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T H E
C O U N T Y
MONDAY
MAY
1987
25 CENTS
By Alfonso Chardy
WASHINGTON The Reagan administration in 1985 and 1986 conducted a secret campaign of threats and intimidation against five Latin American governments in an effort to scuttle Central American peace talks and win support for the contras, according to
classified documents and interviews with U.S. and foreign officials. President Reagan's role in the campaign is unclear, but documents and interviews indicate that he personally may have approved
at least one of its initiatives and possibly was involved in discussions of two others. U.S. officials said the Reagan administration sought to disrupt the Contadora group because the peace talks complicated efforts to persuade Congress to approve contra aid. According to knowledgeable officials, the campaign included: An effort to force from office the head of the Panamanian defense forces, Gen. Manuel Noriega. When Noriega did not respond to
a direct request from then-national security adviser Vice Adm. John Poindexter that he resign, the United States cut off aid to Panama, then leaked damaging classified documents about Noriega to The New York Times and NBC News. A proposal that would have had the United States drop its support for the government of Mexican President Miguel de la Madrid, which supported the peace talks, in favor of a conservative opposition party. The proposal, conveyed to repre-
sentatives of the National Action Party by convicted contra supporter Carl "Spitz'' Channel!, came to nothing when the representatives failed to give money to the contras. Secret talks with the Honduran military about ways of dealing with then-President Roberto Suazo, who blocked contra aid shipments in late 1985. The approach to the military to pressure Suazo to lift the blockade came after the United States had failed to sway him with aid suspensions and the leaking of embarrassing information to The Miami Herald.
The administration campaign also included secret support for a conservative presidential candidate in Costa Rica who U.S. officials hoped would be supportive of the contras. Intense diplomatic efforts aimed at persuading Argentine officials to change their pro-peace-talks position also were included, administration and foreign officials said. Some of the actions may have been illegal. Congressional aides familiar with contra affairs said a provision Please see THREATS/A4
RUE
he road began in many different places for the 37 young men prosecutors have.accused Randy Kraft of killing. They came from Fullerton, Long Beach and Buena Park; Pocatello, Idaho; Coventry, Conn.; Des Arc, Ark.; Louisville, Ky.; New Castle, Ind.; Monroe, Wash.
Sometimes, they left behind loving parents who worried about their safety. Other times, it was the painful memory of a broken home or the desperation of a large rural family's poverty. They left behind brothers and sisters, friends and lovers. At least two had wives and children. They worked at humble trades: cook, carny, maintenance man, construction worker, baker. A
few were students. Others were young soldiers statioried in a strange place far from home. Later, when investigators compiled inventories of their possessions, it became startlingly apparent how little they could call their own: a 7-year-old car, a cheap Instamatic camera, a second-hand electric razor purchased for a dollar at a flea market, a prized pair of Sergio Valente jeans. But they owned what only the young can lay claim to, a bank balance of days and years. Time to dream of becoming a rock star or an artist or a success in the movie business. Time to struggle to sort things out and find a dream or a direction. Or to drift, to just pass the time. On this road, there were no signs to warn them their destination was just ahead.
President Corazon Aquino Her choices are expected to win ers were eligible to cast ballots for 84 candidates seeking the 24 senatorial positions and 1,899 candidates running for the 200 seats in the House of Representatives. Election chief Ramon Felipe predicted an 80 percent turnout of voters. In Manila, people began lining up at polling places under sunny skies. Those elected will serve until Aquino's term expires on June 30, 1992, sharing crucial decisions on land reform, the communist and Please see PHILIPPINES/A2
Chapter 5
Drifters and Dreamers
By Patrick J. KlgerThe Register
ark Hall had been dead for many years before his friend Phillip Holmer even knew he was from Pocatello, Idaho. Hall never said much about his hometown. It was hard to get him out of his shell, Holmer remembers. Sometimes, Holmer wondered if his friend was running from something. Or maybe it was just something about finally living in California. When Hall was little, his father, Darwin, a postal worker, and his mother, Lois, had taken their only child West to see Disneyland and Sea World. "He loved California," his father remembers. He also loved music. He played drums and the guitar. Jimi Hendrix became his idol. His father remembers him playing Hendrix records, very loud. Hall played in two or three rock bands in Pocatello, but work was hard to find: a Moose Lodge dance, a gig at a serviceman's club in South Dakotia, a program on a local radio station. With a population of 46,000, Pocatello had limited opportunities. Hall and a few of his friends decided to seek their fortune in California. "He thought he could get more jobs," his mother said. Reluctantly, his parents sent him off.
CALIFORNIA POLL
TESTING: An increase in voluntary AIDS testing is urged/A2 years ago has become the No. 1 issue in California. "It's a new phenomenon," he said. Acquired immune deficiency syndrome attacks the body's immune system and destroys its ability to fend off disease and infection. While 69 percent of residents say controlling the spread of the AIDS virus is the most important issue in the state. 56 percent said they do not want laws passed that would Please see AIDS/A2
Limiting the spread of AIDS is a higher priority to Californians than any other issue, including schools and crime, according to a statewide opinion poll.
Sam Mircovich/The Register
Members of the Anaheim family of Geoffrey Nelson, one of the 16 men Randy Kraft is accused of killing, pose recently. From left are Judy Nelson, his mother; Neal McLean, his grandfather; Steve Nelson, his brother; Don McLean, his uncle; and Sue Centoni, his aunt/A6
The young men headed for Santa Ana, where they had some friends, but they apparently parted ways after he arrived. Holmer befriended Hall at Emerson ElecINSIDE
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tric Co. in Santa Ana, where they both worked. Hall was lost and lonely at the time, Holmer remembers. His hair was Please see CHAPTER 5/A6
AIDS is more important than such common illnesses as cancer and heart disease, and the state should spend more money on research for an AIDS cure before it spends money on other issues, residents said in a telephone survey by The California Poll. Mark DiCamillo, editor of The California Poll, said it is extraordinary that an affliction unknown six
PARIS The Rue Sainte-Catherine in Lyon is one of those European locations that exist in infamy. It was there on a winter day 44 years ago that 86 Jews gathered to discuss how to escape from German-occupied France to neutral Switzerland. Instead, they fell into a Nazi trap. The Gestapo raided the meeting. The raid was led, according to surviving witnesses, by a 30-year-old German lieutenant named Klaus Barbie, who was well-known in
Lyon for his efficient cruelty. The witnesses said he supervised the arrest of all the Jews present. At least 78 were deported to Auschwitz, where all but three were killed. The roundup on the Rue SainteCatherine, as that notorious incident came to be called, is one of several crimes against humanity charged to Barbie, the wartime head of the Gestapo in Lyon. His long-awaited trial is to start today. The trial, taking place more than 40 years after his alleged crimes, has absorbed, fascinated and displease see BARBIE/A9
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