[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 104 (Thursday, July 12, 2012)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1242]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  HONORING ADOLFO CALERO PORTOCARRERO

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. DAVID RIVERA

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, July 12, 2012

  Mr. RIVERA. Mr. Speaker, businessman, entrepreneur, freedom fighter 
and long-time friend of the United States Adolfo Calero Portocarrero 
died in Managua, Nicaragua on June 2.
  Mr. Calero was best known as an ally of the United States in our 
efforts to prevent the spread of communism in Central America in the 
1980s. He was leader of the Nicaraguan Democratic Force, the largest 
group in the broad anti-Sandinista coalition.
  Mr. Speaker, I personally knew Adolfo Calero and I can attest that he 
was a great friend of the United States. He went to high school in New 
Orleans, received degrees from Notre Dame and Syracuse University, 
managed the Coca-Cola bottling plant in Nicaragua, and occasionally 
lived in Miami, Florida.
  Calero was a member of the Conservative Party in Nicaragua and after 
the communist Sandinista (FSLN) overthrow of the Somoza regime in 1979, 
he was jailed and later went into exile in Florida. Eventually he 
joined the political directorate of the Nicaraguan Democratic Force and 
became its president.
  What is lesser know is that Calero had also been twice jailed by the 
Somozas in the 1970s. He was an advocate and friend of democracy and an 
opponent of dictatorship whether it was on the right or left.
  In the 1980s, saddened and angered by Nicaragua's fall to communism 
and Daniel Ortega's abuse of human rights, Calero joined the United 
Nicaraguan Opposition (UNO) in an effort to unify the various anti-
Sandinista factions. Nicaragua's ``counter-revolutionary'' fighters or 
Contras were largely made up of 18-22 year olds, independent rural 
farmers and indigenous Christian Indians from the Caribbean Coast. The 
Contras also filled their ranks with disenchanted Sandinistas--at one 
time 6 Of 14 Contra regional commanders and 13 Of 52 Contra task force 
commanders were Sandinista defectors who wanted true freedom. At the 
peak of their strength, UNO had 30,000 men in the field--more than the 
Sandinistas ever had in their fight against the Somoza regime.
  The decade-long effort to oppose the Sandinistas received typical on-
again off-again support from a fickle U.S. Congress. During that time, 
Soviet-Cuban support for communist governments and insurgencies in 
Nicaragua, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico was steadfast. 
Their goal was to spread communism throughout the hemisphere and up to 
the southern border of the United States. Central America was engaged 
in an epic struggle and Nicaragua was the epicenter. More than 3000 
Cuban military intelligence and State security officers set up the 
repressive internal security apparatus in Nicaragua, advised the 
Sandinista armed forces, and participated in combat. The PLO sent 100 
experienced combat officers, Libya and Iran shipped tons of weapons, 
the Cubans sent tens of thousands of AK-47s, Soviet MI-8 helicopters 
and SA-7 missiles.
  Thousands of Contras were killed and maimed, but they held fast. The 
struggle culminated in a ceasefire in 1988 and democratic elections in 
1990. In those elections, UNO's coalition of 14 political parties led 
by Violetta Chamorro scored an upset victory over the Sandinistas.
  Calero's efforts ultimately led to victory and the restoration of 
democracy. Calero's dedication to freedom and democracy also led to the 
beginning of the end of Soviet-Cuban penetration of Central America.

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