Oliver North: My part in his downfall

On 5 October 1986, El Salvador soldiers successfully shot down a C-123 Fairchild Cargo plane causing the pilot and passenger (the latter a CIA agent) to parachute out of the plane safely but into the hands of of the San Salvador government. This sparked an international incident known as the Iran-Contra affair, which resulted in exposure of the sales of weapons at inflated prices to Iran with the profits being used to buy the freedom of American hostages in Lebanon and fund the Sandinista rebels in El Salvador.

Of the US$16 million raised from the arms sales, only $3.8 million went to the Sandinistas, however this was sufficient for them to buy (amongst other things) two C-123 cargo planes and construct a secret landing strip on an American-owned farm in northern Costa Rica. It was from this landing strip that the two cargo planes would deliver armaments and supplies to the Sandinistas.

At the subsequent inquiries into the activities of the CIA and NSA in generating and distributing these funds, it was Colonel Oliver North who was the star witness as the coordinator of the operation (and some argued the fall guy for his superiors). The entire episode was rather embarrassing to the Reagan administration as their official position had been neutrality in El Salvador and that they would not offer cash to terrorists in exchange for hostages in Lebanon or anywhere else.

The operation was immediately shut down and the second C-123 Fairchild was abandoned at San Jose international airport where it sat for more than 10 years. Then a hotel operator bought the plane for US$3000, had it cut into five pieces and shipped to Manuel Antonio... to be used as a cocktail bar!

If this sounds too bizare to be true here are the pictures (taken this morning).

So last night Siobhan and I sat drinking frozen margaritas and beers in a piece of Cold War memorabilia. Although I still can't help wondering just how much rum and tequilla you need to drink before you think "Hey, don't you think a cargo plane would make a great bar?"

Hope everyone is well and had a happy New Year!

Cheers
David