Joseph F. Fernandez (born c. 1937) was a Central Intelligence Agency station chief in

Costa Rica Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...

(operating under the pseudonym Tomás Castillo) and a figure in the Iran-Contra Affair. Joe Fernandez, a Cuban-American, was a protégé of

Duane Clarridge Duane Ramsdell "Dewey" Clarridge (April 16, 1932 – April 9, 2016) was an American senior operations officer for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and supervisor for more than 30 years. Clarridge was the chief of the Latin American division f ...

in the early years of the Contra operation. When Clarridge was replaced by

Alan Fiers Alan Dale Fiers Jr. (born 15 April 1939) is an American former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) officer, who served as President Ronald Reagan's chief of the CIA's Central American Task Force from October 1984 until his retirement in 1988. Fiers ...

as the CIA's Central American point man, Fernandez allied himself with the

National Security Council A national security council (NSC) is usually an executive branch governmental body responsible for coordinating policy on national security issues and advising chief executives on matters related to national security. An NSC is often headed by a na ...

's Oliver North rather than Fiers. North and Fernandez sought to revive the anti-Sandinista cause in the south, blaming Edén Pastora's erratic leadership for the

Democratic Revolutionary Alliance The Democratic Revolutionary Alliance ( es, Alianza Revolucionaria Democrática, links=no or ''ARDE'') were the Southern Front guerrillas in Nicaragua that fought against the Marxist elements of the original Sandinista Revolution in 1979. Despite ...

's moribund state. In early 1986, Fernandez convinced Pastora's field commanders to join

Fernando "El Negro" Chamorro Fernando Chamorro Rappaccioli (1933 – September 6, 1994), known as "El Negro" ("Blackie") for his dark complexion, was a longtime Nicaraguan rebel fighting both the Somoza and Sandinista regimes. Efforts to build a Contra Southern Front around hi ...

, who had allied with the northern-based

Nicaraguan Democratic Force The Nicaraguan Democratic Force (', or FDN) was one of the earliest Contra groups, formed on August 11, 1981 in Guatemala City. It was formed to oppose Nicaragua's revolutionary Sandinista government following the 1979 overthrow of Anastasio Somoz ...

. However, his efforts with North to build a strong Contra Southern Front, including aerial resupply of rebel forces in the south by Richard Secord's "Enterprise," enmeshed him in the Iran-Contra Affair. Fernandez was originally indicted June 20, 1988 on four counts of obstruction and false statements. The indictment of Fernandez represented the first time that a CIA chief of station had been charged with crimes committed in the course of his duties as a CIA officer. Following a venue change, a new indictment was made April 24, 1989. The case was dismissed November 24, 1989 when Attorney General

Richard L. Thornburgh Richard Lewis Thornburgh (July 16, 1932 – December 31, 2020) was an American lawyer, author, and United States Republican Party, Republican politician who served as the List of governors of Pennsylvania, 41st governor of Pennsylvania fro ...

refused to declassify information needed for his defense. After charges were dropped, he founded Guardian Technologies International with Oliver North.

References

*Lawrence E. Walsh (August 4, 1993
Chapter 20: United States v. Joseph F. Fernandez.
''Final Report of the Independent Counsel for Iran/Contra Matters.'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Fernandez, Joseph F. People of the Central Intelligence Agency Iran–Contra affair 1937 births Living people