The 1980s television drama Miami Vice explored the Contra war in Nicaragua – as well as U.S. involvement in that war – in the season three episode “Stone’s War.” Two years later, the series again ventured into the real world of Central America in the season five installment “Borrasca,” this time focusing on the growing scandal inside the Reagan administration known as the Iran-Contra Affair.
The episode begins with a major drug deal that suddenly turns violent when the buyer – a kingpin named De La Cart – tries to short the seller on their agreed upon price. His iron-plated limousine is subsequently shot up by machine guns loaded with armor-piercing bullets. Miami Vice detectives Ricardo Tubbs and Stan Switek arrive on the scene and initially believe that a drug war has broken out. Their investigation leads them to a former foot soldier of De La Cart, however, who informs them that “Borrasca” was responsible for the hit.
Since the name doesn’t ring a bell, Lieutenant Martin Castillo makes some calls. “DEA says that Borrasca is a counterrevolutionary group fighting communists in Porto Rubio,” he explains afterwards. “Small in numbers but fanatical. Unafraid to die. These are dangerous men. Their leader in Miami is El Martillo.” A Columbian freighter loaded with drugs worth over $100 million was hijacked ten days earlier, and Martillo intends on selling the merchandise to fund the war against communism in Porto Rubio. Since the deal with De Le Cart went south, he now needs a new buyer for his ill-gotten goods.
In 1979, Anastasio Somoza Debayle – the brutal dictator of Nicaragua – was overthrown by a collection of left-leaning Marxists known as the Sandinista National Liberation Front. When Ronald Reagan became president, he was determined to not only prevent the Sandinistas from exporting their revolution to other countries in the region but overthrowing their government as well. Instead of direct military action, Reagan provided weapons, money, and training to former members of Somoza’s National Guard who had formed an insurgent group known as the Contras.
Getting approval from Congress for aid to the Contras was a continual struggle throughout Reagan’s time in office. Furthermore, Congress passed a series of “Boland Amendments” that stated “no funds available to the Central Intelligence Agency, the Department of Defense, or any other agency or entity of the United States involved in intelligence activities” could be used to overthrow the Sandinistas.
As Edward Lynch notes in his 2013 book The Cold War’s Last Battlefield: Reagan, the Soviets, and Central America, missing from the amendments was any mention of the National Security Council. Sensing a loophole, national security advisor Robert McFarlane secured financial pledges from other countries – including one million dollars a month from Saudi Arabia – for the Contras. National Security Council member Oliver North went even further, continually finding innovative new ways to satisfy the president’s obsession.
Reagan had another obsession during his second term in office – the release of seven Americans being held hostage in Lebanon by terrorist groups affiliated with Hezbollah, which received its funding from Iran. It wasn’t long before North was able to tie the fate of both the Contras and the American hostages into a single clandestine operation. The United States would secretly sell weapons to Iran at an inflated price in exchange for their assistance in freeing the hostages, and any excess funds would be funneled to the Contras to assist in their war against the Sandinistas.
Posing as buyers, Ricardo Tubbs and Stan Switek of Miami Vice head to a Little Caribe bar to make contact with El Martillo. Afterwards, they are confronted by an unknown man and his henchmen outside the club. “Give Castille a message from me,” they are told. “The Borrasca thing? You guys are out of it. For good.”
Based on the description provided by Tubbs and Switek, Lieutenant Castillo deduces that the man is Edward Reese. “He’s an intelligence man,” Castillo explains. “Freelance. Sometimes he’s government sanctioned, sometimes not.” He decides to ignore Reese’s warning and tells his two detectives to continue their operation.
In the meantime, Castillo uses his contacts in the federal government to access a restricted file on Reese. His resume is filled with rogue operations, and any efforts to reign him in have proven fruitless. Some of those undertakings took place in Central America while working alongside Oliver North, including what later became known as “Irangate.” Reese’s involvement, however, was never made public. Despite his association with North, Reese is still considered useful by the U.S. government and continues to be sent on official and unofficial assignments.
On October 5, 1986, a cargo plane took off from El Salvador and entered Nicaraguan airspace. Two Sandinista soldiers fired their portable land-air rockets and shot down the plane. At the crash site, sixty AK-47s, fifty thousand rifle cartridges, sixty grenade launchers, and 150 pairs of jungle boots were found. Two of the three Americans and the lone Nicaraguan onboard perished but the third American parachuted to safety. Upon being captured, he said that he worked for the CIA, a claim supported by logbooks recovered from the wreckage detailing previous covert supply flights.
One month later, the American news media picked up a story first published in the pro-Iranian newspaper al-Shirra reporting that an American hostage in Lebanon had been released after antitank missiles arrived in Iran from the United States. Afraid of a scandal breaking out, President Reagan asked Attorney General Edwin Meese to question officials involved with the Iranian hostage deal over the weekend of November 21.
On Saturday, Assistant Attorney General William Bradford Reynolds and Meese’s chief of staff John Richardson found a memo from Oliver North to National Security advisor John Poindexter that stated, “$12 million (of the money from Iran) will be used to purchase critically needed supplies for the Nicaraguan Democratic Resistance forces.” Meese informed White House Chief of Staff Donald Regan of his findings on Monday morning, and the two then met with Reagan, who appeared shell-shocked by the revelation.
Since the Miami Vice investigation into El Martillo hasn’t been halted, Edward Reese pays a personal visit on Martin Castillo. “I should have known being tough wouldn’t work with you,” he says. “Let’s talk cooperation, okay?” Reese then repeats what he told Tubbs and Switek, that Miami Vice needs to leave Martillo and the drugs alone. “Look, I’ll tell you who they sell it to,” he offers as a compromise. “That way, when they go back home and fight the commies, you can take the dope off of whoever buys it. That’s a good deal, ain’t it? Gives you what you want, helps keep America strong.”
Donald Regan took the lead in crafting the White House response. North and Poindexter were fired. A special bipartisan commission was created, consisting of former Republican Senator John Tower, former national security advisor Brent Scowcroft, and former Democratic Senator Edmund Muskie. Reagan and Meese then held a press conference, informing the press of what Meese had discovered and the formation of the special committee.
While the resulting Tower Commission report criticized the president’s management style and staff structure, it likewise noted that there was no evidence that Reagan knew funds were being diverted to the Contras.
“A few months ago I told the American people I did not trade arms for hostages,” President Reagan said during a March 4, 1987, address to the nation. “My heart and my best intentions still tell me that’s true, but the facts and the evidence tell me it is not. As the Tower board reported, what began as a strategic opening to Iran deteriorated, in its implementation, into trading arms for hostages. This runs counter to my own beliefs, to administration policy, and to the original strategy we had in mind. There are reasons why it happened, but no excuses. It was a mistake.”
Lieutenant Martin Castillo is still determined to take down El Martillo. Ricardo Tubbs delivers the deposit money previously negotiated and in return is taken to the freighter containing the drugs. Once he sees the merchandise, Miami Vice agents arrive on the scene and take everyone into custody. At that same moment, a helicopter appears in the nighttime sky and shots are fired. It’s Edward Reese, who plans on rescuing Martillo from the police. As soon as the anticommunist insurgent is on board the chopper, however, an unseen sniper shoots El Martillo dead.
Later that evening, Ricardo Tubbs pays a visit on Martin Castillo. “I’ve always tried to do what’s right,” the lieutenant says, indirectly admitting that he was the sniper. “That’s a code I live by. Do you understand that?”
Tubbs simply replies, “Yes.”
Anthony Letizia