Editing Robert Vesco (section)

==Life as a Fugitive==
Vesco’s flight from justice marked a 25-year odyssey across Central America and the Caribbean, where he used bribes and political connections to evade extradition. His escapades, detailed in The Guardian and The New York Times, included:

Costa Rica (1972–1978): Vesco settled in San José, renouncing U.S. citizenship and investing in businesses like Sociedad Agrícola San Cristobal, linked to President José Figueres Ferrer. Figueres passed the “Vesco Law” to block extradition, and Vesco deposited $436,000 in Figueres’s New York account, per TIME. He lived lavishly, owning a Boeing 707 (“Silver Phyllis”) with a disco and sauna, but fled in 1978 when a new president, Rodrigo Carazo, threatened deportation.

Bahamas (1978–1981): Vesco relocated to Nassau, continuing his financial schemes. In 1977, he was accused of offering a $220,000 kickback to Billy Carter, President Jimmy Carter’s brother, to secure U.S. approval for Libya to buy C-130 military planes, per Los Angeles Times. He fled aboard his $1.3 million yacht in 1981, just before Bahamian authorities moved to deport him.

Antigua (1982): Vesco attempted to buy half of Barbuda to establish a principality, the “Sovereign Order of New Aragon,” but fled when extradition rumors surfaced.

Nicaragua (1982): He briefly lived in Managua, where he was accused of collaborating with the Sandinista government to smuggle cocaine into the U.S., per U.S. drug officials cited in The New York Times. However, it was later discovered that it was the CIA that was colluding with the Contras to move cocaine into the United States.