October 9, 1986:
At a news conference in Nicaragua, captured U.S. crew member Eugene Hasenfus exposed FelixRodriguez, alias Max Gomez, '' as the head of an international supply system for the Contras. The (^) explosive, public phase of the Iran-Contra scandal had begun. October 11, 1986: The Washington Post ran two headlines side-by-side: Captured American Flyer to be Tried in
Nicaragua '' and BusGomez has said that he met with Bush twice and has been operating in Nicaragua with the Viceh is Linked to Head of Contra Aid Network. '' The Post reported: President's knowledge and approval, the sources said.... Asked about these matters, a spokesman for Bush, Marlin Fitzwater, said: Neither the vice
president nor anyone on his staff is directing or coordinating an operation in Central America. '' ...
The San Francisco Examiner, which earlier this week linked [Bush adviser Donald] Gregg toGomez, reported that Gomez maintains daily contact with Bush's office....
[M]embers of Congress said yesterday they wanted to investigate the administration's conduct
further. And ... several said that their focus had shifted from the CIA to the White House....
[T]he Sunday crash will be among events covered by a [Senate] Foreign Relations Committee
probe into allegations that the contras may have been involved in drug-runniaid funds, [Senator Richard G.] Lugar said.... ng and abuse of U.S.
The Customs Service said yesterday it is investigating whether the downed plane may have carried
guns out of Miami, which would violate federal restrictions on arms exports and other laws,
including the Neutrality Act, which bars U.S. citizens from working to overthrow governments not
at war with the United States.... Hasenfus told reporters in Nicaragua the plane had flown out of Miami.@s7@s6
George Bush's career was now on the line. News media throughout the world broke the story of the
Hasenfus capture, and of the crewman's fingering of Bush and his underlings Rodriguez and Posada
Carriles. Bush was now besieged by inquiries from around the world, as to how and why he wasdirecting the gun-running into Latin America. Speaking in Charleston, South Carolina, George
Bush described Max Gomez/Rodriguez as a patriot. '' The Vice President denied that he himself was directing the illegal operations to supply the Contras: To say I'm running the operation ... it's
absolutely untrue. '' Bush said of Rodriguez: I know what he was doing in El Salvador, and I strongly support it, as does the president of El Salvador, Mr. Napoleon Duarte, and as does the chiefof the armed forces in El Salvador, because this man, an expert in counterinsurgency, was down there helping them put down a communist- led revolution [i.e. in El Salvador, not Nicaragua]. ''@s7@s7 Two days later, Gen. Adolfo Blando@aan, armed forces chief of staff in El Salvador, denied Bush'scontention that Felix Rodriguez worked for his country's military forces: This intrigues me. It
would have to be authorized [by our] joint chiefs of staff [and] the government. '' He said such
authorization had not been given.@s7@s8
October 12, 1986:
Eugene Hasenfus, the U.S. airman downed in Nicaragua, gave and signed an affidavit in which itwas stated: About Max Gomez [Felix Rodriguez], Hasenfus says that he was the head Cuban coordinator for the company and that he works for the CIA and that he is a very close friend of the Vice-President of the United States, George Bush.... Max Gomez, after receiving his orders was the one who had to ... [say] where the air drops would be taking place. About Ramon Medina [escaped airplane bomber Luis Posada Carriles], Hasenfus says that he wasalso a CIA agent and that he did the `small work' because Max Gomez was the `senior man.' He says that Ramon took care of the rent of the houses, the maids, the food, transportation and drivers, and also, coordination of the fuel for the aircraft, etc. '' [emphasis in the original].@s7@s9 His cover being blown, and knowing he was still wanted in Venezuela for blowing up an airliner and killing 73 persons, Posada Carriles now vanished '' and went underground.@s8@s0