The New York Times
December 10, 1986
 

          Accused Terrorist Helping to Supply the Contras

          By JOSEPH B. TREASTER, Special to the New York Times

                MIAMI -- Three veterans of the 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion of
                Cuba, all with long ties to the Central Intelligence Agency and one
          of them an accused international terrorist, have emerged as key figures in
          the clandestine air network that delivered tons of weapons and
          ammunition to the anti-Sandinista rebels in Nicaragua.

          One of the veterans, Luis Posada Carriles, a 58-year-old expert in
          guerrilla warfare and demolitions, escaped from a Venezuelan prison in
          August 1985 after being held for nearly 10 years on charges of
          masterminding a bombing that destroyed a Cuban airliner and killed 73
          people. The case is still pending in Venezuela.

          According to American crew members of the planes that carried the rebel
          war materiel, the three Bay of Pigs veterans were instrumental in setting
          up the headquarters for the supply operation in San Salvador and in
          coordinating cargo drops to rebel units operating inside Nicaragua.

          Critics regard Mr. Posada, who has devoted much of his life to trying to
          undermine the Communist Government of Fidel Castro, as a terrorist and
          say his involvement with United States-backed Nicaraguan rebels seems
          starkly at odds with the Reagan Administration's campaign against
          international terrorism.

          Supporters, however, regard Mr. Posada as a dedicated Cuban
          nationalist and question the validity of the bombing charges.

          U.S. Admits No Role

          Reagan Administration officials have refused to acknowledge Mr.
          Posada's participation in the rebel supply operation. Administration
          officials have acknowledged that the United States monitored the
          operation, but they say it did not organize, finance or direct it. However,
          many of those whose participation has so far become known have had
          long relationships with United States intelligence services and military
          forces.

          One of the Bay of Pigs veterans, Felix Ismael Rodriguez, who is 45 years
          old and an expert in guerrilla warfare, went to El Salvador in 1984 to train
          helicopter crews in aerial ambush and pursuit tactics, which friends said he
          learned on C.I.A. operations in South Vietnam.

          The American crewmen say Mr. Rodriguez, who was known in El
          Salvador as Max Gomez, helped them get permission to operate out of
          the main base of the Salvadoran Air Force near the capital of El Salvador
          and served as liaison between them and senior Salvadoran military
          officers. The Americans say Mr.

          Rodriguez also obtained Salvadoran Air Force identification cards for
          them.

          The American airmen say Mr. Posada, who used the alias Ramon
          Medina, was in charge of such administrative matters as housing, ground
          transportation and daily living expenses and was referred to as "the
          caretaker." Friends recall that in some Cuban exile groups that organized
          raids against Cuba in the 1960' s, Mr. Posada was in charge of supplies,
          including explosives.Field Liaison With Contras

          The third Bay of Pigs veteran, Rafael Quintero, who is believed to be in
          his middle to late 40's, met with contra field commanders to determine
          what supplies they needed and where they wanted them dropped, then
          transmitted the information to the headquarters at Ilopango, the American
          fliers said.

          The American airmen said Mr. Quintero regularly shuttled between
          Miami, San Salvador and the capitals of Costa Rica and Honduras and
          was given the nickname "The Traveler." They say he also used the code
          name Ralph.

          Cuban-American friends here say Mr. Quintero has worked on a number
          of C.I.A. projects over the years throughout Latin America and possibly
          also in Africa.

          In 1983 Mr. Quintero testified in a Washington court that he had
          accepted an advance of $30,000 against a fee of $1 million from a former
          C.I.A. agent, Edwin P. Wilson, to assassinate a Libyan dissident in Egypt,
          but later changed his mind.

          The crew members said Mr. Rodriguez had not originally been a part of
          the rebel supply operation, but that William J. Cooper, the chief pilot, had
          turned to Mr. Rodriguez for help because of his "local contacts" and that
          Mr. Rodriguez and the two other Bay of Pigs veterans soon became
          important members of the team. A Connection to Bush

          The airmen said tension arose between Mr. Rodriguez and Mr. Cooper
          as to who was in charge and that Mr. Cooper seemed intimidated by
          assertions from Mr. Rodriguez that he was a friend of Vice President
          Bush. Mr. Bush has referred to Mr. Rodriguez as "a patriot" and said he
          met with him three times, most recently at a reception in Miami on May
          20 to mark Cuba's independence.

          According to many accounts, Mr. Rodriguez and Mr. Posada worked for
          about a year at the Ilopango air base. They were often seen in the
          company of military and civilian officials of the United States and El
          Salvador as well as members of the contra forces. At least once,
          according to a United States Embassy spokesman in El Salvador, Mr.
          Rodriguez had lunch with the United States Ambassador, Edwin G. Corr.

          Mr. Rodriguez was decorated by the Salvadoran Government for his
          work with the Salvadoran Air Force and one foreigner who has closely
          studied the Salvadoran military said Mr. Rodriguez had "probably done
          more than anyone to improve the military and hurt the guerrillas."

          Yet officials of both the United States and El Salvador as well as rebel
          leaders deny any formal connection with either Mr. Rodriguez or Mr.
          Posada.

          The presence of Mr. Rodriguez and Mr. Posada in El Salvador and their
          work on the contra resupply operation was made public by Eugene
          Hasenfus, a 45-year-old American who parachuted from a supply plane
          that was shot down in Nicaragua in early October. Mr. Cooper and two
          others died in the crash. Mr. Hasenfus has been sentenced to 30 years in
          prison by a Nicaraguan military court. Ex-Official Corroborates

          David A. Phillips, a retired C.I.A. official who was in charge of the
          agency's Latin American operations until 1975, said in an interview that
          the "stories in the press" about Mr. Posada "seem pretty accurate,"
          adding, "I couldn't think of anything to dispute, including the parts saying
          he was connected to the agency."

          A spokesman for the C.I.A. would not say whether the three men had
          ever worked for the agency.

          Friends of Mr. Rodriguez describe him as a dedicated anti-Communist
          and say they believe he worked without salary in Central America.
          Sometimes, the friends said, they paid for airline tickets so that he could
          visit his wife and two grown children here. There have been persistent
          rumors that Mr. Posada's escape from the Venezuelan jail and his travel
          across the Caribbean to El Salvador were financed by wealthy
          Cuban-Americans in Miami.

          In 1984 a group of Cuban-Americans here formed a committee to raise
          money for Mr. Posada, Dr. Orlando Bosch, a Miami pediatrician and two
          others jailed in the Cuban airline bombing. The group appealed to the
          United Nations and Amnesty International to urge Venezuela to bring the
          proceedings to a conclusion.

          Dr. Armando Cruz and Dr. Alberto Hernandez, two physicians who have
          been identified in the past with the committee, refused through their
          secretaries to speak to a journalist. Sila Cuervo, a Bay of Pigs veteran
          who has also been identified with the committee, hung up shortly after a
          journalist identified himself. A Search of Phone Records

          Mr. Cuervo is the godfather of one of Mr. Posada's sons and, according
          to records obtained from the Salvadoran telephone company, received at
          least two calls from a telephone in one of two safehouses used by the
          American air crews in El Salvador and frequented by Mr. Rodriguez and
          Mr. Posada. The telephone company records show a number of calls to
          friends and relatives of Mr. Rodriguez and Mr. Posada in Miami from the
          safehouses.

          Friends and relatives say they have spoken to Mr. Rodriguez and Mr.
          Posada by telephone in the last few weeks and that they are trying to
          keep out of the public eye; some have spoken to Mr. Rodriguez in the last
          few days. He is believed to be in the United States, possibly Miami. The
          two others are believed to be in Central America.

          After the failure of the Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961, Mr. Rodriguez, Mr.

          Posada and about 200 other participants were given commissions in the
          United States Army. As many as 100 of the invasion veterans, including
          some who became army officers, continued to work closely with the
          C.I.A. on hundreds of attempts to destroy Mr. Castro's regime.

          In 1967 Mr. Rodriguez was part of a United States Army Special Forces
          team in Bolivia that helped track down Che Guevara, the Argentine-born
          revolutionary colleague of Mr. Castro. Service in Vietnam

          In Vietnam, friends say, Mr. Rodriguez worked in helicopters of the
          C.I.A.'s proprietary airline, Air America, and was shot down five times.
          In the mid-70' s, friends say, he began receiving a United States
          Government disabiity pension.

          In 1979 and 1980, Mr. Rodriguez worked as an arms broker in Miami
          and later, for about two years, served as an adviser to the Argentine
          military.

          Donald P. Gregg, the national security adviser to Mr. Bush and a former
          C.I.A. official, has said that he recommended Mr. Rodriguez for a job
          with the Salvadoran Air Force at Mr. Rodriguez's request. How Mr.
          Posada came to join Mr. Rodriguez in the rebel supply operation is not
          clear.

          After officer training at Fort Benning, friends say, Mr. Posada spent most
          of the 1960's in raids and sabotage attacks against Cuba under the
          direction of the C.I.A. station in Miami. In the late 1960's and early
          1970's he served as an counterinsurgency advisor to the Venezuelan
          Army and eventually became chief of operations for its national police.

          In 1974 he opened a private security agency in Venezuela and also,
          according to one Miami friend, began manufacturing silencers for
          handguns. He was arrested in October 1976 on charges of blowing up
          the Cuban airliner.