NICARAGUA/U.S. ENVOY

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP88-01070R000200970007-5
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 21, 2016
• Document Release Date: July 25, 2008
• Sequence Number: 7
• Publication Date: December 1, 1983
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Approved For Release 2008/07/25: CIA-RDP88-010708000200970007-5
ABC WORLD NEWS TONIGHT
1 December 1983
NICARAGUA/ JENNINGS: Good evening. The news from Central America today
U.S. ENVOY is about settling a conflict by peaceful means. Thai doesn't
mean it's going to happen, but all those guerrilla organizations
which have fighting to overthrow the government of Nicaragua now
say they want to talk about change. President Reagan's envoy to
Central America, Richard Stone, said today it it could be 'a
?~ lengthy and difficult process. We hear both from Washington and
from Nicaragua. First at the State Department, here's ABC's
Anne Carrels. ?
CARRELS: It was an attempt by Ambassador Stone to take the five
leading U.S.-hacked rebel factions known as Contras and make
them a unified political front. But so are their relations with
each other that Stone had to meet with each group separately.
Separately, though, they-did agree to offer the Sandinista
government a deal. STONE: We do believe that dialogue without .
pre-conditions aimed directly at letting the people decide in
this region in the proper way to go.
CARRELS: The Contras pledge to seek a democratic political
solution in Nicaragua. They're prepared to open negotiations
Kith the Sandinistas and suspend their military activities if
the Sandinistas will agree to-live up to their promises of 1979
and allow different political parties and free elections.
Recently the Sandinistas have made some conciliatory gestures to
domestic opponents. .They also claimed to have asked Cuban
military advisers and Salvadoran guerrilla leaders to leave the
country. But according to the State Department, this isn't
enough., JOHN HUGHES (State Dept. Spokesman): Certainly, some?
of the statements that some Nicaraguan leaders have been making
have sounded somewhat more positive lately, and I think we are,
we want to wait and see what the reality of the situation is.
CARRELS: What the administration wants is nothing short of
' democracy. And-until then, officials say, the rebel attacks
will continue. _The CIA is re ortedl urgin the Contras to step
up their activities, but according to one official, the ontras
canno a ea the Sandinistas with arms alone. So the
a m nistration has now added political pressure to the military
offensive. This is also aimed at giving the rebels a new and
much needed respectability. And it's a way to get them into the
political negotiations already going on in the, region. Anne
Carrels, ABC News, the State Department.
COLLINS: This is?Peter Collins in Nicaragua. The Sandinista
regime is not yet ready to accept the deal offered today by the
CIA-backed guerrillas. The Sandinistas claim the rebels
represent no one-but the United States government. And they say
~ON~T'INU~- .
Approved For Release 2008/07/25: CIA-RDP88-010708000200970007-5
 Approved For Release 2008/07/25: CIA-RDP88-010708000200970007-5
the question of free elections and democratic reforms is an
internal matter not subject to the negotiations. But at a rally
still underway here in Managua this evening, the Sandinistas are
announcing another in a series of recent concessions apparently
designed to ease the pressure they're feeling from the United
States. Junta leader, Daniel Ortega,?proclaimed a, general
amnesty for some 1u,000 *Mesquito Indians who have been opposed
to the Sandinistas. All but 1,000 of the Indians have been
living in a huge refugee camp in southern Honduras near the
border with Nicaragua: Some of the Indians, with backing from
the CIA., have made sporadic raids across the *Croco River into
Nicaragua into the area where they used to live. Most of them
are now being invited to come back home, and Sandinista
officials are admitting privately they made a mistake in forcing
the Indians off their land two years ago. Three hundred
i~esquitos now in fail are to be released. This and other
concessions are clearly designed to appeal to public and
congressional opinion in the United States. The next step by
the Sandinista leadership will be an announcement of elections
that probably will fall short of what'the U.S. wants. Senior
diplomatic observers say the Sandinistas are making these moves
now, because Cuba's Fidel Castro has made it clear he will be
unable to help them in a war. And the nine Sandinista leaders
are themselves somewhat divided over whether to talk or fight.
Peter Collins, ABC News, Nicaragua.. .~
Approved For Release 2008/07/25: CIA-RDP88-010708000200970007-5