for cross-border armed intrusions and threatened to jail Gritz for 20 years. Vietnamese Foreign Minister Nguyen Co Thach called Gritz's actions "a flagrant violation of the sovereignty of Laos that everyone should denounce." Conspiracy research and anti-war activism In 1986, after a trip to Burma (now Myanmar) to interview drug kingpin Khun Sa regarding possible locations of U.S. POWs, Gritz returned from Burma with a videotaped interview of Khun Sa purporting to name several officials in the Reagan administration involved in narcotics trafficking in Southeast Asia. Among those named was Richard Armitage, who later served as Deputy Secretary of State during George W. Bush's first term as president. During this period Gritz established contacts with the Christic Institute, a progressive group which was then pursuing a lawsuit against the U.S. government over charges of drug trafficking in both Southeast Asia and Central America. In 1989, he established the Center for Action, which was active on a number of issues, mostly pertaining to conspiracy theories. Attempting to build bridges among conspiracy theorists and unite activists of both the left and the right, he held a conference in Las Vegas called "Freedom Call '90". Speakers at that conference included October Surprise conspiracy theory researcher Barbara Honegger, Bill Davis of the Christic Institute, far-right writer Eustace Mullins, and several others. This newfound interest proved to be almost as controversial as his earlier missions searching for POWs. During the 1991 Persian Gulf War, Gritz was an opponent of the war, and linked it to a conspiracy theory alleging plans to implement a one-world government, known as the "New World Order". He appeared on Pacifica Radio stations in California as a guest several times, and for a short time was in demand as a speaker to left-wing and anti-war audiences. However, during this period he also became closely associated with the Christian Patriot movement on the right, and spoke at conferences sponsored by Christian Identity pastor Pete Peters. When these associations became known to those on the left, especially after the publication of a report by the Los Angeles-based group People Against Racist Terror calling Gritz a "front man for fascism", left-wing audiences lost interest in Gritz, and the Christic Institute and Pacifica Radio cut off any further association. He has since distanced himself from the movement. Populist Party presidential tickets In the 1988 election, Gritz was the candidate for Vice President of the United