This is for those who might be concerned about donating money to Americares.
I put this together on the fly for Armando, so forgive any sloppiness.
Based on my limited knowledge of Markos's experiences in Central America, I think he might take an interest too.
As former CIA operations officer Bruce Hemmings describes it, "since at least 1981, a worldwide network of `free-standing' companies, including airlines, aviation and military spare parts suppliers, and trading companies, has been utilized by the CIA and the U.S. government to illegally ship arms and military spare pans ... [that is] staffed primarily by ex-CIA, ex-FBI, and ex-military officers...." A key component of the private intelligence circuit are non-profit organizations, including relief groups like the International Rescue Committee,
AmeriCares, and Air Commando Association, which can quickly gain access to sensitive areas.
from
http://www.totse.com/en/politics/central_intelligence_agency/165523.html
http://64.233.161.104/search?q=cache:ede1c8l0Y4kJ:www.paulrich.net/students/readings/wh6.html+%22Ame
ricares%22+%22Ollie+North%22&hl=en
Here is the original source: http://64.233.161.104/search?q=cache:mYBcxjuTJskJ:www.democracyunbound.com/binion121900.html+%22Amer
icares%22+%22CIA%22&hl=en
14. AmeriCares Foundation
helped form rescue missions that helped Saigon children raise money for their welfare by shining shoes for U.S. soldiers. He went into personal debt to assist in the l975 evacuation airlift of Vietnamese associated with the U.S. occupation in Vietnam.(7,18) Closely associated with the elite conservative Catholic lay order Knights of Malta, AmeriCares currently distributes most of its goods through that organization in Central America.(18) Corporate magnate J. Peter Grace, head of the Knights of Malta in the United States, said he initiated medical shipments to Central America in l983 by calling Macauley and proposing that AmeriCares and the Knights of Malta work together in the region.(4) AmeriCares is a high profile organization. It is generally the first private voluntary organization to arrive at the scene of a disaster with humanitarian aid. Often a prominent political figure--in recent years frequently a member of the Bush family-- is on board to deliver the shipment, and the U.S. ambassador to
- Americares Foundation AmeriCares was also the first U.S. humanitarian aid group on the scene providing supplies to refugees fleeing from Kuwait to Jordan. Initial shipments were met by the U.S. ambassador to Jordan, Roger Harrison.(42) The organization, working with the Knights of Malta, channeled more than $14 million in donated medical aid to El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras between l982 and l984. The bulk of those supplies, valued at approximately $10 million, went to hospitals and clinics in El Salvador.(4) In 1985, the group sent $20 million in donated supplies to El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras. The l986 total exceeded $20 million.(2)
- AmeriCares Foundation through l984. Much of that total was distributed by the armed forces for its "model village" program aimed at resettling and "pacifying" Guatemalans displaced during counterinsurgency operations.(4). Honduras: AmeriCares began its official operations in Honduras in l985, aided by the longer presence of the Knights of Malta whose special diplomatic status facilitates the movement of AmeriCares supplies through customs and exempts the group from taxes. AmeriCares provides donated medicine and food to l63 clinics of the health ministry as well as to l3 private clinics.(19) A portion of the $680,000 in aid that AmeriCares shipped to
- AmeriCares Foundation humanitarian assistance organization which has conducted major operations along the border between Honduras and Nicaragua. It has assisted Nicaraguan refugees, the contras, and contra families.(34,35) As in the rest of Central America, AmeriCares works closely with the Knights of Malta in Honduras. Their efforts support military civic actions and counterrevolutionary programs, but they also provide supplies to the Ministry of Health for clinics throughout the country.(19) The organization supplies the hospital and clinics of Friends of the Americas along the Nicaraguan border in La Mosquitia and in the Danli area. It also provides medicine to clinics run by the Brigadas de Salud in Catacamas, Trujillo, La Ceiba, El Progreso, San Pedro, Santa Barbara, Siguatepeque, and Choluteca.
On the island of Amapala in the Gulf of Fonsecas another clinic supplied by the group. This island has become an important communications and intelligence post for the U.S. military. As described below in Govt Connections, the combined AmeriCares/Knights of Malta operation in Honduras has a mutually supportive relationship with the Honduran armed forces.(19) In early 1990, a 20-member AmeriCares team traveled to southern Honduras to provide aid to an area along the border with Nicaragua. They were accompanied by Ted Keary of the Central America Medical and Dental Foundation (see below), a group which has provided extensive humanitarian assistance in Honduras.(32) Nicaragua: In l985 and l986, AmeriCares shipped more than $l00,000 worth of newsprint to the opposition daily, La Prensa, in
Managua.
This included delivery of 200 tons ofnewsprint to the newspaper in l986.(16,24) The Knights of Malta handled the local arrangements in Nicaragua.(28) Its l985 tax return indicated that AmeriCares delivered $73,136 worth of food and medical supplies to La Prensa, but Jim Schaffer, a former official in the organization, says that only newsprint was sent.(24) An attempted shipment of another l5 tons of newsprint from AmeriCares to La Prensa in April l988 was blocked by the Sandinista government which accused AmeriCares of
18. AmeriCares Foundation
network.(28) In February 1990, following the elections in Nicaragua which ousted the Sandinistas,
AmeriCares sent a team to the country to deliver humanitarian aid and assess Nicaragua's medical needs. The shipment of medical and nutritional supplies donated by the group was valued at about $1 million. The Catholic Church and the Knights of Malta were given responsibility for distributing the aid. The AmeriCares team was accompanied by Ted Keary and Einar Ruud of the Cape Cod Chapter of the Central America Medical and Dental Foundation, another humanitarian aid group. Keary and Ruud were traveling as advisers to AmeriCares.(32) Following the trip, AmeriCares intended to begin more regular assistance to groups in Nicaragua.(32) President Bush's son Marvin accompanied the second AmeriCares shipment to Nicaragua. This shipment was met by Knights of Malta ambassador Roberto Alejos Arzu, a man with a long history of rightwing politics and CIA links in Guatemala. Alejos lent his plantation in Guatemala to the CIA for training troops for the Bay of Pigs invasion.(37) Panama: AmeriCares was the first private voluteer organization to
19. AmeriCares Foundation Powell, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and deputy secretaries of the Defense and State departments.(41) Mexico: AmeriCares moved into Mexico immediately following the 1985 earthquake in Mexico City, sending an airlift of medical supplies valued at $1,514,755.(30,39) Work in Mexico is supported by the Knights of Malta and directed by Julieta Conroy De Hegewisch of the Fundacion De Apoyo Social I.A.P. There were four medical projects active in 1990: Jesus Obrero Parish, San Gerardo Mayela Parish, the Community of Fas Hidalgo, and General Hospital of Mexico. AmeriCares has worked cooperatively with SHARE in Mexico (See Private Connections).(30) 20. AmeriCares Foundation AmeriCares receives support from AID for its transport costs to El Salvador.(26) Honduras: AmeriCares received an Agency for International Development grant of $2.7 million for work on the Nicaragua- Honduras border.(8) Joint projects by AmeriCares and Knights of Malta in Honduras rely on the Honduran army for transportation assistance.
The joint operations also contribute supplies for the army's civic action programs, and the Fifth Battalion, based in La Mosquitia, has thanked the groups for their support of military civic actions along the Nicaraguan border in towns such as Awasbila and Ilaya, where contras have been based.(19) AmeriCares was 21. AmeriCares Foundation Bush. Ritter served in 1985 and 1986 on Attorney General Edwin Meese's commission opposing pornography. Ritter was an outspoken opponent of pornography of all types, considering it a bad influence that encouraged the sexual exploitation of the young.(31) Private Connections: AmeriCares has worked with, supported, or been supported by a number of groups, including the following: Knights of Malta, Christian Broadcasting Network, the Nicaraguan Freedom Fund, Friends of the Americas, and Brigadas de Salud.(4,5,9,19) AmeriCares has a number of board members in common and works cooperatively with SHARE.
SHARE distributed in Mexico vaccines from AmeriCares that had been refused by the Philippines as being unnecessary and potentially dangerous.(37) The American Medical Association (AMA) solicited pharmaceutical companies for donations to AmeriCares for its January 1990 shipment of medical supplies to Romania. Members of the Knights of Malta accompanied the shipment which was met at the airport by the U.S. ambassador to Budapest, Mark Palmer.(40) During the 1980s AmeriCares sent more aid to Central America than the Knights of Malta could distribute. According to Knight's chief, Roberto Alejos, some shipments were turned over to the 700 Club, the Air Commando Association, and Covenant House.(37) Howard Rusk is on the Board of Directors of the International Rescue Committee and on the Committee of Sponsors of Helen Keller International.(13,14) Rusk is also on the Board of Directors of the World Rehabilitation Fund.(23) J. Peter Grace is chairman of W.R. Grace and Company which focuses its business activities in latin America. He heads the U.S. chapter of the Knights of Malta and was a board member of rodemca.
Grace was board chairman of the American Institute for Free Labor Development (AIFLD), a CIA-linked organization funded by the Agency for International Development that promotes pro-U.S. labor unions in Latin America.(37) Grace was a trustee of the American Committee for Liberation from Bolshevism, a group connected to the CIA that helped ex-Nazi intelligence officers escape prosecution.(47) William Simon and Prescott Bush Jr. are also members of the Knights of Malta, and Simon was also on Prodemca's national council. Both Prodemca and the Knights of Malta wereinvolved in efforts to support the contras and/or private sector opposition groups in Nicaragua. Simon, who was Treasury Secretary under Richard Nixon, was also the chairman of the Nicaraguan Freedom Fund (NFF), a fundraising organization set up in l985 by the Washington Times, a newspaper owned by the Unification Church. The NFF was established to raise funds for the contras.(12,17) Simon is an international 22. AmeriCares Foundation 45. David Ivon, "International Freedom Foundation," Covert Action Information Bulletin, #31, Winter 1989. 46. Phone interview with investigative reporter Sidney Blumenthal, Sep 20, 1990. 47. Penny Lernoux, "Who Knows? Knights of Malta Know," National Catholic Reporter, May 5, 1989.
http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rls=RNWE,RNWE:2004-18,RNWE:en&q
=cia+Americares
Prescott's covert associations continued while his younger brother was vice-president. He appears to have aided the Reagan Administration's clandestine support of the Nicaraguan Contras. In the 1980s, he served on the advisory board of Americares; the U.S.-based relief organization with ties to prominent right-wing Republicans and the intelligence community. Bush's other son, Marvin, also helped the family's pet charity and accompanied a flight of medical supplies to Nicaragua three days after Chamorro's inauguration.
An undisclosed amount of the $680,000 in Americares aid to Honduras was delivered to Nicaraguan Miskito Indian guerrillas. Based in Honduras, they were aligned with the CIA-funded Contras, according to Roberto Alejos, a Guatemalan sugar and coffee grower who coordinated the Americares project in Honduras. In 1960, Alejos had permitted the CIA to use his plantations to train right-wing Cubans in preparation for the Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba.
In 1985 and 1986, after Congress cut off U.S. aid to the Contras, Americares donated more than $100,000 worth of newsprint to the pro-Contra newspaper La Prensa in Managua. Americares supplied $291,383 in food and medicine and $5,750 in cash to Mario Calero, New Orleans-based quartermaster and arms purchaser for the Contras and brother of Contra leader Adolfo Calero. In this same period, groups associated with Lt. Col. Oliver North's off-the-shelf Contra arms network provided covert support for La Prensa.
http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/CIA/Bush_Family_Preys_Together.html
Possibly in their defense: http://www.hartfordadvocate.com/gbase/News/content?oid=oid:1272