Prodemca

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PRODEMCA, full name Friends of the Democratic Center in Central America, was a controversial American non-profit organization believed to have been involved in the Iran-Contra scandal. According to the website Public Eye [1] and its own promotional literature, it was founded in 1981 "to support incipient democratic processes in Central America." PRODEMCA projects 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.

PRODEMCA became controversial due to its funding sources. It received $88,000 from Carl R. "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. [2] PRODEMCA terminated its own operations and merged with Freedom House in late 1988.

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Controversial use of public and private funds

In 1986, the group used portions of the money from NEPL to pay for full-page 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 l988.

A list of the principal officers of PRODEMCA is available at the website Group Watch [3]. Some of the more prominent members included:

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External links

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See also

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