Adolfo Calero

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Adolfo Calero Portocarrero was a leader of the Contras and opponent of the Sandinistas, he was charged with controlling the bank accounts into which money was deposited and then used to buy supplies and arms. He was brought to testify at Congressional hearings in May 1987. Since 1963, he was a CIA informant.

Calero studied in the United States, graduating from University of Notre Dame and Syracuse University. In Managua, he managed the Coca-Cola bottling plant.

Calero was associated with the Conservative Party. Before the overthrow of the Somoza regime, he was briefly imprisoned, giving credibility to his claims to have opposed Somoza as well as the Sandinistas.

In 1983, he joined the political directorate of the Nicaraguan Democratic Force (FDN). He became its most powerful member, though many observers always considered his power illusory, due to the political wing's weak control over the military wing. In a bid to unify Contra factions and win aid from the US Congress, he became a member of the UNO triumvirate with Alfonso Robelo and Arturo Cruz. After the Sapoa ceasefire, field commanders ousted both their political and military leadership.

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