("Quid coniuratio est?")
TERRY REED / JOHN CUMMINGS INTERVIEW
[...continued...]
TOM DONAHUE:
Give us a little background on Mr. Rodriguez. Many other guests
have talked about him.
JOHN CUMMINGS:
Mr. Rodriguez?
Terry, when did the Mena, Arkansas operation shut down? And where has it moved to?
TERRY REED:
Well for all practical purposes, it was over by December of 1985
-- the flight training aspects of it. We graduated 24 students.
So the pressure was off to get some Nicaraguans at the controls
of the aircraft in Central America. In fact, they were going
along to be upgraded into C-123 aircraft, in like an "OJT", or
"on the job training" program down there.
My direct knowledge of what was going on in Arkansas in 1986 is simply that the cash flights were still occurring when I left Arkansas in the spring of '86. It was still ongoing, but we certainly were making every effort to move the entire operation offshore.
But up at the Guadalajara airport, my company, Maquinaria Internacional [International Machinery], was based to, on the surface, be trading in machine tools and high technology -- automating Mexico to get their export economy built up. But in reality, we were warehousing and storing guns, and had plans to build this manufacturing facility, that John had mentioned, down in a little town, Morelia, Mexico -- the capital of the state of Michoacan.
But I'm not saying that I'm for the CIA acquiring all foreign governments [i.e., Cardenas is allegedly a CIA asset]. But I think Cardenas is the man for the job down there.
Yeah, he was killed in 1985, prior to me moving there [i.e., to Mexico]. Yes, he and his pilot, his DEA-assigned pilot, were both tortured to death. And of course that's been the subject of a lot of speculation on what he really knew, and why they did what they did, and, actually, who was there during the interrogation. And I don't believe anybody... I believe there's some people in prison for his death. But as you recall, they released the Mexican doctor that actually administered drugs to him to keep him awake during his interrogation. [The Mexican doctor] was, you know, kidnapped off the streets of Guadalajara and brought up into the U.S. and was later released, I believe.
REED: Well I do, as well.
[...to be continued...]
--------------------------<< Notes >>---------------------------- {1} "He [Mr. Rodriguez] has been accused of being involved in drug operations, but... something he has steadfastly denied." Then again, if he were involved, what's he gonna say -- "Yes, it's true. (Sighs) You have caught me."
{2} "...he ["Kiki" Camarena] died, you know, for a cause." Yes, he died for a cause, but for whose cause? I recommend a couple of books by another DEA agent, Mike Levine (Deep Cover, and The Big White Lie). Mr. Levine was fortunate in that he finally saw through the sham of our "War on Drugs" and got out of it while still alive, unlike the unfortunate Mr. Camarena.
From the October 26, 1993, "Conspiracy for the Day":
[BFR -- Mike Levine, author of Deep Cover (see part 2 of today's CfD) spoke at the university where I was an undergraduate in 1991. Following are excerpts from the student newspaper's report of his talk.]
Former DEA Agent: "Drug war all a show" by Paul Kirk, Staff Reporter
"The drug war's a sham," said former Drug Enforcement Agent Mike Levine at the Holmes Student Center Tuesday night.
Levine hinted that those in the DEA who come too close to the political reality of the drug war sometimes mysteriously lose their lives.
Levine recalled the time a former agent, Sandy Barrio, was accused by the DEA of drug smuggling. He died of strychnine poisoning while awaiting trial.
But Barrio's death certificate was fixed to read that he died of asphyxiation on a peanut butter sandwich, Levine said.
"I threw my life to the winds believing in the war against drugs. If I died, I believed I was dying for a just cause," Levine said.
"I realized the reality of what I was doing never quite matched what the public was seeing," he said.
Levine cited a mission which he followed into Asia during the Vietnam War.
The bodies of dead soldiers were being used for containers to ship heroin back to the United States. Levine investigated the deal all the way to the production line where he was stopped by his superiors.
Levine said he experienced such evasion techniques by his superiors throughout his career. He said he watched the values of the drug war plummet into oblivion.
"DEA was designed to put itself out of business but that doesn't happen. The opposite happens. It's always 'we need more,'" he said.
"The drug war programs are ill-conceived. All that politicians are is parrots," said Levine.
"It's all a show. 'We need more money. We're going to get these guys,'" Levine said, mimicking the politicians. "The drug war is the laughing stock of South America."
Levine said the United States needs to direct the money designated for the drug war toward domestic problems which breed the drug problem. He said he believes small community involvement is the key.
I encourage distribution of "Conspiracy Nation."
"Justice" = "Just us" = "History is written by the assassins."