Joseph F. Fernandez (1937 – December 3, 2020) was an American intelligence official who was the

Central Intelligence Agency The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA; ) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with advancing national security through collecting and analyzing intelligence from around the world and ...

station chief in

Costa Rica Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in Central America. It borders Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, as well as Maritime bo ...

(operating under the pseudonym Tomás Castillo) and a figure in the Iran-Contra Affair. Fernandez, a

Cuban-American Cuban Americans ( or ) are Americans who immigrated from or are descended from immigrants from Cuba. As of 2023, Cuban Americans were the fourth largest Hispanic and Latino Americans, Hispanic and Latino American group in the United States aft ...

, 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 ...

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 n ...

Oliver North Oliver Laurence North (born October 7, 1943) is an American political commentator, television host, military historian, author, and retired United States Marine Corps lieutenant colonel. A veteran of the Vietnam War, North was a National Sec ...

rather than Fiers. North and Fernandez sought to revive the anti-Sandinista cause in the south, blaming

Edén Pastora Edén Atanacio Pastora Gómez (November 15, 1936 or January 22, 1937 – June 16, 2020) was a Nicaraguan politician and guerrilla who ran for president as the candidate of the Alternative for Change (AC) party in the 2006 general elections. I ...

's erratic leadership for the Democratic Revolutionary Alliance's moribund state. In early 1986, Fernandez convinced Pastora's field commanders to join

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

, 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 Somo ...

. However, his efforts with North to build a strong Contra Southern Front, including aerial resupply of rebel forces in the south by

Richard Secord Major general (United States), Major General Richard Vernon Secord (July 6, 1932 – October 15, 2024) was a United States Air Force officer who worked in covert operations. Early in his military service, he was a member of the first U.S. avia ...

'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 refused to declassify information needed for his defense. After charges were dropped, he founded Guardian Technologies International with Oliver North. Fernandez died on December 3, 2020.

References

Sources

* 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. 1937 births 2020 deaths Iran–Contra affair People of the Central Intelligence Agency