Dark Alliance (book)

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Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion
Dark Alliance.jpg
Cover of the 1998 first edition
Author Gary Webb
Publisher Seven Stories Press
Publication date
May 1998 (hardcover)
Media typePrint (hardcover, paperback)
Pages548
ISBN 1-888363-68-1
OCLC 38281498
363.4/5/097285

Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion is a 1998 book by journalist Gary Webb. The book is based on "Dark Alliance", Webb's three-part investigative series published in the San Jose Mercury News in August 1996. The original series claimed that, in order to help raise funds for efforts against the Nicaraguan Sandinista government, the CIA supported cocaine trafficking into the US by top members of Nicaraguan Contra Rebel organizations and allowed the subsequent crack epidemic to spread in Los Angeles. The book expands on the series and recounts media reaction to Webb's original newspaper exposé.

Contents

Dark Alliance was published in 1998 by Seven Stories Press, with an introduction by U.S. Representative Maxine Waters. A revised edition was published in 1999. The same year the book won a Pen Oakland Censorship Award [1] and a Firecracker Alternative Book Award. [2] It served as part of the basis for Kill the Messenger , a 2014 film based on Webb's life.

Synopsis

According to Webb, in the 1980s when the CIA exerted a certain amount of control over Contra groups such as the FDN, the agency as well as the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) granted amnesty to and put on the agency's bankroll important Contra supporters and fundraisers who were known to the US Government to be cocaine smugglers. Later, at the behest of Oliver North, the Reagan Administration began to use Contra drug money to support the anti-communist Nicaraguan rebels' efforts against the Sandinista government. The Sandinistas were hated by successive Democratic and Republican U.S. administrations for the 1978-79 Sandinista Revolution (the overthrowing of the U.S.-sponsored brutal dictatorship of Anastasio Somoza in Nicaragua) and for their support of worker and peasant revolutions developing throughout Central and South America.

Blandon, a cocaine smuggler who founded an FDN chapter in Los Angeles, was a major supplier for Freeway Ricky Ross. With access to cheap, pure cocaine and the idea to cook the cocaine into crack, Ross established a major drug network and fueled the popularity of crack. By 1983, Ross was purchasing 10 to 15 kilos of cocaine a week from CIA-backed Contra supporter Blandon - according to Blandon. [3] All the while, Webb alleges, the CIA was supporting the Contras supplying him with the cocaine. Meanwhile, the US Justice Department and its agencies - who were aware of the Contra-linked drug trafficking operations of the FDN supporters - derailed local police investigations and blocked the prosecution of the Contra-linked cocaine traffickers. [4]

Webb also discusses his experiences writing the investigative series that the book expands on. He notes that the use of the Internet and the uploading of the documents on which his assertions rest "made it possible to share [the files the story was based on] directly with your readers. If they cared to, they could read and hear exactly what you had read and heard, and make up their own minds about the story. It was raw interactive journalism, perhaps too interactive for some." [5] The release of the "Dark Alliance" series on the San Jose Mercury News' state-of-the-art website, complete with images and facsimiles of the copious official US Government documentary record assembled by Webb and his colleagues broke new ground for both journalism and the Internet. Microsoft's Encarta encyclopedia enthused that "The unlimited space of the Web allowed the Mercury News to move forward into a whole new kind of journalism... the Web... let intelligent readers review the source materials and draw their own conclusions. This step, far beyond the traditional role of newspapers, attracted attention and readers from all over the world." [6] The number of visits or "hits" to the "Dark Alliance" website rapidly climbed to 500,000, then 800,000 and topped out at 1,000,000 a day - phenomenal for this early stage of the development of the modern Internet. [7] In October 1996, two months after the release of the series, a Boston Globe reporter wrote "that the story was 'pulsing through [L.A.'s] black neighborhoods like a shockwave, provoking a stunning, growing level of anger and indignation. Talk-radio stations with predominantly black audiences are deluged with calls on the subject. Demonstrations, candle-lighting ceremonies and town-hall meetings are becoming regular affairs. And people on the street are heatedly discussing the topic.'" [8] [9] "Nonetheless, the media slowly turned against Webb and attempted to discredit him. Notably, The New York Times , The Washington Post , and the Los Angeles Times ran articles calling his argument unfounded. The Mercury News originally stood by Webb’s reporting, but, amidst the denunciations by other news sources, executive editor Jerome Ceppos published an apology for much of the series’ content in May 1997.

Critical reception

Reviewers' opinions of the book were mixed. David Corn, Washington editor for The Nation magazine, reviewed the book in The Washington Post. [10] Corn had previously been critical of aspects of the "Dark Alliance" newspaper series, and he found that the book "reflects the positives and negatives of the original series." He noted that Webb "deserves credit for pursuing an important piece of recent history and forcing the CIA and the Justice Department to investigate the contra-drug connection", but remained critical of several aspects of the book, observing that Webb's "threshold of proof is on the low side".

Michael Massing, an investigative reporter and associate editor of the Columbia Journalism Review , reviewed Dark Alliance in the Los Angeles Times. [11] Massing found that Webb "seems on solid ground in arguing that money from Nicaraguan traffickers ended up in Contra coffers," but observed that "the sums involved are in question." He believed that Webb does not demonstrate that the CIA was involved in or sanctioned these activities, but did show that agency officials "heard allegations ... but did little to intervene." For the claim that the CIA and the Contras "helped to set off the nation's crack explosion, Massing claims "Webb's account is at its most shaky", and that Webb's overall thesis "seems fantastic." He is also critical of Webb's contacts with Ricky Ross's lawyer Alan Fenster, as recounted in Dark Alliance.

James Adams, Washington correspondent for the Sunday Times, wrote a largely negative review for The New York Times. [12] Adams was critical of Webb's "failure" to contact the CIA to "cross-check sources and allegations," and concluded that "For investigative reporters determined to uncover the truth, procedures like these are unacceptable. Neither the editors of the San Jose Mercury News nor the publishers of these books should have allowed their writers to take such relaxed approaches to a serious subject."

One of the most negative reviews was written by Glenn Garvin in Reason magazine. [13] Garvin, a reporter who served as Managua bureau chief for the Miami Herald , was highly critical of Webb's treatment of sources and evidence: "No subject is too great, too small, or too far afield for Webb to distort or falsify," Garvin claimed. While Garvin said that "a few contra pilots and their associates, particularly on the so-called south front" were involved with narcotraffickers, he rejected Webb's account of contra involvement with cocaine trafficking, which he said is "almost entirely drawn from the claims of a few Nicaraguan traffickers facing long jail terms who were using a the-CIA-made-me-do-it defense." According to Garvin, Webb substantially overstated both the importance of these dealers to the Contras and their actual role in the cocaine trade.

Related Research Articles

{{Infobox War Faction | name = Contras | war = Contra War and Cold War | image = Contra commandas 1987.jpg | image_size = 275px | caption = The Nicaraguan contras in 1987 | active = 1979–1990 | ideology = Anti-communism
Right-wing populism
Nationalism | position = Right-wing | motives = Overthrow the FSLN government of Nicaragua | leaders = Adolfo Calero
Enrique Bermúdez
FDN – Commandante Franklin
ARDE Frente Sur – Cúpula of 6 Regional Commandantes
YATAMA – Commandante Blas
Misura – Steadman Fagoth | military groups = F.D.N., A.R.D.E. Frente Sur, YATAMA, Misura | area = All rural areas of Nicaragua with the exclusion of the Pacific Coast, from Río Coco in the north to Río San Juan in the south | size = 125,000 | allies =  United States [[National Reorganization Process| Argentina Costa Rica El Salvador Honduras
 Israel
 Taiwan]]

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gary Webb</span> American investigative journalist (1955–2004)

Gary Stephen Webb was an American investigative journalist.

The Nicaraguan Democratic Force was one of the earliest Contra groups, formed on August 11, 1981 in Guatemala City. It was formed to oppose Nicaragua's revolutionary Sandinista government following the 1979 overthrow of Anastasio Somoza Debayle. It merged the 15th of September Legion, which comprised mostly former members of Somoza's National Guard, with the Nicaraguan Democratic Union, an organization of émigrés from the business and professional classes. The new FDN also began assimilating the MILPAS movement, bands led by disenchanted former MAP-ML guerrillas. The FDN military was under the command of former National Guard colonel Enrique Bermúdez. The FDN was heavily backed by the Central Intelligence Agency and the Reagan administration. The FDN was also alleged to be engaged in drug trafficking in order to finance its war against the Sandinista government.

Oscar Danilo Blandón Reyes is a Nicaraguan born drug trafficker who is best known as one of the main subjects of the 1996 newspaper series "Dark Alliance" by reporter Gary Webb.

Robert Earle Parry was an American investigative journalist. He was known for his role in covering the Iran–Contra affair for the Associated Press (AP) and Newsweek, including breaking the Psychological Operations in Guerrilla Warfare and the CIA involvement in Contra cocaine trafficking in the U.S. scandal in 1985.

Édgar Chamorro Coronel is an ousted leader of the Nicaraguan rebel Contras who later became a critic of the rebels and their Central Intelligence Agency sponsors, even cooperating with the Sandinista government in their World Court case, Nicaragua v. United States. He is a member of the prominent Chamorro family that provided five of Nicaragua's past presidents.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">CIA drug trafficking allegations</span> Claims

The United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has been accused of involvement in the trafficking of illicit drugs. Books and journalistic investigations on the subject that have received general notice include works by the historian Alfred McCoy, professor and diplomat Peter Dale Scott, journalists Gary Webb and Alexander Cockburn, and writer Larry Collins. These claims have led to investigations by the United States government, including hearings and reports by the United States House of Representatives, Senate, Department of Justice, and the CIA's Inspector General. The various investigations have generally not led to clear conclusions that the CIA itself has directly conducted drug trafficking operations, although there may have been instances of indirect complicity in the activities of others.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kerry Committee</span> Report on drug enforcement problems in South and Central America and the Caribbean

The Kerry Committee was a US Senate subcommittee during the 100th United States Congress that examined the problems that drug cartels and drug money laundering in South and Central America and the Caribbean posed for American law enforcement and foreign policy. The Sub-Committee was chaired at the time by Democratic Party Senator John Kerry from Massachusetts so the name of the committee and the report are often referred to under his name.

A number of writers have alleged that the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) was involved in the Nicaraguan Contras' cocaine trafficking operations during the 1980s Nicaraguan civil war. These claims have led to investigations by the United States government, including hearings and reports by the United States House of Representatives, Senate, Department of Justice, and the CIA's Office of the Inspector General which ultimately concluded the allegations were unsupported. The subject remains controversial.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crack epidemic in the United States</span> Drug epidemic in the 1980s and 1990s

The crack epidemic was a surge of crack cocaine use in major cities across the United States throughout the entirety of the 1980s and the early 1990s. This resulted in a number of social consequences, such as increasing crime and violence in American inner city neighborhoods, a resulting backlash in the form of tough on crime policies, and a massive spike in incarceration rates.

José Aristides Sánchez Herdocia served as a key political figure among the Nicaraguan Contras. Early on, he joined Enrique Bermúdez in efforts to start a rebel opposition to the new Sandinista government, a hand-picked choice of the CIA for this position. As the conduit between political leader Adolfo Calero in Miami and rebel base camps in Honduras, he spent more time in the camps than other Contra politicians and had the trust of the rebel field commanders. After working largely behind the scenes, in 1987 he joined the directorate of the Nicaraguan Resistance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Freeway Ricky Ross</span> American former drug trafficker

Ricky Donnell "Freeway Rick" Ross is an American author and former drug lord best known for the drug empire he established in Los Angeles, California, in the early to mid 1980s. He was sentenced to life in prison, though the sentence was shortened on appeal and Ross was released in 2009.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bibliography of Nicaragua</span>

This is a bibliography of selected works about Nicaragua.

The Fifteenth of September Legion was an anti-communist guerrilla group founded in Guatemala by exiled former junior officers of the defeated Nicaraguan National Guard, which was committed to overthrowing the Sandinista National Liberation Front government.

Celerino Castillo is a former agent for the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">CIA activities in Nicaragua</span> Overview of the CIA activities in Nicaragua

CIA activities in Nicaragua were frequent in the late 20th century. The increasing influence gained by the Sandinista National Liberation Front, a left-wing and anti-imperialist political party in Nicaragua, led to a sharp decrease in Nicaragua–United States relations, particularly after the Nicaraguan Revolution. In 1981, President Ronald Reagan authorized the Central Intelligence Agency to support the Contras, a right-wing Nicaraguan political group to combat the influence held by the Sandinistas in the Nicaraguan government. Various anti-government rebels in Nicaragua were organized into the Nicaraguan Democratic Force, the first Contra group, at the behest of the CIA. The CIA also supplied the Contras with training and equipment, including materials related to torture and assassination. There have also been allegations that the CIA engaged in drug trafficking in Nicaragua.

<i>Kill the Messenger</i> (2014 film) 2014 American biographical film

Kill the Messenger is a 2014 American biographical crime thriller film directed by Michael Cuesta and written by Peter Landesman. It is based on the book of the same name by Nick Schou and the book Dark Alliance by Gary Webb. The film stars Jeremy Renner, who also produced the film. The film was released on October 10, 2014, and depicts a reporter's suppressed attempts to cover the CIA involvement and secret support of large scale cocaine sales to fund the Nicaraguan Contras.

<i>Freeway Rick Ross</i> (book) 2014 memoir by former drug kingpin Rick Ross

Freeway Rick Ross: The Untold Autobiography is a 2014 memoir by former drug kingpin Rick Ross, co-authored by American crime writer Cathy Scott, about the rise and fall of Ross, in the 1980s and '90s, to his 2009 release from prison. The book was released by Freeway Studios in June 2014.

<i>Kill the Messenger</i> (Schou book) 2006 biography by Nick Schou

Kill the Messenger: How the CIA's Crack-cocaine Controversy Destroyed Journalist Gary Webb is a biography of investigative journalist Gary Webb, focusing on his 1996 "Dark Alliance" investigative series in the San Jose Mercury News. The series linked the 1980s' crack cocaine trade in the United States and the CIA-backed Nicaraguan Contras.

References

  1. "Pen Oakland Award Winners". Pen Oakland. Archived from the original on 2 July 2014. Retrieved 7 July 2014.
  2. "Firecracker Alternative Book Awards". Readers Read. Retrieved 2015-02-01.
  3. Webb, Gary (1998). Dark Alliance: The CIA, The Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion. USA: Seven Stories Press. p. 146. ISBN   1-888363-68-1.
  4. Webb, Gary (1998). Dark Alliance: The CIA, The Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion. USA: Seven Stories Press. p. ix. ISBN   1-888363-68-1.
  5. Webb, Gary (1998). Dark Alliance: The CIA, The Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion. USA: Seven Stories Press. p. 443. ISBN   1-888363-68-1.
  6. Webb, Gary (1998). Dark Alliance: The CIA, The Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion. USA: Seven Stories Press. pp. 443–444. ISBN   1-888363-68-1.
  7. Webb, Gary (1998). Dark Alliance: The CIA, The Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion. USA: Seven Stories Press. pp. 444–447. ISBN   1-888363-68-1.
  8. Webb, Gary (1998). Dark Alliance: The CIA, The Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion. USA: Seven Stories Press. p. 445. ISBN   1-888363-68-1.
  9. Pertman, Adam (6 October 1996). ""CIA-Drug Link Stories Outrage Blacks in L.A."". Boston Globe . Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.A.
  10. Corn, David (August 9, 1998). "Dark Alliance". The Washington Post . Retrieved 7 July 2014.
  11. Massing, Michael (1999-01-24). "Dead End". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2015-02-01.
  12. Adams, James (September 27, 1998). "Moonlighting?". The New York Times . Retrieved 7 July 2014.
  13. Garvin, Glenn (Jan 1999). "Hooked on Fantasies". Reason: 66–68.