John Singlaub, pictured with then Secretary of Defense William Cohen, speaking at the Pentagon in 1998
When the Reagan Administration began organizing the Nicaraguan Contras in 1981, allied but nominally private groups were formed to build support for the Contra plans. One of those groups, formed after the first Reagan inauguration, was the U.S. Council for World Freedom (USCWF), headed by Major General John Singlaub.
The USCWF quickly became the U.S. branch of the World Anti-Communist League (WACL). The USCWF began building support for the Reagan policy of aiding not only the Nicaraguan Contras but RENAMO and UNITA in southern Africa and rightist Islamic fundamentalists in Afghanistan. Singlaub informed Central Intelligence Agency director William Casey and National Security Council staff of his actions and operated with their assent, if not under their direction.

A World Anti-Communist League Convention
One of the early USCWF financial backers was Joe Coors (Yes, of Coors Beer), according to two former USCWF treasurers. Coors shared Reagan's enthusiasm for the Contras despite early indications of the unsavory background of certain Contra leaders and reliable reports of Contra acts of brutality. The Contras were originally known as the 15th of September Legion. Their earliest training came from Argentinian military intelligence, which ran death squads in that country and sponsored a Latin American conference of death squad leaders in 1980. That death squad network was also the Latin American branch of WACL. In 1982, Argentinian intelligence worked with Moon's Unification Church and fugitive Nazi Klaus Barbie to establish a Nazi-style state in Bolivia.

Ronald Reagan with a Contra leader (and CIA agent), Adolfo Calero, in 1985

Reliable international monitoring groups have reported that the Contras killed thousands of peasants, slaughtered cattle, and created terror in an apparent effort to undermine the confidence of the Nicaraguan people in their government. Contra project officers in Washington created a covert financial support apparatus run by Oliver North and his superiors. A public financial support apparatus coordinated by Singlaub was also tied into the White House, Joe Coors worked with both fundraising networks. Joe Coors was one of the boosters of a big fundraising dinner for the Contras in 1985 arranged by the Nicaraguan Refugee Fund at which Reagan was the keynote speaker. The Fund was set up by the Contras' fundraising arm and promoted by a public relations firm whose founder had long-standing Central Intelligence Agency links.
Coors also contributed to the Nicaraguan Freedom Foundation (NFF), established by the Moon-owned Washington Times. Board members of NFF included Jeane Kirkpatrick, William Simon, and Michael Novak. Simon and Novak were on the board of PRODEMCA, which also funneled money to the Contras. Jeane Kirkpatrick and her husband Byron Kirkpatrick publish a quarterly magazine, World Affairs, which has published an article endorsing the use of death squads. The Christian Broadcast Network (CBN), whose Regent University is supported by the Coors Foundation and has Holly Coors on its board, was one of the largest donors to the Contra cause, giving millions of dollars to the Contras in Central America (the Nicaraguan Freedom Foundation funds went there as well). Christian Broadcast Network owner Pat Robertson held a telethon on May 30, 1985 to raise funds for the Contras.
Contra Camp, 1984

Contra Camp, 1984
Another active Contra support group was Citizens for America, cochaired by Lewis Lehrman and Holly Coors. Citizens for America was formed in coordination with the White House in 1983 to build support for Reagan's programs. In 1985, it organized a tour of twenty Contras to two hundred congressional districts to lobby for Contra funding. Lehrman also organized a June 2, 1985 meeting in Angola that brought together the Nicaraguan Contras, the South African-backed UNITA leaders, and similar rightist groups from around the world.
Other Coors-funded groups that have actively supported the Contras include the Heritage Foundation, the Free Congress Foundation, and The Conservative Caucus (TCC). TCC has said for example, "The Conservative Caucus has advocated a strategy of victory over Communism in Nicaragua from the very beginning—and we will continue to press for aid to the Contras, de-recognition of the Sandinistas, and a new government, friendly to the United States."

Oliver North with The Conservative Caucus's Howard Phillips, this photo was used in fundraising appeals.

Joe Coors also became involved with Oliver North in the clandestine Contra support networks. On May 21, 1987, he told Congress that he met with Central Intelligence Agency director William Casey, on June 18, 1985, to offer support for the Contras. (Coors knew Casey from the 1980 presidential campaign and had been funding the National Strategy Information Center with which Casey had worked.) Casey directed Coors to Oliver North, who got Coors to buy a small airplane for the Contras. Coors then transferred $65,000 from his account to the Lake Resources account in Switzerland controlled by North.

Contra Camp, 1984
The Heritage Foundation was also involved in the secret Contra funding schemes. Heritage in 1985 "donated" $100,000 to the Institute for North. South Issues (INSI), an Oliver North-connected conduit. From INSI, $80,000 of the money went to the account of LC., Inc., a North-Spitz Channell conduit to the Contras. The $100,000 came from a private con-tributor contacted by Roy Godson, a National Security Council consultant and director of the National Strategy Information Center. A Congressional report noted, "The true objective of this 'grant' was disguised in correspondence between (Richard) Miller (as Treasurer of INSI) and Edwin J. Feulner (as president of Heritage Foundation) with whom Godson had met previously."
The "private" aid that Coors and others provided to the Contras appeared to violate U.S. neutrality laws which state:
Whoever, within the United States, knowingly begins or sets on foot [sic) or provides or prepares a means for or furnishes the money for, or takes part in, any military or naval expedition or enterprise to be carried on from thence against the territory or dominion of any foreign prince or state, or of any colony, district, or people with whom the United States is at peace, shall be fined not more than $3,000 or imprisoned not more than three years, or both.
In fact, several other private individuals supplying aid to the Contras have been prosecuted. Spitz Channell and members of Civilian Military Assistance, for example, have been indicted for the violation of federal laws. In 1985, Jack Terrel, a leader of a civilian commando unit that aided the Contras and himself indicted in the Iran-Contra scandal, revealed that "Coors brewery is one of the Contras' biggest supporters."

Ed Noble and Joseph Coors, founders of the Heritage Foundation