SHULTZ ADDS VELVET GLOVE TO CENTRAL AMERICA POLICY

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00552R000100390029-9
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: June 22, 2010
• Sequence Number: 29
• Publication Date: November 9, 1982
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/06/22 : CIA-RDP90-00552R000100390029-9
ARTICLE
ON PAGE - THE CHRISTIAN SCIENCE
e uOVEMBE 1 non
Shultz . adds. velvet glove
to Central America policy
By Daniel Souther'land
Staff correspondent of The Christian Science Monitor
Washington
Now that be has made his mark on Middle East and Euro-
pean policy, Secretary of State George P. Shultz is being creel
ited by some with transforming Central American policy.
Not so,-say State Department officials. What Mr. Shultz has"
changed is the administration's tone and rhetoric. When it
comes to substance, they say, it's steady as sbe.goes. .
Conservative critics fear, however, that Shultz might be -
veering dangerously in the direction of accommodation with the
guerrilla forces in El, Salvador. Liberal critics fear that the US
may be escalating a secret, paramilitary war of, harassment
against the Sandinista regime in Nicaragua..:. -:.
But Interviews with State Department officials and evidence
from Central American itself indicate that Shultz. is sticking
pretty close to the policy he inherited : no major escalation, but
steady, consistent support for anticommunist regimes and for -
economic and political reforms. The US encourages offers to
negotiate an end to the fighting in El Salvador, but only-within
the framework of the elections system which the Americans.
helped to establish there.
Reagan administration strategists believe that a sudden
dramatic shift toward either negotiation or military victory
is not likely in El Salvador. They argue that steady pressure
on the guerrillas may in the long run enable the
anticommunist forces to_prevaiL
Shultz has helped to keep the region out of the headlines,
meanwhile, by cooling the rhetoric. His predecessor,
Alexander M. Haig Jr.,, often spoke in dramatic terms about
Central America. Mr. Haig argued for going "to the source"
of the trouble: Cuba. His statements sometimes seemed todo
.more to create anxiety about administration policy .than they
did to create support.
Shultz's low-key approach notwithstanding, events have
forced Central America back into the headlines. A Newsweek
magazine cover story on the United States' "secret war"
against Nicaragua exaggerated the magnitude of CIA-sup-
port for opponents of the Nicaraguan regime, officials say.
But the story has embarrassed the administration and
caused new misgivings among critics in Congress.
In El Salvador, lack of progress in bringing right-wing
assassins to justice, including those who killed several
Americans, prompted the American ambassador, Deane R.
Hinton, to protest publicly against - weaknesses in the
Salvadoran system. This,-added to a speech last August by a
top US official who spoke of the need for a process of recon-
ciliation among Central American combatants, has led some
to see a 'change of direction under Shultz toward support for a
negotiated settlement in El Salvador.
But the State Department sees little chance that negotia-
tions with guerrilla representatives will produce the desired
results.
In his Oct. 29 speech criticizing the Salvadoran criminal
justice system, the ambassador also contended that although
it has taken 4,000 casualties over the past 15 months, El
Salvador's Army is "slowly but surely winning the war." If
that is the case. negotiations might not be necessary.
MONITC"
A highly placed State Department official. said the
Salvadoran guerrilla groups viewed negotiations as a "tac-
tic" and that Cuban and Nicaraguan . support for the guerril-
las was unrelenting. He said that while the flow of arms from
Nicaragua to EI Salvador by way_ of Honduras had been
blocked to a degree, there had been an increase in arms go-
ing by way of the sea and air. According to some reports, the
official said, helicopters were being used to carry-some of the
weapons. -
"The Nicaraguans see El Salvador.as the inevitable out-
growth.of their revolution and consider It their inalienable
right to get involved there," said the State Department offi-
cial. "In their view, you-best preserve the revolution by ex-
porting it."
The official spoke in an Interview von' a understanding
that be not be-quoted -by name., He declined to comment. on
the Newsweek cover story which charged that the Reagan -
administration is behind a major "covertcampaign" to arm,
train, and direct Nicaraguan exiles-in an effort to "destabi-
lize" the Sandinista government. Other officials indicated that whatever was going on tell-.,
far_ of an attempt to topple the Sandinistas.-They indi-
cated that the true version of events was contained in a`Iess
dramatic story in the New York Times on Nov. 2, which said
that the US was supporting-small-scale secret military oper-
ations against Nicaragua intended to harass, but not to
overthrow, the Nicaraguan government. -- -
Whatever the scope of these operations may be, publicity
about them may make it more difficult for the administration
to get support for its ever more costly Central America policy
from the US Congress. In addition to supplying military
trainers and more than i0 million in economic aid this year
to El Salvador, the administration has upped its commit-
ments to Honduras. It is edging toward a?renewal of military
aid to Guatemala, and It wants to increase its support for
Costa Rica, which it sees as the target of a "destabilization"
campaign by Cuba and Nicaragua.
In a rare compliment to the administration, Rep.Michael
D. Barnes, a Democrat from Maryland who is chairman of
the House subcommittee on inter-American affairs, said he
thought the administration's Central ,America Policy was
"becoming more sophisticated." .
In Mr. Barnes's view, this was apparent in the public criti-
cisms of the Salvadoran judicial system made by Ambassa-
dor
Hinton and in the administration's ells for a process of '
reconciliation among Central America's combatants aimed
at substituting political pti for armed competition.
He welcomed what be described as a new "tone of modera-
tion" in the administration.
But at the same time. Barnes says be sees grave dangers
in the reports of American-sponsored -covert action against
Nicaragua.
In the end, the congressman said, covert action might
have a boomerang effect and "destabilize" the very govern-
ments - in Honduras and Costa Rica, for example - it was
meant to defend.
"I think the new Congress will be a little bit tougher with
the administration on Central American issues," said Barnes
in a telephone interview with the Monitor. "If you look at the
list of incoming members, they are substantially more pro-
gressive than the group which they replaced."
STAT
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/06/22 : CIA-RDP90-00552R000100390029-9