LETTER TO JIM COURTER FROM WILLIAM J. CASEY

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP88B00443R001704320052-1
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 15
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: July 6, 2010
• Sequence Number: 52
• Publication Date: June 10, 1985
• Content Type: LETTER

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10 June 1985
The Honorable Jim Courter
U. S. House of Representatives
Washington, D.C. 20515
Dear Jim,
Thank you for your note and thank you for
putting my speech on Central America in the
Congressional Record. We would be very pleased to
give you whatever information we can for helping on
your book, and I would be glad to meet with you to
discuss Central America.
Best regards.
Orig -_F,d.drssee (Via OLL)
1 - DDO
1 - D/ PAO
1 - ER File
William J. Casey
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EJECUIWESEC :TARIAT
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DDO
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DDS&T
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D/OLL
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D/PAO
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VC/NIC
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N June 1985
3637 (10.8))
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JIM COURTER LCOMMITTEES:
NEW JERSEY 1978 RMED SERVICES
Cops of the United States
%oost of Repreoentat ueo
Ulaohinoton, W:2ostf
June 3, 1985
Mr. William J. Casey
Director of Central Intelligence
Central Intelligence Agency
Washington, D.C. 20505
Dear Mr. Casey:
I was pleased to see the full text of your San Antonio address
appear in the Washington Times, and have had it entered into the
Congressional Record in the hope that some of my colleagues will
benefit fran it as much as I have.
SELECT COMMITTEE
ON AGING
The speech could not have been more timely; the House is now
to face anew the same old choice about whether or not to resist the
establishment of a second Marxist-Leninist state in the Central
American region. I have taken a rather visible role in the Nicaragua
debate, made a trip to Central America in December, and have set down
some of my opinions and findings in various published forms. I am at
work at present on a booklet on the Nicaraguan government's consolidation
of power, and will be pleased to send along a copy to you when it is
completed. Should you find yourself available at some date for an
opportunity to meet with me and discuss Central American issues, I would
be most pleased for the chance.
Thank you for your expert work for this country's intelligence
services, and thank you for your leadership and your patriotism.
Sincerely,
of Congress
JAC/ch
Enclosures
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Vol. 13'1 WASH GTON, WEDNESDAY, MAY , 1985 No.68
~on~re,~,~ional Record
DIRECTOR CASEY ON THE SAN-
DINISTA STRATEGIC BLUE-
PRINT
HON. JIM COURTER
or txw JERSEY
IN THE HOUSZ Or REPRESENTATIVES
Wednesday, May 22, 1985
? Mr. COURTER. Mr. Speaker, I
would like my colleagues to see the
best, most comprehensive review of
Marxist-Leninist political strategy in
foreign countries to appear in the
public prints in some time. It is the
text of a speech CIA Director William
Casey made to the World Business
Council in San Antonio, T$ on May
18.
Ranging over such strategic indica-
tors as military aid, the presence of ad-
visers, political cultivation of the
young. propaganda, and efforts to dis-
credit the moral and spiritual author-
ity of the Catholic Church, the ad-
dress by Mr. Casey serves, from one
standpoint, as a veritable checklist of
the ways in which the new Nicaraguan
Government is reproducing old Marx-
ist-Leninist patterns of taking and con-
solidating power.
The text which follows is reprinted
from the Washington Times.
Sums isTAs HAVE "BLIIZPRINT FOR
Susvxaslvz AcoassatoN"
Today, I would like to tell you about the
subversive war which the Soviet Union and
its partners have been waging against the
United States and its interests around the
world for a quarter of a century or more.
This campaign of aggressive subversion flas
nibbled away at friendly governments and
our vital interests until today our national
security is impaired in our immediate neigh-
borhood as well as in Europe. Asia, Africa
and Latin America.
This is not an undeclared war. In 1961,
[Nikital Khrushchev, then leader of the
Soviet Union, told us that communism
would win not through nuclear war which
could destroy the world or conventional war
which could quickly lead to nuclear war, but
through "wars of national liberation" in
Africa. Asia, and Latin America. We were re-
luctant to believe him then. Just as In the
1930. we were reluctant to take Hitler seri-
ously when he spelled out in "Mein Kampf"
how he would take over Europe.
Over the last 10 years, Soviet power has
been established:
In Vietnam, along China's border and
astride the sea lanes which bring Persian
Gulf oil to Japan.
In Afghanistan, 500 miles closer to the
warm-water ports of the Indian Ocean and
to the Straits of Hormuz. Through which
comes the oil essential to Western Europe.
In the Horn of Africa, dominating the
southern approaches to the Red Sea and
the southern tip of the Arabian Peninsula.
In Southern Africa. The source of miner-
als which we and other industrial nations
must have.
And in the Caribbean and Central Amer-
ica, on the very doorstep of the United
States.
This is not a bloodless war. Marxist-Lenin-
ist policies and tactics have unleashed the
four horses of the apocalypse-Famine. Pes-
tilence, War and Death. Throughout the
Third World we see famine in Africa, pesti-
lence through chemical and biological
agents in Afghanistan and Indochina, war
on three continents, and death everywhere.
Even as I speak, some 300,000 Soviet, Viet-
namese, and Cuban troops are carrying out
savage military operations directed at
wiping out national resistance In Afghani-
stan, Kampuchea, Ethiopia, and several
other countries.
In the occupied countries-Afghanistan,
Cambodia, Ethiopia. Angola. Nicaragua-in
which Marxist regimes have been either Lin-
posed or maintained by external forces,
there has occurred a holocaust comparable
to that which Nast Germany inflicted In
Europe some 40 years ago. Some four mil-
lion Afghans. more than one-quarter of the
population, have had to flee their country.
The Helsinki Watch tells us that they have
fled because "the crimes of Indiscriminate
warfare are combined with the worst ex
cesses of unbridled state sanctioned violence
against civilians." It cites evidence of "civil-
ians burned alive, dynamited. beheaded;
crushed by Soviet tanks; grenades thrown
into rooms where women and children have
been told to wait."
In Cambodia, two to three million people,
something like one-quarter of the pre-war
population, have been killed in the most vio-
lent and brutal manner by both internal
and external Marxist forces.
In Ethiopia, a Marxist military govern-
ment, supported with extensive military
support from Moscow and thousands of
Cuban troops, by collectivizing agriculture
and keeping food prices low in order to
maintain urban support, has exacerbated a
famine which threatens the lives of millions
of its citizens. It has exploited the famine
by using food as a weapon to forcibly relo-
cate people fighting an oppressive govern-
ment In the north hundreds of miles to the
south where there is no preparation to re-
ceive them. In urban areas, food rations are
distributed through party cells.
k lei out ght a the minimum Communist
of 1.000 former
Somoza national guardsmen during the
summer of 1979. In 1982, It forcibly relo-
cated some 15,000 Mtskito Indians to deten-
tion camps, forced many more to flee to ref-
ugee camps in Honduras. and burned some
40 Indian villages. Last month, the Sandi-
nistas forcibly moved 60,000 campesinos
from areas close to the Honduran regions,
burning their houses and killing their
cattle.
What is the purpose of all this carnage,
this creeping Imperialism? In my view, there
are two primary targets-tile all fields of
the Middle East which an the lifeline of
the Western Alliance, and the Isthmus be-
tween North and South America. Afghani-
stan. South Yemen, Ethiopia, as well as
Cam Ranh Bay In Vietnam, and Mozam-
bique and Angola in southern Africa, bring
Soviet power astride the sea lanes which
carry those resources to America. Europe
and Japan.
Capabilities to threaten the Panama
Canal in the short term and Mexico in a
somewhat longer term are being developed
in Nicaragua where the Sandinista revolu-
tion is the first successful Castrolte seizure
of power on the American mainland. They
have worked quietly and steadily toward
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their objectives of building the power of the
state security apparatus, building the
strongest armed forces in Central America,
and becoming a center for exporting subver-
sion to Nicaragua's neighbors.
The American intelligence community
over recent months unanimously concurred
in four national estimates on the military
buildup, the consolidation and the objec-
tives of the Soviets and the Cubans and the
Sandinistas in Nicaragua. If I were to boll
the key Judgments of those estimates down
to a single sentence it would be this: The
Soviet Union and Cuba have established and
are consolidating a beachhead on the Amer-
ican continent, are putting hundreds of mil-
lions of dollars worth of military equipment
into it, and have begun to use it as a launch-
ing pad to carry their style of aggressive
subversion into the rest of Central America
and elsewhere in Latin America.
Let me review quickly what has already
happened In Nicaragua. The Sandinistas
have developed the best equipped military
in the region. They have an active strength
of some 65,000 and a fully mobilized
strength Including militia and reserves of
nearly 120,000. These forces are equipped
with Soviet tanks, armored vehicles, state of
the art helicopters, patrol boats and an in-
creasingly comprehensive air defense
system. This gives the Sandinistas a mili-
tary capability far beyond that of any other
Central American nation and Indeed all
Central American nations put together.
In addition to the considerable military
hardware, there are now an estimated 6,000
to 7,500 Cuban advisers and several hundred
other communists and radical personnel in
Nicaragua assisting the regime In Its mili-
tary buildup and Its consolidation of power.
The Communist government under Cuban
direction and guidance has been essential In
helping the regime establish control over
the media create propaganda mechanisms
and neutralize the effectivenas of those who
oppose the Sandinista totalitarianism.
Today, we see Nicaragua becoming to Cen-
tral and Latin America what Beirut was to
the Middle East for almost 15 years since
1970 when Lebanon became the focal point
for international and regional terrorists.
Managua's support for training of Central
American subversives Is well documented-
they support Salvadoran communists, Gua-
temalan communists, radical leftists In
Costs Rica, and are attempting to increase
the number of radical leftist terrorists in
Honduras. More recent evidence Indicates
Nicaraguan support for some South Ameri-
can terrorist groups and growing contacts
with other international terorist groups.
Yet. Just last week the American congress
refused to approve $14 million for people re-
sisting communist domination of Nicaragua,
on the very day that a Soviet ship unloaded
more than $14 million worth of helicopters,
East German trucks, and other military
cargo at Corinto, the principal port in Nica-
ragua.
On the very next day, (Daniel) Ortega,
the Nicaraguan communist dictator, trav-
eled to Moscow to ask the Soviet Union to
make $200 million available to him to con-
solidate a Leninist communist dictatorship
across a stretch of land which separates
South America from North America.
This development In our immediate neigh-
borhood should not be viewed in isolation
but as a part of a worldwide process which
has already worked in Furope, Africa, Asia
and Latin America.
Let me now give you an Insicl!t on how all
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with Bob Ames, our CIA Middle East
expert, who died at the hand of a terrorl3t
attack in beirut in 1983. Stationed In Aden.
South Yemen. in 1967. he met and befriend-
ed the young revolutionary Abd'ai Fatah
Ismail, who became president of South
Yemen and is now back In Aden after being
exiled briefly to the USSR. Abd'al Fatah
told Bob of his experience to the higher
Komsomol school which the Soviets main-
tain for training young revolutionaries from
non-communist countries. He explained
that he had been taught in Moscow that he
needed 20 years, a generation, to consolidate
his revolution.
He would have to control the education of
the youth and to uproot and undermine and
ultimately change the traditional elements
of society. This meant undermining the in-
fluence of religion and taking the young
away from their parents for education by
the state. He was taught that to control the
people he would have to establish block
committees as a powerful secret police. Fi-
nally. Abd'al Fatah spoke in Impassioned
terms of a need to export revolution to
carry out his mission as a dedicated Marxist-
Leninist and to ensure that attention was
focused on neighboring countries thus di-
verting attention from his own country and
allowing it to consolidate its revolution.
Bob Ames said that as he looked back.
Abd'al Fatah-with Soviet Bloc help-had
done as he said he would. He captured and
subverted a legitimate war of liberation. He
killed or drove Into exile those members of
the movement who believed in democracy
and then went about the work of consolidat-
Ing a communist regime and began armed
subversion against Oman and North Yemen.
In Ethiopia, Angola, Afghanistan. and
Grenada. dedicated Marxist-Leninist revolu-
tionaries followed this Soviet blueprint with
only slight modifications.
Our analysts have studied this blueprint
for taking over a government and consoli-
dating a totalitarian regime as it has been
exemplified in seven totalitarian regimes;
six Marxist-Leninist In Cuba, South Yemen,
Ethiopia. Angola. Grenada. Nicaragua, and
the Islamic revolutionary pverrraent of
Iran. They have Identified 46 indicators of
the consolidation of power by a Marxist.
Leninist regime, These Indiaters measure
the movement toward one-party govern-
ment, control of the mWtary. of the security
services, of the media, of education, of the
economy. the fuming or takeover of labor
or other macs organisatioin. exerting social
and population control. curbing religious in-
fluence and alignment with the SovNt bloc.
Of the 44 indicators, Nicaragua In five and
one-half years has accomplished 33. They
have established control of the media. taken
over radio and TV. cansond the broadcasts
of Sunday sermons of the Archbishop of
Managua. and subjected the only free news-
paper. La Prensa. to a brutal daily censor-
ship. They have taken watrwl of the educa-
tion system. Nicaraguan textbooks now
teach Marxism. They attack the tenets of
Western democracy. They attach traditional
religious teachings and entourage children
to maintain revolutionary vigilance by
watching for signs of ideological Impurities
In their neighbors. friends and relatives.
The Sandinistas have taken control of the
military. They have taken control of the in-
ternal secret police and have established a
Directorate of State Security. That director-
ate. according to our reports, has 400
Cubans, 70 Soviets. 40-50 East German and
20-25 Bulgarian advisers. There are So vet
advisers at every level of the secret police.
In fact. It is safe to say that it Is controlled
by the Soviet Union and its surrogates.
Block committees have been established to
watch and control the people. The church
has been persecuted.
Witness the campaign mounted by the Di-
rectorate of State Security to harass and
embarrass Pope John Paul II during his
1993 visit to Nicaragua. They have used po-
litical mobs (similar to the Red Guards of
Soviet and Chinese revolutionary history)
to attack democratic politicians, union mem-
bers and religious leaders. And finally, just
as Abd'al Fatah told Bob Ames what he
must do. and following Hitler and Khru.
shchev. the Sandinistas have told the world
that they would spread the example of
Nicaragua beyond Nl Salvador to Honduras,
Guatemala, and the entire region.
An integral part of this blueprint for sub-
versive aggression is deception and disinfor-
mation to manipulate and influence public
opinion and policies in western countries.
This takes many shapes and forms.
A worldwide propaganda campaign has
been mounted and carried out on behalf of
the Sandinista regime and Salvadoran guer-
rillas which would not have been possible
without the capabilities, the contacts, and
the communication channels provided by
the Soviet bloc and Cuba. The Sandinistas
themselves have shown remarkable ingenui-
ty and skill In projecting disinformation
into the United States itself. Perhaps the
best example of this is the systematic earn-
paign to deceive well-intentioned members
of the western media and of western reli-
gious institutions.
There are many examples of Nicaraguan
deception. The Sandinista press, radio and
government ministry have put out claims
that the United States used chemical weap-
on In Grenada, that the United States was
supplying Nicaraguan freedom fighters with
drugs, and that the United States might
give the opposition bacteriological weapons.
The debate in the Congress disclosed few
who think that what Is happening in Cen-
tral America Is a desirable state of affairs or
that it Is compatiable with avoiding a possi-
bly permanent impairment of our national
security and a serious deterioration in the
American geopolitical position in the world.
There are some who will be content with
an agreement that the Nicaraguans will now
forego further aggression. Our experience
in Korea and Indochina provides some les-
sons on the value of agreements with com-
munist governments. Korea started to vio-
late the Korean Armistice within days of
the truce signing.
Under the 1973 Paris Accords, North Viet-
nam agreed to cease firing in South Viet-
nam, withdraw Its forces from Cambodia
and Laos, and refrain from Introducing addi-
tional troops and war materiel into South
Vietnam except on a one-for-one replace-
ment basis. North Vietnam never observed
the cease-fire and troop withdrawal require-
ments. and within little more than two
months after It had signed the peace agree-
ments it had already Infiltrated some 30.000
additional troops and over 30.000 tons of mi.
liltary equipment into South Vietnam.
We believe the Sandinistas' main objec.
tives in regional negotiations are to buy
time to further consolidate the regime. His-
tory and the record and purposes of Marx.
ist-Leninist regimes in general and the San-
dinistas In particular lead us to believe that
unless Nicaragua has implemented a genu-
ine democracy as required by the Organiza-
tion of American States such assurances
could not be adequately verified and would
not be complied with. Cuban officials have
urged the Salvadoran communist guerrillas
f . slow down their attacks against the
Duarte government in order to fortify and
consolidate the Nicaraguan revolution. We
believe that Cuba has assured the Salvador-
an communists that It might take as long as
five to 10 years, but as long as the Sandi-
nista regime in Nicaragua remains, that
country will serve as a base for communist
expansion in the area and the Salvadoran
Insurgency will be renewed once the Sandi-
nistas have been able to eliminate the
armed resistance.
What dots this mean for America's
future? Should Central America fall under
communist control. it could mean a tidal
wave of refugees into the U.S.
Every country that has fallen under corn
munist control since World War II has ac:
refugees streaming over the borders-fiz.
Eastern Europe, then Cuba, and more re-
cently Vietnam and Afghanistan-and the
potential Influx from Central America is
even higher than from any of these. Since
1910, some 300,090 Salvadorans fleeing the
communist?WNated violence In their own
country have entered the V.L, Illegally. Ille-
gal movement from Mexico has increased,
with some one million Mexicans illegally en-
tering this country in 1993 alone. In 1984,
the Bipartisan Commission on Central
America warned that a communist Central
America would likely be followed by the de-
stabiliaatlon, of Mexico and that this could
result In many millions of additional Mexi-
cans fleeing into the United States.
Today. the Cuban and Nicaraguan mill.
tary forces am together four than the size
of those of Mexico and are equipped with
vastly superior weapons. Today. with armed
forces larger and better equipped than the
rest of Central America put together. Nica-
ragua could walk through Costa Rica, which
has no army, to Panama, and Cuba can
threaten our vital sea lanes in the Caribbe-
an.
The Insurgency Is a major obstacle to San.
di nil" consolidation In that it encourages
the erosion of active support for the Sandi-
nistas by creating uncertainties about the
future of the regime; by challenging Its
claims of political legitimacy; and by giving
hope to the leaders of the political opposi-
tion.
The largest anti-Sandinista insurgent
group, the PDN, is still providing strong
military resistance despite cutoff of United
States aid almost a year ago. Popular sym.
athy for the insurgents appears to be in.
creasing In the countryside. and the FDN
continues to receive significant numbers of
new recruits.
That opposition can Increase the pressure
until the Sandinista support has eroded suf-
ficiently to leave them no option other than
modification of their rejection of internal
reconciliation. The objective is to allow for
the same proem of democratisation that Is
taking place in the rest of Central America
to occur In Nicaragua.*
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Vol. 131
WASHINGTON, THURSDAY, MARCH 7, 1985
No. 27
~on~re~~ional Record
COURTER INTRODUCES RESOLU-
TION GRANTING POLITICAL
RECOGNITION TO DEMOCRAT-
IC RESISTANCE OF NICARA-
GUA
HON. JIM COURTER
OF REW JERSEY
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Thursday, March 7, 1985
? Mr. COURTER. Mr. Speaker, situa-
tion in Nicaragua parallels the situa-
tion of 1979, when the Somoza govern-
ment was still in power. A dangerous
armed conflict is going on while the
dictatorial government resists the op-
position's call for freedom, human
rights, and democracy.
Last Saturday, the political and mili-
tary elements of Nicaragua's demo-
cratic opposition united in a broad coa-
lition to call for peace and a negotiat-
ed transition to democracy. This initia-
tive offers the best hope for national
reconciliation in Nicaragua, and it is
based on the respect for human rights
and democracy that we all share.
I have drafted a resolution which
calls on the President and our neigh-
bors in the Organization of American
States to support this peace initiative,
and calls on the President to grant
"explicit political recognition" to the
Nicaraguan resistance. To call for rec-
ognition' is not to call for U.S. with-
drawal of recognition of the Sandinis-
tas, nor does it imply abandonment of
Contadora or other international
talks. It simply asks that the President
demonstrate, in whichever manner he
finds appropriate, that the United
States sides with Nicaragua's demo-
crats, and supports their plan to fulfill
the democratic aspirations of the Nica-
raguan people.
I am pleased to be Joined by the fol-
lowing Members who have cospon-
sored this resolution: Representatives
McEWEN, HAMMzascin TDT, STUMP,
MCCAIw, HOPKINS, YOUNG of Alaska,
KAsrci, OALLO, HYDE, MILLER of
Washington, SOLOMON, EDWAaDs of
Oklahoma, HUNTER, SILwANDER, Moaix-
ARI, GILMAN, DORIAN, DEWurz,
MCCOLLUIC STRANG, SAXTON, OING-
RICH, Bi aazzs, BADHAM, WORTLEY,
WEBER, BURTON of Indiana, RITTER,
LUNGREN, CRANE, CAMPBELL, REMP,
SMITH of Oregon, BARTON, WALKER, Lewis
of California, MACK, Loo=, DICKINSON,
DAVIS, SENSENBRENNER, SKEEN, DANNE-
MEYER, DAUB, SPENCE, McGaATH, DREIER,
GREGG, LOEFr'LER, STANGELA YD, ROGERS,
LowaRY, and ARCHER.
The text of the resolution follows:
Whereas the Organization of American
States, in its XVII Meeting of Consultation
of Ministers of Foreign Affairs on June 23,
1979 approved a resolution which deprived
the Somos government of Its legitimacy;
Whereas this action was taken to alleviate
suffering, to end armed conflict, and pro-
mote human rights in Nicaragua, and to
remove a threat to regional stability;
Whereas the Organization of American
States resolution called for the following:
"1. Immediate and definitive replacement
of the Samosa regime.
"2. Installation In Nicaraguan territory of
a democratic government, the composition
of which should include the principal repre-
sentative groups Which oppose the Somoza
regime and which reflects the free will of
the people of Nicaragua.
"3. Guarantee of the respect for human
rights of all Nicaraguans without exception.
"4. The holding of free elections as soon
as Possible, that will.lead to the establish-
ment of a truly democratic government that
guaranfass Peace, freedom. and justice.";
Whereas on July R12_, ~1979 the ruling junta
of the Proatslanal Goeeemnent of National
Reconstruction, formed by the Sandinista
National Liberation Front of Nicaragua,
wrote to the Organization of American
States and promised "to establish full re-
spect for human rights," "to enforce civil
Justice," and to conduct in Nicaragua the
first free elections 'that our country will
have in this century';
Whereas the Sandinista government of
Nicaragua has proclaimed its allegiance to
Marxism-Leninism;
Whereas the Sandinistas have restricted
freedom of expression, travel, warship and
assembly. have failed to, guarantee civii jus-
tice. and have failed to conduct tree and fair
elections;
Whereas these policies expressly violate
the pledges made to the Organization of
American States in the letter of July 12,
1979;
Whereas the Sandinista government now
threatens regional peace and the human
rights of the Nicaraguan people;
Whereas the military conflict between the
Sandinista government and its domestic op-
ponents is rooted in political causes and will
only be resolved by the establishment of de-
mocracy in Nicaragua;
Whereas political and military forces op-
Posing the Sandinista government of Nica-
ragua have formed a broad coalition;
Whereas the "Document of the Nicara-
guan Resistance concerning National Dia-
logue," issued at San Jose, Costa Rica on
March 2, 1985 calls for a peaceful, negotiat-
ed transition to democracy and national rec-
onciliation in Nicaragua; and
Whereas the cause of the Nicaraguan Re-
sistance is just and worthy of support by all
democrats of the Americas: Now, therefore,
be It
Resolved by the House of Representatives
(the Senate concurring), That the Congress-
(1) reaffirms the declaration of the Orga-
nization of American States, made on June
23, 1979, that the solution to Nicaragua's
political problems is "within the 'exclusive
Jurisdiction of the People of Nicaragua' ;
(2) urges the President to grant explicit
political recognition to the democratic Nica-
raguan Resistance; and
(3) urges the President and all the mem-
bers of the Organization of American States
to Support the Nicaraguan Resistance in its
quest for peace, human rights, free elections
and national reconciliation,
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r4111iW+;4 ?4:t~~~' ? ?
19 M
May, 1985
Nicaragua's Military Buildup: Fact or Fiction?
Few will deny that Nicaragua's revolutionary government has
conducted a military buildup without parallel in the Central
American region. Does it matter? Other nations have military
power in the Americas, but we don't consider them all to be threats
to ourselves or our neighbors.
The judgment boils down to the question of intentions, and this
is the first sticking point in American debates about Nicaragua.
Some view Nicaragua as a willing supporter of Soviet imperialism,
a base for foreign subversion and terrorism, and a Communist
dictatorship in the process of consolidating power. Others, while at
times disappointed in Sandinista "mistakes and excesses," believe
that Nicaragua seeks only peaceful, democratic development of its
economy and society.
By their own statements, the Nicaraguan rulers do believe in
democratic and progressive change. But what do they mean by these
terms? A Nicaraguan official touring the Soviet Union in March 1985
used the word "democratic" in the following context: "The USSR's
successes in building communism, in bringing up a new man have always
and will remain an inspiring example for the Nicaraguan people building
a democratic society." "Progressive change" takes on a similarly
novel meaning in a Nicaraguan-Soviet communique, issued in April 1980,
condemning "the campaign by imperialist and reactionary forces to
increase international tension around the events in Afghanistan." The
communique said that this campaign seeks to "stifle the inalienable
right of the people of.. .Afghanistan. ..to follow the road of progressive
change."
These statements represent just two selected elaborations of the
Marxist-Leninist philosophy that Sandinista rulers admit to be the
guiding, theory behind their revolution. Other examples abound, showing
a full Sandinista carmitznent to the revolutionary ideology of the Soviet
Union and its client states. It is this revolutionary commitment
which threatens Nicaragua's neighbors, especially when it is backed up
by a large military force.
In response to this, the claim is often made that the Sandinista
military buildup is defensive in character. Were it not for the
growing military opposition in Nicaragua, it is said, the Sandinistas
would not need the military capability that they now have.
These arguments would be more persuasive if the Sandinistas had
forces of a size and character which conform to purely defensive needs.
But they do not: instead, they have acquired forces which are far
better suited to intimidating or attacking their neighbors than to
defeating the threat of 15,000 freedom fighters in the mountains of
Nicaragua.
Even before the armed opposition emerged in early 1982, the
Sandinistas planned and commenced their military buildup. By 1982,
they had built a force of nearly 50,000 troops, exceeding by over
three times the peak strength of the National Guard of right-wing
dictator Anastasio Soxnoza, who was overthrown in 1979. Today, their
forces include over 119,000 troops, with an active duty force of over
62,000.
Congr..am n rim Courf r is N.w J.is y's only m mb.r on th. How. Armed S.rvlc.a Commlltw.
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There is an emphasis on armored forces -- not a useful capability
to counter the dispersed, hit and run tactics of guerrillas -- and
the Soviets have supplied scores of tanks to meet the Sandinistas'
needs. Today the Sandinistas have 110 36-ton Soviet T-55 tanks, each
armed with a 100-millimeter gun. In 1984 they acquired 30 PT-76 light
Soviet tanks, which have an amphibious capability that allows them to
cross rivers. These lighter, more mobile tanks are more versatile
and can be argued to be more appropriate to the guerrilla threat, but
their amphibious capability makes tham a threat to Nicaragua's
neighbors as well. The heavy T-55 tanks which can't cross rivers on
their own can be ferried across river? by'the six GSP amphibious
ferries which the Soviets have supplied to Nicaragua. In contrast, the
armored capability of Somoza's National Guard consisted of three
World War II-vintage tanks.
Sandinista air power follows similar patterns. .The Sandinistas
have begun to acquire Soviet MI-24 HIND helicopters -- heavily armed,
fast attack helicopters which can carry over 2800 pounds of rockets,
barbs and missiles. These helicopters, which the Soviets use in
Afghanistan, are adding to an inventory of other Soviet attack and
cargo helicopters. They can be used for both offensive and defensive
purposes.
There is another aspect of Nicaraguan air power, however, which
can't be justified by any defensive purpose. This is the construction
of the Punta Huete airfield near Managua. One of several military
airfields which the Sandinistas have built, Punta Huete has a runway
3200 meters long, 44 meters wide and one meter thick, and facilities
to accarodate jet fighter aircraft. The runway's size allows it to
accomodate any aircraft in the Soviet inventory, including barbers
and long-range reconnaissance planes which could conduct reconnaissance
flights off our Pacific Coast, just as Soviet planes use Cuban bases
to patrol our Atlantic (bast.
When Senator Moynihan (D-NY) visited Nicaragua in December 1983
he thought he had been given sincere assurances by the Nicaraguan
government that projects such as this would not be undertaken. One
junta member responded to his concern about Soviet submarine, air or
missile bases by assuring him that such developments "would not happen
now or in the future." Referring to Punta Huete, Senator Moynihan
told the Senate in August 1984: "That the Nicaraguans have gone forward
in this project leads me to ask whether they understand what I was
saying or believed what they were saying."
Whether the Sandinistas believe what they say is indeed an important
question for Nicaragua's neighbors. The Sandinistas often speak the language
of peace, but they have built infantry, artillery and air power that belies
their peaceful intentions. They use the threat of the freedom fighter to
justify this buildup and the political repression that accompanies it. They
could end the threat immediately by accepting the freedom fighters' offer
to stop fighting and negotiate for the establishment of a real democracy,
to replace the totalitarian "democracy" in which the people's will is
supposedly served by the ruling Sandinista party.
The Sandinistas resemble their Soviet mentors in more ways than we care
to recognize. Both states are dictatorships which exercise the widest
possible control over public information. Their domestic propaganda raises
the spectre of the re-Nazification of Germany, and the Sandinistas tell
theirs of the freedom fighters. or possible U.S. intervention. These
propaganda themes are a fundamental political necessity for Carnunist rulers,
because they allow them to keep their people highly regimented and
militarized, and distracted from the fact that they are denied the human
rights which would lead to a decent material and spiritual life.
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THE TRENTONIAN
DECEMBER 13, 1984
Courter: Aid Nicaraguan Rebels
By DAVID J. LYNCH
States News Service
WASHINGTON - Just
back from a whirlwind tour
of six Central American
countries in five days, Rep.
Jim Courter said yesterday
the United States should re-
sume funding the anti-Sand-
inista rebels in Nicaragua.
Prompted by reports of
direct Central Intelljggpce
Agency involvement in the
mining of Nicaragua's har-
bors, Congress in October
cut off aid to the so-called
"contras."
But Courter said U.S. help
was needed to prevent an-
other Cuba. "It becomes viv-
idly clear to me that you
have a Marxist government
in Nicaragua that is tighten-
ingthe yoke," he said.
"Inevitably, as time goes
by, fewer and fewer freedoms
will be permitted by that
government," said Courter, a
member of the House Armed
Services Committee.
"Whether they admit it or
not, they will follow the
Cuban model in creating a
closed society," he warned.
Courter and two other
committee members, Reps.
Beverly Byron, D-Md., and
Buddy Darden, D-Ga., jour-
neyed to El Salvador, Hon-
duras, Guatemala,
Nicaragua, Costa Rica and
Belize.
While in Managua, the
Hackettstown Republican
met with Sandinista leader
Daniel Ortega and leaders of
the Nicaraguan opposition.
In El Salvador, the four-term
lawmaker met with top of-
ficials of the Salvadoran mil-
itary.
Courter also accused the
Nicaraguans of supplying
arms to the anti-government
rebels in El Salvador. The
New Jersey congressman,
who speaks Spanish, said he
had taken "personal testi-
mony" from individuals who
had witnessed the arrival of
arms shipments.
`;There is some photo-
graphic evidence we've had
in the Armed Services Com-
mittee," he added.
Courter conceded, how-
ever, that the photgraphs -
purportedly showing
Nicaraguans transferring
arms to El Salvadoran
,guerillas - were often of
poor quality.
After . talking with -El
Salvadoran military officials,
Courter said he was en-
couraged about the situation
in that strife-torn nation.
"Most people feel the mili-
tary situation there is
marginally better than it
was six months ago," he said.
But Courter cautioned
that the situation in El
Salvador remains extremely
fluid. "It's a long, difficult,
painful haul," he said.
Higher levels of American
aid won't be required,
Courter said. But greater
public awareness of the dan-
ger from continued turmoil
and instability in Central
America will be, he added. I
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April 2, 1985
783 words
1985-13
By Rep. Jim Courter
Jim Courter (R.-N.J.), now serving his fourth term
in the House, is a member of the Armed Services
Commmittee. This address is an expanded version of
remarks delivered as a guest commentary over "Radio
America."
The secretary-general of the "Nicaraguan Association for
Friendship with the Socialist Countries" was on an official visit to
the Soviet Union a few weeks ago. He made a pronouncement about what
he called the "progressive transformation" of his homeland, and
praised the USSR for its "fraternal support" which "infuses tt
Nicaraguan people with confidence of the ultimate victory of odr
revolution." Then he went further: "The USSR's successes in building
communism, in bringing up a new man, have always been and will remain
an inspiring example for the Nicaraguan people building a democratic
society."
That may sound like a strange use of the word "democratic." It
ought to. It is. But saying "democratic" and meaning "communist" has
become something of a Sandinista specialty. A year ago this month the
Minister of Planning, Henry Ruiz, was visiting the East Germans and
praising their educational system--one of the world's most
militarized--as a' model for "a new democratic education system in
Nicaragua."
But it was in the summer of 1979, when Somoza was nearing his
end, that talk of democracy, pluralism, freedom, and human rights was
most to be heard. The Sandinistas were courting world opinion: They
marshalled their words as carefully as their soldiers, and many people
were eager to believe them. The Organization of American States,
(OAS) of which the U.S. is a member, took the unprecedented action of
demanding the end of a regime--Somoza's, and its replacement with a
democratic government. The Sandinistas replied to the OAS with a
letter on July 12, 1979. It was replete with promises, all since
broken.
They promised "full respect for human rights." Instead,
Nicaraguans have endured a one-party dictatorship, and the fullest
range of legal deprivations. The country has witnessed:
- The forced relocation of thousands of Miskito Indians;
- The flight from the country of tens of thousands of other
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Nicaraguans;
- a draft which can put 13-year old boys into battle after as
little as 8 days of training;
- pressure on parents to send their children to Cuba's cadre-
building schools;
- elaborate literacy programs, but little to read apart from
Marxist literature;
- Steady harassment of opposition figures, and of the only
surviving non-Party newspaper, La Presna;
- Unabashed persecution of the church in a country that is deeply
Catholic, including the infiltration of religious groups, crude abuse
of priests, attempts to control the texts of sermons, and the
presentation, in childrens' school books, of vicious caricatures of
the religious orders. (I would hesitate to report such things second-
hand, but I visited Nicaragua in December, and I saw them.) r
The Sandinistas promised "civil justice," too. But how can it be
guaranteed where there is no civil law, no constitution? Government
is by decree, and the so-called "People's Courts" have no independence
from the political authorities. Therefore, a minority has no
protection from the majority. A man has no defense against the
police. A citizen has no means of resisting the powers of the local
"Committees for the Defense of the Revolution," which can compel
attendance at meetings, and withhold ration cards, and which function
as an arm of the East German and Cuban-dominated secret police.
There is a name for a political construction such as this. And
it is not "democracy."
It is hardly surprising that the Nicaraguan people have had
enough. The ranks of the grimly dissatisfied grow every day, and with
them, the ranks of the Contras, of whom there are now over 12,000.
For every Somoza loyalist among them, there are a dozen peasants,
small land-holders, city dwellers, and disillusioned Sandinistas.
At a momentous meeting in San Jose, Costra Rica, this past March
3, the resistance leaders met, unified, and produced a declaration of
common aspirations, a "Document on National Dialogue of the Nicaraguan
Resistance." It calls for a cease-fire, an end to the state of
emergency, and peace talks. It puts forward a detailed and thoughtful
agenda for a transition to democracy.
I believe this peace initiative deserves every measure of
American support. I have introduced into the House of
Representatives, and 59 of my colleagues have signed, a resolution
asking President Reagan to grant some form of political recognition to
the Contras. The resolution also asks the members of the organization
of American States to re-enter the diplomatic arena in which they
played such a part in 1979, and support the Contras' efforts to engage
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the Sandinistas in meaningful negotiations.
For five years, the Nicaraguan people have walked the way of the
Sandinistas. That path has taken them to places as dark and harsh as
any they knew with Somoza. Today, at last, there may be another way.
There may be a democratic way.
Steven Havtcard
1`Jil"I
Public Research, Syndicated
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NEW JE JER AIMED SERVICES
(rongra,s of the 1"113 MOW states
Mouse of Represaaacmcs
9eshigqcon, B4:2091
March 21, 1985
Dear Colleague:
The democratic opposition of Nicaragua has united and
offered a very promising peace proposal to the Sandinistas --
a proposal to negotiate an end to the civil war and a
transition to democracy. This proposal seeks to fulfill
the original promise of the Sandinista revolution, a promise
of pluralistic, democratic government which was made to the
OAS in July 1979. The proposal is described in the
Washington Post editorial printed below.
Unfortunately, the Sandinista reaction has been hostile.
Arturo Cruz, the former Sandinista ambassador to the US,
tried to go to Nicaragua to discuss the peace proposal, but
was barred from entering his country. The heads of
opposition political parties inside Nicaragua were rounded
up and told they could have no contact with Cruz and his
associates. The Sandinistas claim that the CIA is behind
this entire enterprise, and is seeking to have Cruz return
to Nicaragua, have him murdered and have the murder blamed
on the Sandinistas.
Daniel Ortega's current peace offensive should be
examined in light of his refusal to negotiate with the
Nicaraguan Resistance. It is doubtful that the Sandinistas,
who have already violated their promises to the OAS, will
ever negotiate seriously in any international forum such as
Contadora if they refuse to meet their own countrymen who
offer a cease-fire and a negotiated transition to democracy.
The Nicaraguan Resistance deserves our moral support. I
have introduced a resolution, H. Con. Res. 81, which urges
President Reagan to grant explicit political recognition to
the Nicaraguan Resistance, and urges the President and all
members of the OAS to support the Resistance's effort to
engage the Sandinistas in meaningful negotiations.
If you would like to join the 59 cosponsors of this
resolution, or if you have questions, please contact Phil
Peters of my office at 5-5801.
M COURTER
ember of Congress
SELECT COMMITTEE
ON AGING
E6 &m y. MAaca 17,1985
A Fair Offer to the Sandinistas
THE SANDI)ISTAS claim the ais a in Nica- The Sandinistas' initial, response to the proposal
ragua arises ft m their conflict with the was to bar Arturo Crus from returning to Niara-
United States. This is not so. It arises in the gua to announce it and to summon some Of 45 local
first iustamoe from their Conflict with their fellow supporters to state security headquarters on
citizens especially with the democratic people who grounds that they were tma in a U.&-
fought the Somoaa dictatorship, whose leaders sponsored plot to overthrow govern-
4 ved the Sandinistas in the early period and who meat. Think of it An offer by the opposition to put
turned against the Sandinistas only when they down arms and to start talking about achieving the
found the democratic promise of the revolution Sandinistas' own early promises is dianiseed as a
being denied. This needs to be understood in order hostile conspiracy.
to see the importance of the offer the democrats How do the Sandinistas intend to explain to the
have Just made to the Managua regime. Nicaraguan people a rdsffial to enter a dialogue on
The Offer comes from a newly, finally unified group such a reasonable bass? How can any other iodepen-
g the political opposition led by Arturo Cruz dent-minded Latin country--must that a mi de Cuba?
and major branches of the armed resistance. Its es- ---tail to support this proposal? In El Salvador, the
sence is a proposal for a unilateral cease-fire by the government accepted a dialogue without even getting
contras to be followed by a political dialogue presided a cease-fire in return. The government in Nicaragua
over by the bishops, The proposal is, in our view, en- is being offered a better deal. Pesbaps it will think
ti sly fair and reasonable. The Sandinistas protest the again before delivering a final rejection.
war? Here is an offer to stop it. How must they pay? And-the inevitable question--if the rejL--bon is
Only by joniing a prop s that points to the original final? No doubt some will argue that the Sand nis-
goals of their own revolution. Their own man, Dan- tas' failure to take the offer seriously makes Amer-
iel Ortega. can remain president as the process un- icon support of the contras unarguable. The draft-
folds. The proposal offers more than a chance for era of the Nicaraguan opposition propos4 how-
national reconaliatiom It lets Nicaraguans remove ever, are shying away from that cl um. Desperate-
their fate from foreign hands and restore it to Nia- ly, they are making a 'last effort to grant to our
raguan bands alone. country a civilized solution."
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Vol. 131
WASHINGTON, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 17, 1985 No. 45
congressional Record
NICARAGUAN ALLIES
(Mr. COURTER asked and was
given permission to address the House
for 1 minute and to revise and extend
his remarks.) Mr. COURTER. Mr. Speaker, a West
German linked to the Baader-Meinhof
gang is a counterintelligence officer in
the Nicaraguan Army. Another com-
mands an artillery battalion. Five Ital-
ians. all former Red Brigade leaders,
serve as noncommissioned officers in
the Nicaraguan Army. A Basque ETA
terrorist awaits trial in Costa Rica on
charges of attempting to assassinate
Contra commander Eden Pastora.
Both Spain and Italy have formally
protested the sanctuary Nicaragua
'gives to several dozen European leftist
militants.
Before coming to power in 1979, San-
dinistas trained and fought beside ex-
perienced guerrillas in Central Amer-
ica and the Middle East. Relations
with Cuba and the PLO were especial-
ly close. Today, "proletarian interna-
tionalism" deems that the governors
of Nicaragua make returns for services
rendered.
Th Swiss Review of World Affairs
has called Nicaragua the PLO's "most
important base on the Latin American
mainland." Ties to Colonel Qadhafi
are strong, as infusions of Libyan
money and armaments have proven.
The Sandinistas are linked to terror-
ists in Chile, Colombia, El Salvador,
and other Latin countrie .
Americans cannot afford not to
notice. According to the FBI, fully
two-thirds of the terrorist attacks in
this country. in 1983 were linked to
Latin America. Furthermore, compel-
ling evidence links Sandinista officials
to narcotics sales in U.S. black mar-
kets.
As debate about our Central Ameri-
can policies continues, we should not
forget the Nicaraguan hand in the
international terror network.
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Vol. 131
WASHINGTON, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 3, 1985 No. 41
Zonrcsziona1 'Record
EUROPEANS RALLY TO
NICARAGUAN RESISTANCE
HON. JIM COURTER
OF NEW JERSEY
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Tuesday, April 2, 1985
? Mr. COURTER. Mr. Speaker, as the
original sponsor of House Concurrent
Resolution 81, which calls upon both
President Reagan and the Organiza-
tion of American States to extend ex-
plicit political recognition to the Nica-
raguan resistance, I was gratified to
see that distinguished Western Euro-
peans are equally interested in doing
more to hold the Sandinistas to the
promises about democracy they so
freely made in 1979.
A partial list of these European
statesmen, soldiers, and scholars has
been assembled by Mr. Bill Outlaw for
the Washington Times, and was print-
ed by that newspaper on March 28,
1985. I commend it to those of my col-
leagues who share my interest in ob-
taining a just resolution of the Nicara-
guan war.
EUROPEANS RALLY TO NICARAGUAN
RESISTANCE
(By Bill Outlaw)
A group of European intellectuals and
politicians, including several leaders of the
resistance to the Nazis during World War II,
have signed a petition calling on Congress to
provide aid for the anti-Sandinista resist-
ance.
The "problem of Central America.is also a
European problem," they say.
The, petition was published as an open
letter to Congress in many European news-
papers earlier, including the Paris daily Le
Monde, Le Soir of Belguim, La Stamps of
Italy and De Telegraph bf the Netherlands.
A group of the signers, including Vladimir
Boukovsky, the Soviet dissident who lives
now in France, will come to the United
States Tuesday to present personal pleas for
aid to the Nicaraguan resistance.
"The freedom of the Nicaraguans is also
your freedom, as it is ours." the petition as-
serts. "It you fail Nicaragua, we must ask,
where will you fall text? If freedom and do-
mocracy are not worth defending in your
own hemisphere, where are they vyorth de-
fending? The free world awaits your answer.
Its enemies are waiting too."
Among the signers are Winston Churchill,
a member of the British Parliament and
grandson of the World War II prime minis-
ter; Lord Chalfont, a former British foreign
minister; playwright Eugene Ionesco;
French author Jean-Francois Revel; former
Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser,
and Robert Conquest, the British historian.
The visiting delegation of about 12 has re-
quested a meeting with the president during
next week's visit, said a Reagan adminstra-
tion official.
lie t',. Waite House was pi-ascd with
the support and the prestige of those sign-
ing the petition was impressive.
The petition and the pending U.S. visit
are the latest in what has become an in-
tense lobbying effort in a battle between
the Reagan administration and those op-
posed to a proposed $14 million appropria-
tion for Nicaraguan resistance.
Last month, a delegation of lawmakers
from several European countries visited the
U.S. to lobby against funding Nicaraguan
resistance. That delegation met with mem-
bers of Congress and registered objections
to the Reagan administration policy in Cen-
tral America at meetings in the State De-
partment.
The petition argues that the aid is neces-
sary because the Sandinista junta is a totali-
tarian regime which since its inception has
"declared its aim to be the incorporation of
Central America into a single Marxist-Len-
inist entity."
The petition also contends the resumption
of the aid is "necessary morally" because
Western countries must be "forthright in
support for those who are struggling to gain
the rights which your own Declaration of
Independence declares are inalienable and,
therefore, possessed by, all men."
The petitioners describe Central America
as Europe's "Fifth Frontier."
To deny aid to those who seek freedom in
Central America, they argue, "is to deny the
meaning of your own country." It says the
United States would be placed in a difficult
strategic position in dealing with the Soviet
Union should the aid be suspended.
The trip to the United States and the pub-
lished statements in connection with the pe-
tition are sponsored by Resistance Interna-
tional, a Paris-based human rights, anti-
communist organization.
Others who signed the petition include
former North Atlantic Treaty Organization
Gen. Robert Close; Cuban poet Armando
Valladares; Marie Madeleine Fourcade,
chairman of the Action Committee of the
French Resistance during World War II,
and former French Prime Minister Jacques
Chabin Delmas.
Also, Italian publisher Massimo Pini; Mar-
celle Lentz Cornette, of Luxembourg, a
member of the European Parliament; Simon
Wiesenthal, of Austria,. president of the
Documentation Center on Jews persecuted
by the Nazi regime, writer Leif Hovelsen, a
Norwegian Resistance Fighter during World
War II, and Joseph Luns, former secretary
general of NATO.*
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