PRODEMCA

PRODEMCA
Formation	1981
Headquarters	USA
Sponsored by	National Endowment for Democracy
Membership	•  Angier Biddle Duke •  Penn Kemble •  Denise O'Leary •  John A. Hurson •  Morris Abram •  William E. Barlow •  Philip Baum •  John M. Bennett •  Nicholas D. Biddle •  Linden Blue •  Vladimir Bukovsky •  Francis R. Carroll •  Kevin Corrigan •  S. Harrison Dogole •  William C. Doherty •  John C. Duncan •  Maurice A. Ferre •  Orville Freeman •  J. Peter Grace •  Judith Hernstadt •  Theodore M. Hesburgh •  Sidney Hook •  Samuel P. Huntington •  John T. Joyce •  Clark Kerr •  Jeane J. Kirkpatrick •  Jorge Mas Canosa •  Michael Novak •  Richard Ravitch •  Daniel Rose •  Peter R. Rosenblatt •  Bayard Rustin •  John R. Silber •  William E. Simon •  Max Singer •  Kenneth B. Smilen •  Maurice Sonnenberg •  Mary N. Temple` •  Ben J. Wattenberg

PRODEMCA, aka Friends of the Democratic Center in Central America, was a National Endowment for Democracy front group, nominally "founded to support incipient democratic processes in Central America, but in reality used to support the Nicaraguan Contras, and was involved in the" "Iran-Contra" affair.[1]

"PRODEMCA received $88,000 from Spitz Channell, head of the National Endowment for the Preservation of Liberty, a major actor in Lt. Col Oliver North's private aid network for the Contras. PRODEMCA terminated its own operations and merged with Freedom House in late 1988."[2]

Background

"The Friends of the Democratic Center in Central America, better known as PRODEMCA, was founded in late 1981. According to its promotional literature, the organization was established in order to support incipient democratic processes in Central America. Its projects have focused primarily on Nicaragua, especially in the construction of anti-Sandinista media and public relations campaigns and in support for the political opposition inside Nicaragua. In carrying out these campaigns, PRODEMCA relied on funding from Carl R. Channell's National Endowment for the Preservation of Liberty (NEPL). NEPL was one of the important conduits for funds from the contra supply network coordinated by Oliver North.[3]

"PRODEMCA had a controversial history because of its advocacy on behalf of the contras and because of funding sources including NEPL and the U. S. government. In 1986, for instance, the group used portions of the money from NEPL to pay for fullpage advertisements promoting military aid to the contras. At the same time, the group was receiving money from the congressionally-funded National Endowment for Democracy (NED) to provide grants to Nicaragua's internal opposition. NED severed its relationship with PRODEMCA after a public and congressional outcry over the placement of the ads and questions about whether U. S. government funds had been used to pay for them. PRODEMCA closed its own operations and merged with the NED-funded Freedom House in late 1988." [4]

The Group Watch April 1989 file on the Friends of the Democratic Center in Central America provides a snapshot of the Principals at that time:

National Council

• Angier Biddle Duke, Chairman
• Penn Kemble, President
• Denise O'Leary, Executive Director
• John A. Hurson, Counsel

• Morris Abram
• William E. Barlow
• Philip Baum
• John M. Bennett
• Nicholas D. Biddle
• Linden Blue
• Vladimir Bukovsky
• Francis R. Carroll
• Kevin Corrigan
• S. Harrison Dogole
• William C. Doherty
• John C. Duncan
• Maurice A. Ferre
• Orville Freeman
• J. Peter Grace
• Judith Hernstadt
• Theodore M. Hesburgh
• Sidney Hook
• Samuel P. Huntington
• John T. Joyce
• Clark Kerr
• Jeane J. Kirkpatrick
• Jorge Mas Canosa
• Michael Novak
• Richard Ravitch
• Daniel Rose
• Peter R. Rosenblatt
• Bayard Rustin (deceased)
• John R. Silber
• William E. Simon
• Max Singer
• Kenneth B. Smilen
• Maurice Sonnenberg
• Mary N. Temple
• Ben J. Wattenberg
• The 1986 list of officers included Adrianne Doherty, Administrative Director, and Elie Wiesel on the national council.

"Max Singer, an endorser of the Committee for the Free World (CFW) [was] president of the conservative business strategy consulting firm the Potomac Organization. He went to Honduras in 1983 where he offered advice on how to improve the image of the Contras. Of high priority, Singer observed, was the avoidance of the image of the contras as a U.S.-run army. Singer also noted that he was planning to return to Washington to write a book promoting the contras. Singer was on the board of Friends of the Democratic Center in Central America (PRODEMCA)." [5]

 

Known members

9 of the 39 of the members already have pages here:

Member	Description
Vladimir Bukovsky	Russian dissident who spoke at the 1979 JCIT.
Orville Freeman	Governor of Minnesota 1955-1961, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture from 1961-1969.
Theodore Hesburgh	Bilderberg priest
Sidney Hook	American philosopher and anti-communist activist.
Samuel Huntington	US political scientist and DSO known for his Clash of Civilizations narrative
Jeane Kirkpatrick	Neocon "terror expert", US Ambassador to the UN, Washington Conference on International Terrorism...
Bayard Rustin	Quaker activist who spoke at the JCIT on "Democracy and Terrorism"
William Simon	Wrote a working paper on U.S. Economic Performance and Prospects for the 1982 Bilderberg.
Ben J. Wattenberg	Democratic Party Cold War hardliner that moved to neoconservatism during the 1970s.

 

Sponsor

Event	Description
National Endowment for Democracy	The "traditional intermediary of the CIA", promoting the US "national interest" abroad by financing groups and individuals.

Many thanks to our Patrons who cover ~2/3 of our hosting bill. Please join them if you can.