itself
a”democratic international ofanti-communist insurgents.”
In the Jamba Declaration the groups vowed to give
each other “specific help.” It was at this meeting that
Jonas Savimbi reportedly “agreed” to send Unita advisers
to help the contras.’ The previous March, according to
journalist Martha Honey, someone “associated with the
contras” but “not a contra” was taken to South Africa and
from there into Angola to meet with Unita about bringing
arms from South Africa to the contras.2 According to one
report, the U.S. government paid contra leader Adolfo
Calero’s fare to the Jamba meeting and gave him “a liberal
expense allowance.”‘
Six months earlier the Mozambican government daily
reported that Ed6n Pastora had met secretly in Portugal
with leaders of Unita and Renamo, the South African-
backed guerrillas fighting against Mozambique. The fol-
lowing week Pastora issued a public call for a “revolution-
ary and democratic” alliance between Renamo, Unita, the
Afghan mujaheddin and his own ARDE. 4
Leaders of the “Anticommunist International”: Adolfo Calero and Jonas Savimbi
Gen. John Singlaub set up committees within the
World Anti-Communist League for eight different guer-
rilla groups. 5 Representatives of these, including Adolfo
Calero, were present at WACL’s 1985 convention in Dal-
las.” With Barbara Studley, his partner in the arms firm
GeoMiliTech, Singlaub also drafted a memo outlining a
contra international of sorts with its own arms company,
financed by a series of technology transfers among Israel,
South Africa and China. Once this flow of technology was
in place, they wrote, “The United States then has at its
disposal a large and continuous supply of Soviet technol-
ogy and weapons to channel to Freedom Fighters world-
wide, mandating neither the consent or awareness of the
Department of State or Congress.” In 1985 Studley pre-
sented her idea to William Casey. It was later found in
Oliver North’s safe. 7
Even the Saudis got into the act, with a proposal to
establish offshore companies to serve a multiplicity of
purposes. Palestinian-American businessman Sam Bam-
ieh says he was approached by Prince Bandar bin Sultan,
Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to the United States, and, at a
separate time, by a member of the embassy’s staff, and
asked
to set up a company, an offshore company, whereby we
will supply goods and services to different anticom-
munist movements in different parts of the world. And
he mentioned to [sic] movements in Central America, in
Angola, incremental assistance to Afghan mujaheddin.
as well as the sale of oil to South Africa.’
Bamieh said that the offshore company would buy the
oil from Saudi Arabia-which nominally adheres to the
UN oil embargo against the apartheid regime-and resell
it to South Africa at a markup of 75 cents to one dollar a
barrel. He said while he was discussing this with Bandar
in Cannes in February 1984, Bandar sought to reassure
him it was in line with U.S. policy by telling him that CIA
Director Casey and King Fahd were at that very moment
discussing the same topic on a yacht in the Mediterranean.
(This was later confirmed.) Bamieh said he refused the
request, even though Bandar told him such a company
could make $50 to $100 million in annual profits.
Tricontranental
1. Alan Cowell, “Angolan Rebel Rejects Partial Cuban Pullout,” New
York Times, June 9, 1985: South Africa Press Association (Johannesburg)
1445 GMT, June 8, 1985, FBIS Middle East and Af/ ia, June 10, 1985, p.U-
1; AFP (HongKong) 0355 GMT, June 6, 1985, FBIS Middle East and
Africa, June 6, 1985, p. U- 1.
2. WBAI-FM, April 7, 1987.
3. Michael Bowman, “Propaganda-gate: another Reagan scandal,” In
These Times, Nov. 5-Dec. 8, 1987.
4. AFP 1253 GMT, Dec. 31, 1984, FBIS Middle East and Aftlica, Jan. 2,
1985, p. U- 1; AFP, Le Monde, Jan. 5, 1985.
5. Scott Anderson and Jon Lee Anderson, Inside the League, (New York:
Dodd Mead, 1986), pp. 269.
6. Shirley Christian, “Rich Texans Rub Elbows with Rebels,” New York
Times, Sept. 15, 1985.
7. Testimony of Gen. John Singlaub, Iran-contra hearings, May 20-21,
1987; Stephen J. Hedges, “Talk show host traded callers for cause,” Miami
Herald, June 11, 1987.
8. U.S. House of Representatives, Subcommittee on Africa of the Com-
mittee on Foreign Affairs, Possible Violation or Circumvention of the Clark
Amendment, July 1, 1987 (Document 80-011), Bamieh responses to ques-
tions by subcommittee chair Rep. Howard Wolpe, p.26.
9. Ibid.
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