MCWETHY

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP88-01070R000301450013-3
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: January 6, 2010
• Sequence Number: 13
• Publication Date: November 14, 1984
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Approved For Release 2010/01/06: CIA-RDP88-0107OR000301450013-3
ABC WORLD NEWS TONIGHT
14 November 1984
MCWETHY: The Reagan administration backed away from its
comparison to*the Cuban missile crisis, officials'say,
because, in fact, that episode in history bears little
resemblance to what is'now happening in Nicaragua. One
man who worked at the. State Department in 1962, Thomas
Hughes, says to compare Cuba then to Nicaragua now is
wrong.. THOMAS HUGHES (former assistant secretary of
State): I think-it's inflammatory, in the sense that it's
deliberately designed to hype up the nature of the crisis
without the evidence that's necessary to back it up.
MCWETHY: Today, in Nicaragua, two to three -ships-bearing
weapons are unloaded each month, on average. In 1962, 30.
to 40 Soviet ships a month were bringing weapons to
Cuba--10 times more than what is happening in Nicaragua.
Intelligence analysts say there may be 3,000 Soviet and'-
Eastern-bloc military advisers in Nicaragua today. In
1962, there were some 22,000 Soviet military advisers and
troops in Cuba. Again, an enormous difference. And, in
1962, the-Russians brought in 40 brand new MiG-21
fighters, along with 40 bombers, and the U.S. said
nothing. Today, the Nicaraguans, who have neither, have
expressed an in in obtaining some of the 20-year-old
MiG fighters and the U.S. has threatened military action
to stop them. Even though officials,now admit the White
House'went too far in raising the specter of the Cuban
missile crisis, they say the arms buildup in Nicaragua is
a serious problem and could get worse. John McWethy, ABC
News, the State Department. <
Approved For Release 2010/01/06: CIA-RDP88-0107OR000301450013-3