Guests at the Río Colorado Lodge in Barra del Sur are occasionally puzzled to find a tall, misshapen metal pole preventing easy entry to the outdoor Jacuzzi. Though it may be a momentary annoyance, the pole is also the only remaining evidence of the crucial role this sleepy fishing village played in the Nicaraguan civil wars of the 1980s. It was once the support mast for a radio that facilitated two-way communication between the CIA and one of the most infamous residents of Barra del Sur: the Nicaraguan contra leader Edén Pastora, better known by his nom de guerre Comandante Cero (Commander Zero).
Pastora had been a hero of the Sandinsta revolution of 1978 but quickly became disenchanted with the regime. He settled in Barra del Sur to form a paramilitary group that began to recieve funding from the CIA in 1981. Although support was officially cut off when it was discovered that Pastora's rebels were also running drugs to raise money, cash and communiqués continued to flow. Though many believed the location was perfect because the Sandinistas would never dare to launch an invasion into Costa Rica, long-time residents claim they remember one night when the area was strafed by the Sandinsta Air Force in the mid-1980s. The attack was careless, however, and Comandante Cero lived to fight another day.
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