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George Bush: The Unauthorized Biography - Get a Free Blog

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members died in the crash.@s7@s2 Meanwhile, Felix Rodriguez made a single telephone<br />

call--to the office of Vice President <strong>George</strong> <strong>Bush</strong>. He told <strong>Bush</strong> aide Samuel Watson that<br />

the C-123k aircraft was missing and was possibly down.<br />

October 6, 1986:<br />

Eugene Hasenfus, armed only with a pistol, took refuge in a small hut on a jungle hilltop<br />

inside Nicaragua. He was soon surrounded by Sandinista soldiers and gave himself<br />

up.@s7@s3<br />

Felix Rodriguez called <strong>George</strong> <strong>Bush</strong>'s aide Sam Watson again. Watson now notified the<br />

White House Situation Room and the National Security Council staff about the missing<br />

aircraft.<br />

Oliver North was immediately dispatched to El Salvador to prevent publicity over the<br />

event, and to arrange death benefits for the crew.@s7@s4<br />

After the shoot-down, several elaborate attempts were made by government agencies to<br />

provide false explanations for the origin of the aircraft.<br />

A later press account, appearing on May 15, 1989, after <strong>Bush</strong> was safely installed as<br />

President, exposed one such attempted coverup:<br />

Official: Contras Lied to Protect VP <strong>Bush</strong><br />

By Alfonso Chardy, Knight-Ridder Newspapers<br />

WASHINGTON-- Nicaraguan rebels falsely assumed responsibility for an arms-laden plane<br />

downed over Nicaragua in 1986 in an effort to shield then-Vice President <strong>George</strong> <strong>Bush</strong> from the<br />

controversy that soon blossomed into the Iran-Contra scandal, a senior Contra official said in early<br />

May 1989. According to the Contra official, who requested anonymity but has direct knowledge<br />

of the events, a Contra spokesman, Bosco Matamoros [official FDN representative in Washington,<br />

D.C.], was ordered by [FDN Political Director] Adolfo Calero to claim ownership of the downed<br />

aircraft, even though the plane belonged to Oliver North's secret Contra supply network.... Calero<br />

called (Matamoros) and said, `` Take responsibility for the Hasenfus plane because we need to<br />

take the heat off the vice president, '' the Contra source said.... <strong>The</strong> senior Contra official said that<br />

shortly after Calero talked to Matamoros, Matamoros called a reporter for the New York Times and<br />

`` leaked '' the bogus claim of responsibility. <strong>The</strong> Times ran a story about the claim on its front<br />

page.@s7@s5<br />

October 7, 1986:<br />

Rep. Henry B. Gonzalez (D-Tx.) called for a congressional investigation of the<br />

Nicaraguan air crash, and the crash of a Southern Air Transport plane in Texas, to see if<br />

they were part of a covert CIA operation to overthrow the Nicaraguan government.<br />

October 9, 1986:<br />

At a news conference in Nicaragua, captured U.S. crew member Eugene Hasenfus<br />

exposed Felix Rodriguez, alias `` Max Gomez, '' as the head of an international supply

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