christic@labrea.Stanford.EDU (06/07/91)
/* Written 6:20 pm Jun 6, 1991 by christic in cdp:christic.news */ /* ---------- "JOHN HULL IN HIS OWN WORDS" ---------- */ ----------------------------------------------------------------- ACCUSED TERRORIST JOHN HULL, IN HIS OWN WORDS Christic Institute, Friday, June 7, 1991 John Hull's business career has allegedly drawn him into drug trafficking, murder and terrorism. But he denies allegations against him by investigative journalists Martha Honey and Tony Avirgan, the Christic Institute, the Senate Foreign Relations narcotics and terrorism subcommittee, and the Costa Rican state prosecutor. Hull tells reporters that murder and drug-trafficking charges against him in Costa Rica are the work of ``communists'' who have infiltrated the Costa Rican Government and are taking their orders from the Christic Institute. Here is Hull's life and philosphy, in his own words: 1. On violations of United States and Costa Rican neutrality: Hull has no apologies for his work with the contras. ``I was proud of what I did. I've been helping people down there for 20 years, and I never charged anybody a penny.'' On the ten-year contra war in Nicaragua: ``It was generated by the superpowers. These poor devils were just checkers in a checker game.'' As for his own role as a ``checker,'' Hull replied: ``Oh yes, but look at the fun I had.''[Tico Times, Dec. 7, 1990] Standing by his anticommunist mission, Hull explained: ``If Costa Rica goes, Central America will fade, and then Mexico. That's always been the plan. And if we don't do something, it (Costa Rica) will not fall from an external invasion from Nicaragua or Panama, but down by internal subversion.'' [USA Today, Nov. 16, 1989] Clear about his relationship to Eden Pastora prior to the La Penca bombing, Hull said: ``I felt that aid to Eden Pastora should be withheld or stopped or something because if you're incompetent once in a while you do something right. Well that was never happening.'' [Press conference, San Carlos, Costa Rica, 1989] Pastora was the moderate contra leader who narrowly escaped death when his press conference in La Penca, Nicaragua, was interrupted by the explosion that killed several reporters and bystanders. Several independent investigations and the Costa Rican Government have concluded that the bombing was an attempt by Hull and others to assassinate Pastora, who refused to obey C.I.A. orders. When asked if he worked for the C.I.A., Hull replied, ``At no time. No more than you. Absolutely not.'' [Press conference, San Carlos, Costa Rica, 1989] Hull has also said, however, that a C.I.A. agent visited him in Costa Rica to thank him for his work with the contras. [Houston Chronicle, July 16, 1990] ``I'm not Costa Rican because my mother had a few moments of passion nine months before I was born. I'm a Costa Rican because I love Costa Rica and the Costa Rican way of life.'' [Tico Times, Aug. 4, 1989] Later, facing extradition from the U.S. by Costa Rica, he claimed he was forced by the C.I.A. to take out Costa Rican citizenship. 2. On charges of involvement in drug trafficking: After Sen. John Kerry narotics subcommittee published eyewitness testimony of Hull's involvement in the drug trade, Hull told a TV interviewer: ``If I had the power . . . people like (Massachusetts Senators) (Edward) Kennedy and (John) Kerry would be lined up against the wall and shot tomorrow at sunrise.'' [PBS Frontline, ``Murder on the Rio San Juan,'' 1988] As for the validity of the charges against him, Hull stated: ``All you have to do is look at who's making the accusations. Who made the accusations in the States? The Christic Institute, which is a well-known Communist front organization. The drug dealers, which is [George] Morales. . . .'' [Press conference, San Carlos, Costa Rica, 1989] After 19 members of the U.S. Congress wrote letters on Hull's behalf and other U.S. groups condemned the charges against Hull, he insisted: ``You've got the organizations of the most powerful country in the world which exonerate me of any misdeeds or any illegal acts whatsoever.'' [Press conference, San Carlos, Costa Rica, 1989] 3. On indictments for murder and drug trafficking: In 1989, Hull was charged by the Costa Rican Government with drug trafficking and using Costa Rican territory to wage war against Nicaragua. Vehemently denying all charges, Hull told reporters: ``I have been charged with this as a direct result of CBS's program `[West] 57th Street'''--which broadcast a program detailing his drug-running and contra activities--``where you accepted and manipulated the thinking of the masses of the public, and hopefully, hopefully someday I can bring CBS to the bar of justice.'' [Press conference, San Carlos, Costa Rica, 1989] Later, Hull said: ``It's just a case of those particular authorities in Costa Rica who are on the left being manipulated by the left. This whole thing has been fabricated by those reporters, Martha Honey and Tony Avirgan, and the Christic Institute. The communists [with their lawsuits] have set out to break me financially. . . .'' [In These Times, Feb. 14-20, 1990] After the Office of Judicial Investigation (the Costa Rican equivalent of the F.B.I.) published a report on Hull's criminal activities, he told reporters: ``I think the same thing I've always thought. The Government down there is infiltrated and manipulated by communists headed up by the Christic Institute.'' [The Progressive, March 1990] 4. On his life as a fugitive from justice: In 1989 Hull was arrested in Costa Rica on charges of drug trafficking and violations of Costa Rican neutrality. Released from jail when he complained of a heart condition, he illegally slipped out of the country, leaving behind a $35,000 bail bond posted by friends. After his flight from justice, the Costa Rican Government added a murder indictment to the charges against Hull. Why did he skip bail? ``It's quite simple. I have a heart problem, and it was aggravated a lot by the treatment I got in prison. . . . My doctor was telling me `You're not going to live if you go back to jail, you're dead.''' [The Guardian, Aug. 30, 1989] Several reports confirm that D.E.A. agent Juan Perez helped arrange Hull's illegal departure from Costa Rica. Hull, however, was elusive about how he left the country. ``I'm not at liberty to say. I still have a lot of friends with the contras, I can say that much.'' [The Guardian, August 30, 1989] On his way in January 1990 to El Salvador, Hull insisted the trip was purely an agricultural mission. ``I'm not going to be running arond the country chasing communists.'' Will he ever return to face charges in Costa Rica? ``I have offered to go back if Costa Rica will give me a writ of habeas corpus like you do here where I'll remain free to move and free to fight my case. I'd be very happy to go back to Costa Rica and fight it in the courts. But under the way it is now, it's a political thing and there's no way that I can get a fair trial and there's no way I'm going to go down there and sit in jail for two years before it goes to court to try to prove my innocence which I'm sure I can.'' [Interview on WMNF radio in Tampa, Fla., Dec. 3, 1991] Costa Rica, like the United States, has an independent judiciary. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Andrew Lang 151251507 CHRISTIC telex Christic Institute christic PeaceNet Washington, D.C. tcn tcn449 202-797-8106 voice uunet!pyramid!cdp!christic UUCP 202-529-0140 BBS cdp!christic%labrea@stanford Bitnet 202-462-5138 fax cdp!christic@labrea.stanford.edu Internet