Adolfo Calero, ex-Coca-Cola executive tied to Iran-Contra scandal in '80s, dies at 80
Sunday, Jun. 03, 2012
Adolfo Calero, ex-Coca-Cola executive tied to Iran-Contra scandal in '80s, dies at 80
By TRACY WILKINSON - Los Angeles Times
MEXICO CITY — Adolfo Calero, a former Coca-Cola executive who led the largest anti-Sandinista Contra rebel force in 1980s Nicaragua and served as one of its most articulate lobbyists in Washington, has died. He was 80.
Calero died Saturday night in the Nicaraguan capital, Managua, of complications from lung disease, an aide told local media.
Calero's career mirrored the tumultuous history of Nicaragua as it emerged from a sleepy Central American backwater to the center of the Cold War struggle. He opposed one right-wing dictatorship, then opposed the leftist rebel movement that replaced it, serving as civilian commander of the U.S.-backed Contra rebels. And thanks to his close ties to the Reagan administration, he eventually got caught up in one of the darkest chapters of U.S. foreign policy, the Iran-Contra scandal.
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And Calero was friendly with Anastasio Somoza - but also kept close tabs on the changing mood in Washington as the government of President Jimmy Carter took office, ending U.S. support for the dictator.
More:
http://www.thestate.com/2012/06/03/2302256/adolfo-calero-ex-coca-cola-executive.html#storylink=cpy
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