CENTRAL AMERICA/U.S. AID

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP88-01070R000201190003-4
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 21, 2016
• Document Release Date: December 10, 2008
• Sequence Number: 3
• Publication Date: May 9, 1984
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Approved For Release 2008/12/10: CIA-RDP88-0107OR000201190003-4
ABC WORLD NEWS TONIGHT
9 May 1984
CENTRAL AMERICA JENNINGS: It is the eve of a critical congressional vote
/U.S. AID on military aid to El Salvador. Congress has spent days
working over the president's plan for Central America.
Tonight, Mr. Reagan takes the offensive with a television
speech to the nation. As our White House correspondent,
Sam Donaldson reports, the president insists that without
the money the Salvadoran government will not survive the
next guerrilla offensive.
DONALDSON: The president set the stage for his latest
personal appeal in Central America by meeting with U.S.
observers to last Sunday's presidential election in El
Salvador, hearing their positive report on it, then
telling them to spread the word. They lost no time in
doing so. SEN.\JOHN\CHAFEE (R-R.I.): We reported to the
president that the elections were fair and open, that
there was no coercion on the people, that there was a
massive turnout. SEN.\PETE\WILSON (R-Ca.):: It is going
to take military force to suppress terrorism, and without
suppressing terrorism the entire meaning of this election
will be lost.
DONALDSON: In his speech tonight, the president will say
the United States must continue its aid, not only for the
Salvadorans' sake, but because U.S. national security is
involved. Using charts and graphs, he'll outline the
threat from Soviet-Cuban-Nicaraguan subversion. He'll nod
approvingly at pressure from anti-Sandanista forces on
Nicaragua, and that includes covert CIA pressure. And in
a slap at his critics, he'll say U.S. goals in Central
America are not attainable though wishful thinking,
moralizing, and inaction. On Capitol Hill, some but not
all House members received a telegram from the apparent
winner of the El Salvador election, Jose Napoleon Duarte,
pledging to establish peace and justice through dialogue,
and ending somewhat plaintively, 'Please help the people
of El Salvador.' Duarte's appeal may have been persuasive
for some, but not if they pay attention to Sen. Jesse
Helms, who sees Duarte as a dangerous left-winger.
SEN.\JESSE\HELMS (R-N.C.): Mr. Duarte happens to be 10
miles to the right. No, 10 miles to the left of George
McGovern. And to call him a moderate is ridiculous.
DONALDSON: Meanwhile Rep. Michael Barnes
follow the president on television tonight for the
Democrats, rehearsed his argument that continued aid to El
Salvador is not the issue, but whether that aid is
effectively tied to progress on matters such as human
rights and peaceful negotiations. So once again the
president is preparing to do television battle for public
support, employing few new arguments, but a lot of the old
tried-and-true Reagan technique. And his advisers believe
he can't lose. Even if it doesn't work, he can always
blame Congress for anything that goes wrong in Central
America. Sam Donaldson, ABC News, the White House.
Approved For Release 2008/12/10: CIA-RDP88-0107OR000201190003-4