An excellent article here from Amarillo TX where one of my compatriots gave a talk the other day.
You can see more about Cele at our website:
http://leap.cc/speakers/castillo.htm
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Following the meeting described below a dozen participants went to dinner with Cele Castillo. I asked him if he ever met a DEA agent who believed the war on drugs is winnable. "Sure," he said, "we all come in thinking that. But after a while somebody will take you aside and say, 'look kid, there is no war on drugs, there never was, there never will be.' For them, the drug war is a pay check, that's it."
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Newshawk: Alan Bean
Date: May 9, 2004
Source: Amarillo Globe-News
Author: Kris Abbey
Link: http://www.amarillo.com/stories/050904/new_formerdea.shtml
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Former DEA agent speaks
By KRIS ABBEY
kris.abbey@amarillo.com
The Amarillo Globe-News
Publication Date: 05/09/04
Celerino Castillo and former Marine Corps colonel Oliver North have several things in common.
Both claim to be patriots and both have a penchant for military uniforms.
Castillo, a retired agent for the Drug Enforcement Agency, spoke at the Amarillo Public Library Saturday about the Iran-Contra scandal and his work in Central America in the 1980s.
Castillo told the audience of about 30 he comes from a family of war veterans.
He fought in Vietnam, where he saw drug addiction among his fellow soldiers and vowed to become a DEA agent, Castillo said.
But his 13 years with the agency changed the course of his life. While working as lead agent in Guatemala, he discovered and documented what he described Saturday as the American government's direct involvement with cocaine trafficking, Castillo said.
He said he also saw numerous human rights violations, many connected with death squads trained by Americans.
"I don't know how many times I warned the American government. I warned the ambassadors about the atrocities, the torturing of prisoners, the killing of innocent people," Castillo said. "And they laughed at me."
Castillo said North and others were aware of and involved in cocaine trafficking, allegedly to raise money for the anti-Communist Contra fighters of Nicaragua.
He left the DEA in 1992 and since has continued to document and lecture on the actions of North and other people involved in Iran-Contra, Castillo said.
On Saturday, Castillo said the human rights violations in Iraq under deposed leader Saddam Hussein were nothing compared to half a million people killed in Central American in the last 30 years.
"Why does the Middle East hate us? Because this is what we do," Castillo said. "We trained the death squads (in Central America). Every country we touched has turned to garbage."
Castillo also commented on North's scheduled appearance in Amarillo on May 13, when North will be guest speaker in honor of the Salvation Army's 100th birthday.
North will receive $25,000 for his appearance.
"I really don't blame Oliver North," Castillo said. "I blame the people who paid money to go hear him lie to them about what a patriot is."
Castillo waived his normal $5,000 speaking fee, but sponsors raised $1,000 to pay him.
Capt. Lewis Reckline, executive director of the Salvation Army's local chapter said previously the agency did not intend to offend anyone with North's appearance.
Reckline said North's visit is not intended to be political but instead is to kick off a year's campaign to educate the community on the Salvation Army's work with the less fortunate.
Allen Finegold of Amarillo was in Castillo's audience Saturday. He said Castillo's descriptions of what he saw in Central America rang true.
"When he's specific, he's right on the mark," Finegold said.
He did not agree, however, with Castillo's take on why world opinion has turned against America.
A group called the Amarillo Coalition Against Terrorism sponsored Castillo's lecture on Saturday. The coalition formed recently to protest North being paid by the Salvation Army to speak in Amarillo.
Karl Snyder, a coalition organizer, said he didn't see anyone known to be a North supporter in Castillo's audience Saturday.
You can see more about Cele at our website:
http://leap.cc/speakers/castillo.htm
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Following the meeting described below a dozen participants went to dinner with Cele Castillo. I asked him if he ever met a DEA agent who believed the war on drugs is winnable. "Sure," he said, "we all come in thinking that. But after a while somebody will take you aside and say, 'look kid, there is no war on drugs, there never was, there never will be.' For them, the drug war is a pay check, that's it."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Newshawk: Alan Bean
Date: May 9, 2004
Source: Amarillo Globe-News
Author: Kris Abbey
Link: http://www.amarillo.com/stories/050904/new_formerdea.shtml
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Former DEA agent speaks
By KRIS ABBEY
kris.abbey@amarillo.com
The Amarillo Globe-News
Publication Date: 05/09/04
Celerino Castillo and former Marine Corps colonel Oliver North have several things in common.
Both claim to be patriots and both have a penchant for military uniforms.
Castillo, a retired agent for the Drug Enforcement Agency, spoke at the Amarillo Public Library Saturday about the Iran-Contra scandal and his work in Central America in the 1980s.
Castillo told the audience of about 30 he comes from a family of war veterans.
He fought in Vietnam, where he saw drug addiction among his fellow soldiers and vowed to become a DEA agent, Castillo said.
But his 13 years with the agency changed the course of his life. While working as lead agent in Guatemala, he discovered and documented what he described Saturday as the American government's direct involvement with cocaine trafficking, Castillo said.
He said he also saw numerous human rights violations, many connected with death squads trained by Americans.
"I don't know how many times I warned the American government. I warned the ambassadors about the atrocities, the torturing of prisoners, the killing of innocent people," Castillo said. "And they laughed at me."
Castillo said North and others were aware of and involved in cocaine trafficking, allegedly to raise money for the anti-Communist Contra fighters of Nicaragua.
He left the DEA in 1992 and since has continued to document and lecture on the actions of North and other people involved in Iran-Contra, Castillo said.
On Saturday, Castillo said the human rights violations in Iraq under deposed leader Saddam Hussein were nothing compared to half a million people killed in Central American in the last 30 years.
"Why does the Middle East hate us? Because this is what we do," Castillo said. "We trained the death squads (in Central America). Every country we touched has turned to garbage."
Castillo also commented on North's scheduled appearance in Amarillo on May 13, when North will be guest speaker in honor of the Salvation Army's 100th birthday.
North will receive $25,000 for his appearance.
"I really don't blame Oliver North," Castillo said. "I blame the people who paid money to go hear him lie to them about what a patriot is."
Castillo waived his normal $5,000 speaking fee, but sponsors raised $1,000 to pay him.
Capt. Lewis Reckline, executive director of the Salvation Army's local chapter said previously the agency did not intend to offend anyone with North's appearance.
Reckline said North's visit is not intended to be political but instead is to kick off a year's campaign to educate the community on the Salvation Army's work with the less fortunate.
Allen Finegold of Amarillo was in Castillo's audience Saturday. He said Castillo's descriptions of what he saw in Central America rang true.
"When he's specific, he's right on the mark," Finegold said.
He did not agree, however, with Castillo's take on why world opinion has turned against America.
A group called the Amarillo Coalition Against Terrorism sponsored Castillo's lecture on Saturday. The coalition formed recently to protest North being paid by the Salvation Army to speak in Amarillo.
Karl Snyder, a coalition organizer, said he didn't see anyone known to be a North supporter in Castillo's audience Saturday.
