FORMER DEA AGENT SPEAKS

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.