Document:The confession of Fernando Farinha Simões
Fernando Farinha Simões (with a moustache).
| Former CIA agent Fernando Farinha Simões confesses in 2011 - after the expiry of the statute of limitations - of the 1980 Camarate air crash and other deep state activities involving The Enterprise. |
article by Fernando Farinha Simões dated 2012Subjects: Camarate air crash, Portugal/Deep state, The Enterprise
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Translated from Portuguese
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I, Fernando Farinha Simões, finally decided, in 2011, to tell the whole truth about Camarate. In the past I have never told the whole Camarate operation, because as the judicial process is going on, I could be arrested and convicted. Also because for 25 years I could not speak, because I was bound to secrecy by the CIA, but this situation has changed now, in addition to the fact that the CIA has completely abandoned me since 1989. I finally decided to speak out of obligation of conscience.
I made my first statement on Camarate to the Parliamentary Committee of Inquiry in 1995. Later I gave some statements in which I added facts and information.
I even gave statements for a SIC program, organized by Emilio Rangel, which did not go on the air. In all these public statements I have told facts about the Camarate attack, which have never been denied, despite the names I have mentioned and the seriousness of the facts I have referred to. In all these reports, I denied the official thesis of the accident, defended by the Judicial Police and the Attorney General's Office.
At one point, he said, the Parliamentary Committees of Inquiry were on the right track. I must also say that having talked about such serious facts about camarate.and from the involvement of certain people in these events, it has always surprised me that those people have preferred silence.
They are in this case Lieutenant Colonel Lencastre Bernardo or Major Canto E Castro. If they were offended by my statements, it would have been logical for them to have reacted. As far as I am concerned, their silence can only mean that, aware of what they have done, they felt that the less said about it, the better.
In these statements that I have made since 1995, I have successively reported only part of the events that occurred, without ever having made the complete narration of the events. We were still relatively close to the events and therefore I did not want to reveal all the details, nor all the people involved in this operation.
However, after more than 30 years after the events, I understood that all Portuguese had the right to know what really happened in Camarate. However, I would like to say that today I am deeply sorry to have taken part in this operation, not only for the people who died there, and whose human quality I only had the opportunity to learn about later, but also for the damage that the disappearance of these people has done to the future of the country. At that time, however, Camarate was just another operation I was involved in, so I didn't measure the consequences. I apologize to the families of the victims, and to the Portuguese in general, for the consequences of the operation in which I participated.
So I would like to go back in time to explain how I ended up getting involved in this operation. In 1974 I met, in South Africa, the German double agent, Uta Gerveck, who worked for the BND (Bundesnachristendienst) - West German intelligence services, and at the same time for Stasi. Uta Gerveck's legal cover is done through the World Council of Churches (a kind of NGO), and it is through this facade that she travels practically all over the world, working at the same time for the BND and for Stasi. He wrote a book in German that he dedicated to me, and that I still have, about the PAIGC freedom struggle in Guinea-Bissau.
My work with Stasi, however, came to light later, when I was already working for the CIA. My infiltration of Stasi took place at the invitation of Uta Gerveck in l976, with the agreement of the CIA, because that interested them very much. Úta Gerveck introduced me, in 1978, in East Berlin, to Marcus Wolf, then Director of Stasi. For this purpose I then went clandestinely to East Berlin, with a Spanish passport, which was provided to me by Úta Gerveck.
My infiltration work at Stasi consisted of producing detailed reports of the "moles" infiltrated into West Germany by Stasi, who acted in particular with Helmut Kohl, Helmut Schmidt and Hans Jurgen Wischewski. Hans Jurgen Wischewski was responsible for relations and contacts between West and East Germany, was president of the German Association for cooperation and development (aid to the third world), and also attended meetings of the Bilderberg Group. It also enabled many clandestine operations in the 70s and 80s, aid to liberation groups from West Germany.
I've also been to Stasi's academy several times in Postdam-Eiche. With regard to the report of the facts, I would like to begin by mentioning that I have been in contact, since 1970, in Angola, with a CIA agent, who is the journalist and television presenter Paulo Cardoso (now deceased). I met Paulo Cardoso in Angola with whom I worked at TVA - Televisão de Angola at the time.
In 1975, I formed CODECO in Portugal with José Esteves, Vasco Montez, Carlos Miranda and Jorge Gago (now deceased). This organization intended to defend, in Portugal, if necessary by guerrilla means, the values of the Western world.
Through Paulo Cardoso I am introduced, in 1975, at the Sheraton Hotel, in Lisbon, to an agent of the CIA, an antena, (intelligence gathering), named Philip Snell. I then spoke for some time with Philip Snell. Paulo Cardoso was then living at the Sheraton Hotel. After a few days, Philip Snell, tells me to go pick up, for free, a plane ticket, from Lisbon to London, at a travel agency on Av. Ceuta, who worked for the U.S. Embassy.
I then went to a meeting in London, where I met an old friend, Gary Van Dyk, from South Africa, who collaborated with the CIA. I was then interviewed by the CIA station chief for Europe, who was named John Logan. Gary Van Dyk, at that meeting, defended my entry into the CIA, saying that he knew me well from Angola, and that I worked efficiently. I then started working for the CIA, having also weighed the fact that I had previously collaborated with the NISS - National Intelligence Security Service (South African Intelligence Agency). Gary Van Dyk was the London-based director of the Department of National Security (South Africa).
Returning to Lisbon, I worked for the U.S. Embassy in Lisbon between 1975 and 1988, full-time. Between 1976 and 1977, for about a year and a half I lived in a suite at the Sheraton Hotel, which can be proven, all paid for by the US Embassy. I was then driving a car with diplomatic plates, a Ford, which I parked in the hotel's garage.
In this suite also lived my wife, Elsa, already pregnant with my daughter Eliana. My work included intelligence /counter-intelligence gathering, arms trafficking intelligence, counter-drug operations, terrorism intelligence, informant recruitment, etc. These activities include contacts with secret services of other countries, such as Stasi, Mossad, and "Boss" (South African), then NISS - National Information Secret Service, then DONS and now SASS.
I was paid in Portugal, receiving about USD 5,000 per month. In these activities, I speak six languages. I acted using several different names, with passports provided by the U.S. Embassy in Lisbon. It also facilitated the fact that I speak an Angolan dialect, kimbundo.
The US Embassy also had a retreat house in Quinta da Marinha, which was handed over to me, and where American agents and military personnel who passed through Portugal often stayed. It was the "Alpendrada" villa.
From 1975, as I mentioned, I worked directly for the CIA. However, from 1978, I worked as an undercover agent in the so-called "Office of Special Operations", which was called clandestine services, and which aimed to observe a target, including stalking, knowing and eliminating the target, in any country in the world, except the USA.
Because we belonged to this Office, we were required to sign a clause called "plausible denial" which means that if we were caught in these operations with false identification documents, the situation would be at our own risk, and the CIA would have nothing to do with the situation. In that circumstance we had the speech prepared to explain what we were doing, including being prepared to endure torture. I worked for the Office of Special Operations until 1989, when I left the CIA.
To cope with these jobs and operations, my credit card accounts of VISA, American Express and Dinners Club each had a a limit of 10,000 USD, which could be moved in case of need. These cards were issued in Brazil, in foreign banks based in Brazil, such as Citibank, Bank of Boston or Bank of America.
Between 1975 and 1989, so for about 14 years, I spent with these cards about 10 million USD, in operations in various countries, namely paying informants, politicians, military, businessmen, and also arms and drug traffickers, in connection with the DEA (Drug Enforcement Agency), there were other amounts moved separately, from a blue bag, "in cash", values these put at the disposal of the CIA station chief, in the place where the operations were carried out. This blue bag served to pay expenses such as travel, necessary purchases, etc.
I can say that the Camarate operation, which I will tell about below, cost between USD 750,000 and USD 1 million at 1980 prices. Mr. José António dos Santos Esteves alone received 200000 USD. These expenses related to the Camarate operation included payments to various individuals and participants, such as Mr. Lee Rodrigues, as I will describe below. Between 1975 and 1988, I attended various courses and seminars in Langley, Virginia and Quantico, paid for by the CIA, on information, disinformation, counter-information. terrorism, counter-terrorism, covert infiltrations, etc, etc.
I worked in infiltration services for the CIA and DEA (Drug Enforcement Agency), in different countries, such as Portugal, El Salvador, Bolivia, Colombia, Venezuela, Peru, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Panama, Chile, Lebanon, Syria, Egypt, Algeria, Morocco, Philippines. My collaboration with the DEA began in 1981 through Richard Lee Armitage.
In 1980, Richard Armitage would also come to be with me and Henry Kissinger in Paris, Richard Lee Armitage was a member of the CFR (Council for Foreign Affairs and Relations) and the Organization for Security Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), created by the CIA. Richard Armitage was also a member, at the time, of the Carlyle Group, of which the CEO was Frank Carlucci.
The Carlyle Group is engaged in civil construction, real estate and is one of the largest arms trafficking groups in the world, along with the Haliburton group, headed by Richard "Dick" Cheney. The Carlyle Group is owned by a number of private investors in the US, by Republican Party rule. This group promotes in particular sales of arms, oil and cement to countries such as Iraq, Afghanistan and now to the Arab Spring countries.
The laundering of money from arms and drug trafficking was done, at the time, by the BCCI bank, linked to the CIA and the NSA - National Security Agency. The BCCI was founded in 1972 and closed in the early 90s due to the various scandals in which it was involved. Oliver North was on the National Security Council under [William Walker]], the former U.S. ambassador to El Salvador. Oliver North followed and always follows the orders of the CIA, dependent on William Casey. Oliver North is now retired from the CIA, and is CEO of several private American groups, as is Frank Carlucci.
From the DEA I met Celerino Castilho, Mike Levine, Anabelle Grimm and Brad Ayers, having worked for the DEA from 1975 until 1989. From the CIA I also worked with Tosh Plumbey, Ralph Megehee - a NSA lieutenant colonel, currently retired. I also worked with Bo Gritz and Tatum. These two agents had their base of operations in El Salvador, (where I was also during the 80s, during the Iran-Contra trade), developing activities with arms trafficking in particular.
One of its operations involved the transport of weapons from the US to El Salvador, which were then transported to Iran and Nicaragua. The planes, usually Panamanian and Colombian, then returned to the US with drugs, including cocaine, from countries such as Colombia, Bolivia and El Salvador, which were used to finance the purchase of weapons. This activity developed mainly from the end of the 70s until 1988.
The cocaine came from Normans Cay in the Bahamas, owned by Carlos Lheder Rivas. Carlos Rivas was one of the heads of the Cartel de Medellin, working for this cartel and for himself. Carlos Rivas was in this context an important character, being the right-hand man of Roberto Vesco, who worked for the CIA and the NSA. Roberto Vesco owned banks in the Bahamas, notably Columbus trust. Carlos Rivas did all the logistics for Roberto Vesco and supplied weapons in exchange for cocaine, namely to the Colombian guerrilla movement M19. Roberto Vesco is now a refugee in Cuba.
Money from arms and drug deals is laundered at BCCI Bank and other banks under the code name " Amadeus". There are, however, active accounts in the Bahamas and on Norman's Cay, in the Jersey Islands, which manage bank accounts, notably for arms trafficking for the Contras in Nicaragua, and for Iran.
As I mentioned above, much of that money went to American and French banks, which will partly explain why Manuel Noriega was sentenced to 60 years in prison, having first been imprisoned in the US, then in France, and now in Panama. He was arrested because it was convenient for him to be silent, not mentioning in particular that he shared with the CIA the money from the sale of weapons and the sale of drugs. Noriega handled bank accounts at more than 120 banks, with CIA knowledge.
Noriega was also part of Operation Black Eagle, dedicated to arms and drug trafficking, which in 1982 became a company called Enterprise, with the collaboration of Oliver North and Donald Gregg of the CIA. Given the level of information and knowledge he had, it is easy to see why Noriega was overthrown and arrested.
I must say that I am personally surprised that he has not so far "committed suicide", since he must have a lot of documents still in storage. Noriega had intended to tell everything he knew about this trafficking, namely about the services he provided to the CIA and Bush Sr., and for this he was arrested. Washington and the CIA are thus important vehicles for arms and drug trafficking, using in particular the strongholds of South Florida and Panama.
In the early 80s I met a Cali cartel trafficker named Ramon Milian Rodriguez, who later before a US Senate committee, where he spoke of arms and drug trafficking, money laundering, as well as Oliver North's complicity in this trafficking on the orders of Bush Sr. and Donald Gregg.
Much of the money generated in these sales went to American and French banks. This money was also used to purchase real estate. For being connected to these operations, Noriega was arrested by the United States.
It was in a drug operation that I carried out in Colombia and the Bahamas, in 1984, where the arrest of Carlos Lheder Rivas, of the Medellin Cartel, took place, in which I did not agree with the DEA agents of the Miami station, because they wanted to keep 10 million dollars and the "lear-jet" plane from drug trafficking.
Not agreeing, I reported these agents to the DEA station chief of Miami. This boss then ordered them to raise an inquiry, and they were arrested by the DEA itself. From then on my life became a real hell, namely with the realization of traps, and arrests, and I ended up leaving the CIA in 1989, on the advice of Frank Carlucci. The main culprit in my departure from the CIA and the DEA was John C. Lawn, director of the DEA station and a friend of Noriega and other traffickers. John Lawn covered up, or tried to cover up, every DEA agent I reported when Carlos Rivas was arrested. After my departure from the CIA, Frank Carlucci continued to help me with money, advice and logistical support whenever I needed it until 1994.
Returning however to my activity in Portugal, previously in Camarate and in the service of the CIA, I must mention that I met Frank Carlucci, in 1975, through two people: a Portuguese journalist from RTP, already deceased, named Paulo Cardoso de Oliveira, who I had met in Angola, and who was an agent of the CIA, and Gary Van Dyk, an agent of BOSS (South African) who I also met in Angola.
I had frequent direct contact with Frank Carlucci, especially between l975 and 1982, from whom I received instructions for various jobs and operations. My contacts with Frank Carlucci remain to this day, with whom I still occasionally speak on the phone. The last time I was with him was in Madrid in 2008, on the scale of a trip Frank Carlucci undertook to Turkey.
In Lisbon, I also led and received orders from William Hasselberg - CIA antenna in Lisbon, which in addition to collecting information in Lisbon acts as a link between Portuguese and Americans. I even had a social life with William Hasselberg, which includes a nightlife in Lisbon, in different bars, restaurants, and public places.
William Hasselberg really enjoyed nightlife, where he took great pleasure in appearing with his various female "conquests". I also worked with other CIA agents, notably Philip Agee. In this context, I worked on arms trafficking operations, and on infiltrations in organizations with the aim of obtaining political and military information, "Billie" Hasselberg speaks good Portuguese, and was a great friend of Artur Albarran. Hasselberg and Albarran met at a party from the Colombian or Venezuelan embassy, Albarran having married at that time, in the 80s, with the ambassador's daughter, who was his first wife.
From the meetings I had with the American embassy in Lisbon, starting in 1978, I met several CIA agents. The head of the CIA station in Portugal, John Logan, offers me an autographed book of his. I also met the second head of the CIA, Mr. Philip Snell, Mr. James Lowell, and Mr. Arredondo. From the military side of the CIA I met col Wilkinson, from whom I met Colonel Oliver North and Colonel Peter Bleckley.
Colonel Oliver North, Military but also CIA agent and Colonel Peter Bleckley, are the main strategists in international contacts, with a view to the trafficking and sale of weapons, namely with countries such as Iran, Iraq, Nicaragua, and El Salvador. Following the acquaintance I made with Oliver North, having several meetings with him and with CIA agents, about the Arms Trade and deal.
These meetings take place in various countries, such as the USA, Mexico, Nicaragua, Venezuela, Panama. In the latter country I contacted two of Noriega's top deputies, José Bladon, Panama's Secret Service chief, who told me that virtually all of Panama's ambassadors around the world were in Noriega's employ.
Blandon asked me at the time if I could get a Rolls Royce Silver Spirits for the Panamanian ambassador in Lisbon, which I eventually did. In the middle of 1980, Frank Carlucci mentioned to me, above all, and for the first time, that I was going to be in charge of doing a "job" of maximum and priority importance in Portugal, with the help of him, the CIA, and the US Embassy in Portugal, and I was given, for this purpose, all the necessary support.
I then have meetings in Lisbon with CIA agent Frank Sturgies, whom I meet for the first time. Frank Sturgies is a sinister-looking person with great coldness, and is an organizer of the anti-Castro forces, based in Miami, and is a liaison with the Nicaraguan "contra". Frank Sturgies tells me then, that a plan is underway to permanently remove (understood to eliminate) an important person, linked to the Portuguese government at the time, without saying names yet.
Some time later, possibly in September or October 1980, I played tennis with Frank Carlucci almost all afternoon at the former residence of the US ambassador in Lapa. I have dinner with him later, where Frank Carlucci mentions again that there are problems in Portugal for the sale and transport of weapons, and that Francisco Sá Carneiro was not a dear person of the United States.
Then at dessert, we are joined by General Diogo Neto, Colonel Vinhas, Colonel Robocho Vaz and Paulo Cardoso, where the need to remove some existing obstacles to the arms deal is mentioned again. All these elements refer to Frank Carlucci that I am the person indicated for the preparation and implementation of this operation.
In October 1980, in a meeting at the hotel Sheraton where I participated, Frank Sturgis (CIA), Vilfred Navarro (CIA), General Diogo Neto and Colonel Vinhas (now deceased), where it is said that there are obstacles to arms trafficking that must be removed. Then there is another jet also at the Sharaton Hotel, where, among others, Colonel Oliver North and I are taking part, where he clearly says that "some rough edges need to be ironed out" and "if there is a need to get water out of the way, get it out", thus implying that we will have to eliminate people who create problems in the arms sales business. Oliver North also tells me that he is having problems with his own organisation, and that he fears they may want to push him away and "let him down," which eventually happened.
There are also Portuguese who were profiting from the arms trade, such as Major Canto E Castro, General Pezarat Correia, Franco Charais and businessman Zoio. It is also known already at that time that Adelino Amaro da Costa was trying to stop arms trafficking, investigating the Overseas Development Fund, and trying to end installed lobbies. Removing these two people by political means was impossible, because the AD had won the elections. There remained the possibility of an attack.
A few days later, I received a call from Major Canto E Castro (belonging to the Council of the Revolution), whom I already knew from Angola, asking me to meet him at the Altis Hotel. There is also Frank Sturges at the meeting, and there is talk for the first time of "attack", without yet referring to who is the target. They say they're counting on me for this operation. Major Canto E Castro says We need to recruit someone capable of carrying out this operation.
I then have a second meeting at the Altis Hotel with Frank Sturgies and Philip Snell, where Frank Sturgies tasks me with preparing and arranging some operatives for a possible operation within a short time, possibly within 2 or 3 months. They ask me if you have recruited the right person to carry out this attack, and if I know any experts in bomb-making and firearms.
I answer that in Spain I would get someone from ETA to come here and carry out the attack if necessary. Who pays for the operation and the preparation of the attack is the CIA and Major Canto E Castro. Canto and Castro collaborated at the time with the French secret services, which he entered through his father-in-law at the time. The father-in-law was a Belgian national who worked for SDEC, the French intelligence services, in 1979 and 1980. Canto E Castro married one of his daughters while in Luanda, Angola, serving in the Portuguese Air Force. In Luanda, Canto and Castro lived near me.
Having to organize this operation, I then spoke with José Esteves and later with Lee Rodrigues (who at that time I still did not know). Lee Rodrigues' liaison in Lisbon was Evo Fernandes, who was linked to the Mozambican resistance, Renamo. I also spoke at that time with two people linked to the military ETA, in case the attack was carried out using firearms.
Then, at another dinner at Frank Carlucci's house, in Lapa, in the attic, on the top floor, where we both had dinner alone, Frank Carlucci says openly and for the first time, what I had to do, what the operation was in progress and that it was aimed at Adelino Amaro da Costa, that it was hindering the transport and sale of weapons from Portugal or passing through Portugal, and that there was a green light given by Henry Kissinger and Oliver North. I greet both, saying that I am "their man in Lisbon".
Three weeks before the attacks, Canto E Castro and Frank surges, refer for the first time, that the target of the attack is Adelino Amaro da Costa. Major Canto e Castro says he will travel to London. Frank Sturgies asks me to get an airport access card for one Lee Rodrigues, who is referred to as being the person who will take and place the bomb on the plane.
Then I get a phone call from Canto and Castro, saying that he is in London and that I should meet him there. Tell me that my ticket is at a travel agency located on Av. from the Republic, next to the Ceuta pastry shop. Arriving in London I stay at the Grosvenor Hotel, at the foot of Victoria Station. Canto and Castro pick me up and take me to a house near the Hotel, where he shows me for the first time, the material, including explosives, that will serve to make the "bomb" in this operation.
This house in London, was at the same time residence and office of an Indian dentist, friend of Canto and Castro, Canto and Castro tells me that this material will be taken to Portugal by his companion Juanita Valderrama. Major Canto E Castro then asks me to go to the Altis Hotel to collect the material. I then go to the Hotel accompanied by José Esteves, and we receive a suitcase and a letter from Mrs. Juanita, José Esteves then prepares a bomb destined for an airplane, with these materials, with the help of Carlos Miranda.
Major Canto E Castro comes back from London, meets me, and I tell him the bomb is mounted. Lee Rodrigues is introduced to me by Major Canto E. Castro. A few days later Lee Rodrigues calls me and we meet for dinner at galeto restaurant, next to Saldanha, along with Canto and Castro, where Evo Fernandes, who was Lee Rodrigues ' contact in Lisbon, also appears.
It was Evo Fernandes who introduced Lee Rodrigues to Canto and Castro. Lee Rofrigues was Mozambican and had links to Renamo. At that dinner, details of the bombing emerged. Canto E Castro mentions, however, at that dinner that the attack will be carried out in Angola. Faced with this statement, I ask if he is serious or joking, and if he thinks I have a "clown face" - intending to get up.
I mean, through Frank Carlueci, I was already aware of everything. Lee Rodrigues asks for calm, later mentioning Canto and Castro that he did not know that I was already aware of everything, but that there was nothing else to hide. Possibly in November, I am asked by Philip Snell to attend a meeting in Cascais, on a yacht next to the old marina (at that time there was no current marina).
I will go and take José Esteves with me. This meeting takes place between 20 and 23 hours, attended by Philips Snell, Oliver North, Frank Sturgies, Sydral and Lee Rodrigues and about 2 or 3 foreigners, who I believe to be Americans. In this meeting it is said that the operation that will be soon must be prepared carefully, and details to be taken into account are discussed.
It is also referred to the care that must be carried out after the operation, and what to do if something goes wrong. The language used at the meeting is English. José Esteves then received USD 200,000 for his future work. I didn't get anything because I was already paid normally by the CIA. At that time I received the equivalent of five thousand dollars from the CIA, and I also had two Diner's Club and Visa Gold credit cards, both with $ 10,000 ceilings.
Lee Rodrigues then asks me to get a card for José Esteves to enter the airport. For this purpose, I obtain a forged card, at Mouraria, in Lisbon, in a printing house that no longer exists today. Lee Rodrigues also tells me that he will get a pilot's uniform from a shop next to the Coliseum, on Rua das Portas De Santo Antão. At my request, João Pedro Dias, who was a pickpocket, also arranged a card for Lee Rodrigues. This card was obtained by João Pedro Dias, stealing the card of Miguel Wahnon, who was an employee of TAP. It was only necessary to change the photograph of that card, placing the photograph of Lee Rodrigues.
José Esteves then prepares in his home in Cacém, a device for the attack. It has the collaboration of another operative named Carlos Miranda, an explosives expert, who is recruited by me, and whom I already knew from Angola, when Carlos Miranda was commander of the FNLA and then CODECO in Portugal. José Esteves was also one of the main commanders of the FNLA, often going to Kinshasa.
After the artifact is ready, I'll go to Paris again. At the Ritz Hotel, in the afternoon, I have an appointment with Oliver North, Col. Wilkison and Philip Snell, where it is stated that the target to be shot down was Adelino Amaro da Costa, Minister of Defense.
I return to Portugal, about 5 or 6 days before the attack. Oliver North is scheduled to have dinner at the Sheraton hotel. At this dinner appears and participates an individual that I did not know and that is introduced to me by Oliver North, called Penaguião. Penaguião claims to be Sá Carneiro's personal security. Oliver North says that Penaguião is part of Sá Carneiro's personal security and that he is the man who will be able to get Sá Carneiro on the plane. Penaguião States, in a cold and direct way that sá Carneiro would also go on the plane, " because that way they would kill two birds with one stone! "
He claims that their elimination was necessary, since Sá Carneiro was anti-American, and he unconditionally supported Adelino Amaro da Costa in denouncing the Arms Trade, and in discovering the so-called blue bag of the overseas Defense Fund, so everything was, from the beginning, prepared to include the two people.
Sá Carneiro and Adelino Amaro da Costa. I am very afraid, because only at that moment I learned about the inclusion of Sá Carneiro in the attack. I ask Penaguião how he can be sure that Sá Carneiro will go on the plane, to which Penaguião replies that I did not worry because he, with someone else, would be in charge of putting Sá Carneiro on that plane that day and at that time, because he coordinated security and his word was always heard. At the end of the dinner, the three of us are joined by General Diogo Neto and Colonel Vinhas.
I am stunned by this new information about Sá Carneiro, and I decide to go, that same night, to the residence of the US ambassador, in Lapa, where Frank Carlucci was, to whom I tell what I heard. Frank Carlucci replies Not to worry, as this plan had been determined for a long time. He told me that the US man was Mário Soares, and that Sá Carneiro, due to his stubborn and anti-American way of being, did not serve US strategic interests.
Mário Soares would be the future support of American policy in Portugal, along with other PSD and PS leaders. So I accept this situation, since Frank Carlucci had already told me before that everything was assured, even if something went wrong, such as my departure from Portugal, full coverage for me and for anyone else I indicated, and who could be in danger. This is the usual "realpolitik" of the United States, and I suspect it always will be.
Three days before the attack there is a new meeting, on Rua das Pretas in the Roquete Palace, where Canto and Castro, Farinha Simões, Lee Rodrigues, José Esteves and Carlos Miranda participate. Carlos Miranda collaborated in the assembly of the explosive device with José Esteves, having gone several times to José Esteves' house. At that meeting, the last details of the attack are agreed. At that meeting, Lee Rodrigues says he is prepared for the operation and Castro says the attack will be on December 3 or 4. In that meeting it is said that the target is Adelino Amaro da Costa. The next day we meet Canto and Castro at the Sheraton Hotel, and we go to dinner at the restaurant "The policeman".
On 4 December, I called Mr William Hasselberg at the US Embassy from a telephone in Areeiro to confirm that the attack was to be carried out, and he told me that it was. So, in the afternoon, José Esteves brings a suitcase to my house, and we both go to the airport. I drive José Esteves to the airport in a BMW owned by José Esteves.
Already at the airport, José Esteves and I entered the airport, through a side door, next to a financial guard post, using the forged card, previously mentioned. Then José Esteves moves and hands the suitcase, with the device, to Lee Rodrigues, who appears in a pilot's uniform and is also seen by me. After about 15 minutes, he leaves without his suitcase and leaves the airport with me. We split up, but later José Esteves meets me again at the Bacta hairdresser, in the Alvalade shopping center.
Then José Esteves shows up at my house with his partner at the time, named Gina, and with a bag of clothes to stay there as a precaution. Then we heard the 20 O'clock news on television, and José Esteves is very surprised, because he did not know that Sá Carneiro was also on the plane.
He claims we were duped. Then he telephoned Lencastre Bernardo, who had great connections to the PJ and the military PJ, and a connection to General Eanes, Lencastre Bernardo also has connections to Canto e Castro, Pezarat Correia, Charais, businessman Zoio a José António Avelar who was Canto e Castro's former right-hand man. José Esteves calls him, and asks to meet with him.
He accepts, so, at 23 hours, José Esteves, I, and my wife Elza, went to Rua Gomes Freire, in PJ, to talk to him. José Esteves goes upstairs to talk to Lencastre Bernardo who had told him not to worry, as nothing would happen to him. However, we passed by José Esteves ' house because he feared that there was already a group of police looking for him, due to their belief that he was associated with the crash of the plane in camarate. José Esteves was thus relieved to find that there was no police apparatus at the door of his house. Come and sleep at my house.
A few days later I spoke again with Frank Carlucci. To whom I expressed my ignorance and was shocked to learn, after the plane went down, that companions and relatives of the Prime Minister and the Defence Minister had also been on the plane. Frank Carlucci replied that he understood my position, but that he too was unaware that there would be other people on the plane, but that nothing could be done now.
In 1981, I met Victor Pereira, then a police officer, at galeto restaurant in Lisbon. I tell Victor Pereira that some of the attacks are attributed to the revolutionary brigades, related to the placement of bombs, but were carried out by José Esteves, as were the cases of the bomb attacks on the Embassy of Angola, Cuba (the latter with knowledge of Ramiro Moreira), in the House of Torres Couto, in the House of prof. Diogo Freitas do Amaral, in the House of Eng. Lopes Cardoso, and in the House of Vasco Montez, at his request, next to the Jumbo in Cascais, to obtain sentionalism at the time, José Esteves having spread leaflets similar to those of FP25.
I did not speak with Victor Pereira of Camarate. I learned, however, that Victor Pereira, on December 4, 1980, having gone that night to Portela Airport, as a PJ agent, found the suitcase that was transported by engineer Adelino Amaro da Costa. In that suitcase were documents relating to arms trafficking and people involved with the overseas Defence Fund. Barring error, Victor Pereira handed this suitcase to PJ inspector Pedro Amaral, who in turn delivered it to PJ. Victor Pereira then told me that this suitcase, of greater importance in the case of Camarate, because of the information it contained, and which could explain the motives and the people behind this attack, never appeared again.
This information was transmitted to me by Victor Pereira when he was imprisoned with me in Sintra prison in 1986. I did not mention then to Victor Pereira that, as I describe below, I had already had contact with this suitcase, at the end of 1982, due to the fact that I worked with the secret services at the US Embassy.
Also in 1981, a few months after the attack, José Esteves and I went to meet Major Lencastre Bernardo at the Judicial Police on Rua Gomes Freire. In fact, both José Esteves and I were afraid of what might happen to us because of our involvement in the Camarate attack, and we wanted to know what was happening to our protection because of Camarate.
I don't attend the meeting, I stand at the door. However, José Esteves later tells me that in that conversation Lencastre Bernardo told him that, in a previous conversation with Francisco Pinto Balsemão, he had told him that he had prior knowledge of the Camarate attack, because in October 1980, Kissinger informed him that this operation was going to take place. He also said he himself had prior knowledge of the Camarate attack. I also told him that we could be quiet about Camarate, because there would be no problems with us, because the investigation of this case would die without consequences.
In this regard, I would like to add that in a meeting I had, alone, in 1986, with Lencastre Bernardo, in a restaurant near the PJ building on Rua Gomes Freire, he assured me that Pinto Balsemão was aware of what was going to happen on December 4th. At Fouchet's restaurant in Paris, Kissinger had told me,” out of the blue, " that the future Prime Minister of Portugal would be pinto Balsemão.
It is important to note that both Henry Kissinger and Pinto Balsemão were already, in 1980, prominent members of the Bilderberg Group, and it is certain that these two people brought guests to the annual meetings of this organization. Thus, during the conversation with Lencastre Bernardo in 1986, I related what he told me about Pinto Balsemão with what I had heard in Paris in 1980. I also had this information, later, in 1993, in a conversation I had with William Hasselberg, in Lisbon, when he confirmed to me that Pinto Balsemão was aware of everything.
At the end of 1982, from the information I obtained at the U.S. Embassy in Lisbon, I noticed that there were specific names of American personalities who had been involved in arms trafficking passing through Portugal. I then ask William Hasselberg how they know these names. After many insistence of mine, William Hasselberg ends up telling me that the PJ delivered, at the US embassy, a suitcase with the documents transported by Adelino Amaro da Costa, on December 4, 1980, and that it was next to the wreckage of the plane, although he did not tell me who was the person of the PJ who delivered these documents. I then ask William Hasselberg to let me consult this suitcase, since I am also part of the CIA team in Portugal. He accepts,and I was able to consult the documents there. which consisted of about 200 pages. I was thus able to consult this Dossier for about a week, having read it several times and summarised the main parts by hand, since I had no way of photographing or copying it.
I see then, that although the plane crash, and the folder of Avelino Amaro da Costa was burned, and was replaced by another, the documents were intact. These documents contained a weapons purchase list, which included notably RPG-7, RPG-27, G3, grenade launchers, dilagrams, ammunition, grenades, mines, radios, plastic explosives, uniforms, AK-47 kalashiskovs and howitzers.
It was also mentioned in these documents that to evade clues, illegal arms sales were made through front companies, with the crates stating that the cargo was technical equipment, and spare parts for agricultural machinery and construction. This way of transporting weapons was confirmed to me several times by Oliver North, during the 80s, until 1988, and when I was in Ilopango, El Salvador, also in the 80s, I verified that it was true.
In these documents I remember seeing that some weapons came from the Portuguese company Brazo de Prata, as well as references of arms sales from Portugal and Eastern countries, such as Poland and Bulgaria, destined for Nicaragua, Iran, El Salvador, Colombia, Panama, as well as for some African countries that were at war, such as Angola, ANC of South Africa, Nigeria, Mali, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Somalia, Libya, etc. It is also clearly stated in these documents that the sale of weapons is made through the company created in Portugal called "Supermarket" (which operated through the parent company "Black-Eagle").
In the aforementioned documents I also saw that the arms sales were legal through Portuguese companies, but there were also illegal arms sales made by front companies, with money laundering in Swiss banks and "off-shore" on behalf of the account holders, both civilian and military people.
Illegal arms sales occurred for a number of reasons, including: first of all, many of the destination countries officially had sanctions and arms embargoes. Secondly, the US did not want to officially support or sell weapons to certain countries, namely the Contras of Nicaragua, or to Iran and Iraq, to whom they were selling weapons at the same time, and without the knowledge of both. Third, illegal arms sales are more profitable and evade taxes. To what extent illegal arms sales allow money laundering, which could then be used for other purposes.
Among the names I saw mentioned in these documents were:
- Colonel Vines
- General Diogo Neto
- Major Canto E Castro
- Zoio Entrepreneur
- General Pezarat Correia
- General Franco Charais
- General Costa Gomes
- Major Lencastre Bernardo
- Colonel Robocho Vaz
Francisco Balsemão and Lencastre Bernardo were referred to as connecting elements to the Bildeberg group, to Henry Kissinger, Francisco Balsemão also belongs to the Masonic Lodge "Pilgrim", which is anglo-Saxon, and dependent on the Bilderberg group. Lencastre Bernardo had also pointed out his connection to some intelligence services, since he was, in the 80s, the coordinator in the PJ and the Military Judicial Police.
Among the Portuguese companies that carried out the aforementioned arms sales, between the years 1974 and 1980, were mentioned in this Dossier:
- Oeiras Foundry (mortars, howitzers and grenades)
- Cometna (explosive devices and bombs)
- OGMA (General Military Uniform workshops and OGFE (Army uniform workshops)
- Browning Viana S. A.
- A. Paukner Lda, which has existed since 1966
- Explosives trafficking
- SPEL (explosives)
- INDEP (small arms and ammunition)
- Montagrex Lda, who performed since 1977, with Canto E Castro and António José Avelar. However, it was only officially constituted in 1984, leaving Canto and Castro out of it at that time, so as not to compromise it with the Camarate operation. Montagrex Lda operated in Campo Poqueno, and was led by António Avelar who was Canto E Castro's right-hand man and also a partner in that company. The Office of this company in Campo Pequeno is an authentic "bunker", with armored doors, sensors, alarms, codes on the doors, etc.
Canto E Castro and António Avelar are also partners in the British company BAE-Systems, based in the United Kingdom. This company sells defense systems, artillery, missiles, ammunition, underwater weapons, mines and especially missile defense systems for boats.
All these deals were mostly done by direct adjustment, through brokers-intermediaries, who received their commissions, paid by officers of the Army, Navy, aeronautics, etc.
In these documents it was stated that, as a consequence of these arms sales, a considerable flow of money was generated from these exports, legal and illegal. These documents also referred to who these weapons were sold to, especially to countries at war, or linked to international terrorism.
It was also mentioned that all these arms sales were made with the connivance of the authority of the time, namely military personnel such as General Costa Gomes, General Rosa Coutinho (sale of arms to Angola) and Major Otelo Saraiva de Carvalho himself (sale of arms to Mozambique).
I saw several times the name of Rosa Coutinho in these documents, who in the sales of arms to Angola used as an intermediary the retired Angolan general, José Pedro Castro, closely linked to the MPLA, who today has a fortune valued at more than 500 million USD, and who divided his time between Angola, Portugal and Paris. His son, Bruno Castro is deputy director of Banco BIC in Angola.
In this dossier were also mentioned other military involved in this arms deal, namely Captain Dinis de Almeida, Colonel Corvacho, Vera Gomes and Carlos Fabião.
All of these people made fabulous profits from these deals, often even before April 25, 1974, and until 1980. It was said that these people, including the military, who helped in this sale of weapons, benefited through commissions they received. The names of "off-shores" were mentioned in this Dossier, which were used to pay commissions to the above-mentioned persons and to other foreigners, by Oliver North or by other CIA envoys. These "off-shores" held bank accounts, always numbered.
This reference was in line with what Oliver north always told me, that the arms business is provided through "off-shore" and controlled banks for money laundering.
It is worth mentioning in this regard that in the arms business, companies in the Public Works sector are often associated, such as Haliburton, Carlyle, or Blackwater, (arms, construction and mercenaries company), among others. This relationship has been mentioned for years in various reports, notably in the reports of the International Bribe Payer Index, which is an American agency.
The indication of this type of practices was developed later, by Transparency International and the North American Committee for coordination and promotion of trade of the US Senate, which indicate that for many years, more than 50% of the arms business and trade in Portugal, is done through bribes.
The Americans have always used Portugal for arms trafficking, also operating the base of Lajes, in the Azores, for this purpose, namely after 1973, during the Yom Kippur war, between Israel and the Arab countries. This arms trade gave rise to various financial counterparties, notably through FLAD, which was used by the CIA for this purpose. FLAD has received several specific funds for the requalification of human resources.
However, I did not see any comments in this Dossier saying that these arms sales were reprehensible or that they had negative effects. There was, however, a little note, on which a few leaves were placed, that care should be taken of all that was written there, and that therefore action should be taken. There was also a stamp on the front page that read "confidential and restricted."
These arms sales continued after 1980. As far as I know, these arms sales continued until 2004, albeit with a major slowdown from 1984, following the scandal of uniforms sold to Poland.
The Dossier also referred to American personalities involved in the arms business, including Bush (father), Dick Cheney, Frank Carlucci, Donald Gregg, several military personnel, as well as companies such as Blackwater. there are also companies linked to the USA, such as Carlyle, Haliburton, Black Eagle Enterprise, etc., which were using Portugal for their purposes, both by passing weapons through Portuguese ports, and by supplying weapons from Portuguese companies. I took notes from these documents, which I still have in my possession today.
The aforementioned company, called Supermarket, was created in Portugal in 1978, and operated through the mother company, named Black-Eagle, directed by William Casey, (member of the CFR (Council for Foreign Affairs and Relations), former US ambassador to Honduras and also with links to the CIA). The Supermarket company organized the purchase of Soviet-made weapons through Portugal, as well as the purchase of Portuguese weapons and ammunition, mentioned above, with all the complicity of Oliver North.
These weapons would go to warehouses in Honduras before being shipped to their final destinations. Oliver North paid many invoices for these purchases in Portugal, through a company called Gretsh World, which served as a front for the Supermarket. Later, around 1985, when much talk of Camarate began, Oliver North cancelled operation Supermarket, and closed all bank accounts.
I must also mention that William Hasselberg and other Americans from the US embassy in Lisbon have commented to me several times on what was written in this Dossier.
With regard to Hasselberg, that was logical, because he was the one who gave me the Dossier to read.
Subsequently, I also discussed what was written in this Dossier with Frank Carlucci, who was obviously already aware of the information contained in it.
Both William Hasselberg, as a member of the CIA, as well as other CIA elements mentioned above and others, have commented to me several times on the CIA's involvement in the Camarate operation and in this arms deal. I particularly remember that when someone from the CIA introduced me to another CIA element, he often said "this is the Portuguese guy, the one from Camarate, the case in Portugal with the plane!".
Arms sales, from and through Portugal, were carried out throughout these years, as it was in the political interest of the United States. The CIA organized and implemented these arms sales in Portugal, similar to what happened in other countries, because it was crucial for the US that certain weapons reach the aforementioned countries, unofficially, using Portuguese military and businessmen, who also ended up benefiting from these sales.
As I mentioned earlier, William Casey and Oliver North were in the 70s and 80s colluding with President Manuel Noriega in the Iran-Contra scandal (Irangate). It has always been Oliver North who has dealt with the issue of American hostages in Iran, as well as the situation in Central America. For this, he personally received a letter of thanks from George Bush Sr., Vice President at the time of Ronald Reagan.
I must say in this regard that John Bush, son of Bush Sr., then 35 years old, living in Florida, belonged in 1979 and 1980 to "Dade County", which was and is a Republican organization, located in South Florida, aimed at raising funds for Republican election campaigns. John Bush was one of the organizers of financial support for the Nicaraguan" Contras".
I also met Monzer Al Kasser, a big arms dealer who had a house in Puerto Banus in Marbella, and who was introduced to me in Paris by Oliver North in 1979. He was one of the major arms sellers for the "Contras" in Nicaragua, working simultaneously for the Syrian, Bulgarian and Polish secret services. At his home in Marbella, he also told me that arms were sometimes trafficked through Africa, so that in Iraq they would not realise where they came from, because they were also selling at the same time to Iran and even Portugal. This arms trafficking, which had been going on for several years, in 1980, and the beginning of the Camarate case.
Through Al Kasser I met, in Marbella, at the end of 1981, another famous arms dealer, at a party at Monzer's House, who was called Adrian Kashogi. Kashogi, as I witnessed at home, had relationships with European, Arab and African politicians and businessmen, usually linked to arms and drug trafficking.
I was arrested in 1986, accused of drug trafficking. This arrest was a trap set by the DEA, by elements in that organization who did not like me, because I had led to the detention of some of them, as I mentioned earlier. I was then taken to Sintra prison. I'm in prison with Victor Pereira, who was also in prison there. I know in 1986 that they were preparing to eliminate me in prison, so I ask my wife, Elza, to go talk to Frank Carlucci as soon as possible.
As a result of this I receive in prison a visit from a CIA agent named Carlston, along with another American. These, after having corrupted the prison management, including the director, sub-director and head of the guard, as well as an element that retired very recently, from the General Directorate of Prison Services, called Maria José de Matos, achieve my escape from prison.
I also contributed to my escape by receiving a large sum paid by the said American agents to this deputy director of the General Directorate of Prison Services. These American agents then obtain a helicopter, which transports me to Lousã, where I stay for about 20 days. I will then go to Madrid, with the help of the Americans, and then to Brazil. The expenses for my escape from prison cost 25000 euros, which at the time was a large amount.
Only later in Brazil, after 1986, did I mention to José Esteves that I knew that Sá Carneiro was on the plane, telling him the whole story. José Esteves then replies that in that case, we had taken a great risk. I reassured him that I have always supported and protected him in this attack.
I supported him in Brazil in any way I could. I also secured transportation to Brazil, obtained a passport from the Civil Government in Lisbon, gave him 750 contos given to me for that purpose by the U.S. Embassy in Lisbon, and arranged for him to fly from Madrid to Rio de Janeiro.
On the journey from Lisbon to Madrid, José Esteves was taken by Victor Moura, a mutual friend. In Rio de Janeiro I helped him set up shop in a trailer. As he was still working for the US embassy in Lisbon, these expenses were borne by the embassy. He stayed in Brazil for about two years. But I was constantly traveling.
José Esteves then receives a phone call from Francisco Pessoa from Portugal, where Francisco Pessoa advises him to return to Portugal, and to ask for protection, in exchange for testifying before the Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry on Camarate. That phone call was recorded, but Jose Esteves never got formal protection.
I phoned Frank Carlucci in 1987, asking to speak to him in person. He accepts, so I travel from Brazil, via Miami, to Washington. I then asked him, in the face of what had been said about Camarate, what my situation would be, whether I was in danger because of Camarate, and whether or not I will continue to work for the CIA. Frank Carlucci replies that yes, I will continue to work for the CIA, having in fact continued to be paid by the CIA until 1989. Frank Carlucci confirms in this meeting that they were able to count on Penaguião's collaboration in the Camarate operation, and that he, Frank Carlucci, was aware of this participation.
In 1994, I was again set up in Portugal, by DEA agents who did not like me, because of the aforementioned arrest of their agents, denounced by me. In this trap also participate three agents of DCITE-Portuguese, today inspectors Tomé, Sintra and Teófilo Santiago. After this arrest, I received a visit in Caxias prison from two prosecutors of the Public Prosecutor's office, one of them, if I am not mistaken, called Femando Ventura, sent by Cunha Rodrigues, then Attorney General of the Republic. These prosecutors tell me they can help me with the drug case I'm accused of, as long as I keep quiet about the Camarate case.
For being true, and because I understand that the time has come to tell all my involvement in the Camarate operation, on December 4, 1980, I decided to make this statement, of my own free will. Since I can no longer change my participation in this operation, which at the time was far from being able to imagine the tragic consequences it would have for the families of the victims and for the country, I could now, at least, tell the whole truth, so that it remains for history, and so that, in particular, the Portuguese can have full knowledge of it.
I do not want, finally, to fail to thank my mother, my wife Elza Simões, who over these more than 35 years, both in good and bad times, has always been by my side, enduring in an extraordinary way, all the difficulties, absences, and lack of dedication to the family that my profession implied. Only a great woman and a great love for me made this behavior possible.
I also want to thank my daughter Eliana, who always knew how to accept the consequences that for her represented my professional life, having never stopped being affectionate with me. Finally I want to thank my mother who, throughout my whole life has cherished and encouraged me, despite not always agreeing with my life choices.
The nature of their help and support was of exceptional importance to me, without which I would not have been able to continue at many points in my life. I can thus say that I have always had the support of an exceptional family, which has been decisive for me in the good and bad moments of my life.
Lisbon, 26 March 2012
Fernando Farinha Simões
Tax ID No. 7540306
