El Salvador: The Six-Million-Dollar Man

In early February a small jet en route from California to Florida stopped for refueling at the Kleberg County Airport, near Kingsville, Texas. Acting on a tip, U.S. Customs officials searched the aircraft and found nearly $6 million in $100 and $20 bills in the suitcases of one of the passengers. They arrested the owner of the luggage, Francisco Guirola Beeche, 34, a wealthy Salvadoran businessman, and his two companions. Guirola is a friend of Roberto d’Aubuisson, the right-wing Salvadoran politician and foe of President Jose Napoleon Duarte. The three men were later indicted in Corpus Christi, Texas, on charges of conspiring to transport undeclared currency.

The case is being widely publicized by opponents of d’Aubuisson, whose party is running candidates in El Salvador’s legislative elections next month. Duarte’s Christian Democrats have placed newspaper ads charging that Guirola planned to use the money to buy votes. In Washington, White House aides have leaked reports tying the money to drug deals. The campaign against d’Aubuisson could backfire if his supporters convince voters that the episode, including Guirola’s arrest, amounts to gross U.S. interference in Salvadoran politics.