Cocaine Politics

Drugs, Armies, and the CIA in Central America, Updated edition

Peter Dale Scott, Jonathan Marshall

• Publisher: University of California Press
• Year: 2023
• Print ISBN:
  9780520214491
• Edition: 1
• eBook ISBN:
  9780520921283
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: North American History
• Index: History

When the San Jose Mercury News ran a controversial series of stories in 1996 on the relationship between the CIA, the Contras, and crack, they reignited the issue of the intelligence agency's connections to drug trafficking, initially brought to light during the Vietnam War and then again by the Iran-Contra affair. Broad in scope and extensively documented, Cocaine Politics shows that under the cover of national security and covert operations, the U.S. government has repeatedly collaborated with and protected major international drug traffickers. A new preface discusses developments of the last six years, including the Mercury News stories and the public reaction they provoked.

Table of contents

• Contents
• Preface to the 1998 Edition
• Preface to the 1992 Paperback Edition
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction
• 1. The Kerry Report: The Truth but Not the Whole Truth
• PART I. RIGHT-WING NARCOTERRORISM, THE CIA, AND THE CONTRAS
• 2. The CIA and Right-Wing Narcoterrorism in Latin America
• 3. Bananas, Cocaine, and Military Plots in Honduras
• 4. Noriega and the Contras Guns, Drugs, and the Harari Network
• 5. The International Cali Connection and the United States
• 6. The Contra Drug Connections in Costa Rica
• Part II. EXPOSURE AND COVER-UP
• 7. Jack Terrell Reveals the Contra-Drug Connection
• 8. North Moves to Silence Terrell
• 9. How the Justice Department Tried to Block the Drug Inquiry
• 10. Covert Operations and the Perversion of Drug Enforcement
• 11. The Media and the Contra Drug Issue
• 12. Conclusion
• Notes
• Names and Organizations
• Index