PRESIDENT AGREES TO SPECIAL ENVOY FOR EL SALVADOR

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00552R000100880007-9
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 9, 2010
• Sequence Number: 7
• Publication Date: April 26, 1983
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/08/09: CIA-RDP90-00552R000100880007-9
I STAT
By Patrick E. Tyler
and George C. Wilson
Wsshtngton Pest Start Writers
The Reagan administration has
agreed to 'appoint an ambassador-
level special envoy to El Salvador to
help arrange elections this year in
which warring political factions in-
side and outside the government can
safely participate. according to ad-
ministration and congressional
sources.
They said the commitment is con-
tained in F. draft letter from Secre-
tary of State George P. Shultz to
Rep. Clarence D. Long (D-Md.),
chairman of the powerful House Ap-
propriations subcommittee on for-
eign operations. The subcommittee
has been holding up President Rea-
van's request to transfer $60 million
in emergency military aid for the
government of El Salvador in its
civil '.~.. 'xit:t leftist guerrillas.
"We have a c',ntmitment for the
negotiator in the draft letter" from
Shultz, one congressional source
said. Another source said the letter.
which promises "a senior presidential
envoy of ambassador level." will be
livered to the subcommittee today
n the condition that Long introduce
a succePSful motion to approve half'
of the transfer request. or S30 mil-
lion.
The agreement with Long comes
during a crucial week for the pres-
ident's Central American policy,
which he will defend Wednesday
night in a nationally televised speech
before a joint session of Congress.
His performance may well affect
c. e',e J key committees that
are considering cuts in his requests
for military aid to ElSalvador and
f,,r.her rest'v'tions on CIA support
v a._rins* the
r . neo,rny
~:IcLE 1 '-''~ 'WASHINGTON POST
ON FLEE 26 APPTL 1983
President- AgreeS
Salvador
For
To Special Envoi
House Speak_Thomas
P. (Tip)
O'Neill Jr. (D-Mass.) yesterday
asked the networks to televise a
Democratic response after Reagan's
speech. A spokesman for O'Neill said
the networks expressed interest.
In another sign of the formidable
opposition the president still faces in
Congress, Senate Minority Leader
Robert C. Byrd (D-W.Va.) predicted
yesterday that the Senate would re-
ject Reagan's pleas for substantially
increased military and economic aid
to El Salvador.
"The administration is traveling
down the wrong road," Byrd told a
group of reporters, by seeking a gov-
ernment military victory rather than
a negotiated settlement between
combatant.,, in El Salvador. The
United States "ought to be trying to
bring about a dialogue" between the
Salvadoran government and the
guerrillas to obtain "a political solu-
tion." he said.
Reagan upped the ante in Central
America in mid-March after pessi-
mistic assessments from key mem-
bers of his administration. including
U.N. Ambassador Jeane d. Kirkpa-
trick.
They told the president that the
Salvadoran military was losing
ground in its struggle against leftist
insurgents who the administration
says are receiving significant assist-
ance from the Cuban-backed govern-
ment of Nicaragua.
Reagan asked Congress for $110
million in additional military aid for
El Salvador this fiscal year and an-
other SS million in fiscal 1984.
which begins Oct. 1. The $110 mil-
lion request included $60 million to
be transferred from other foreign aid
accounts.
It immediately ran into trouble in
one Senate committee and was bot-
tled up in Long's subcommittee in
the House while he bargained with
administration officials for commit-
ments to appoint a special envoy to
help arrange all-party elections in.El
Salvador, to have a legal expert re-
view FBI investigative files on mur-
ders of U.S. citizens there and to
seek judicial reforms from the Sal-
vadoran government.
Besides winning concessions from
the administration in the draft letter
from Shultz. Long elicited commit-
ments yesterday from 'Salvadoran
President Alvaro Magana to release
political prisoners and open jails to
spot inspections by human rights
organizations.
The agreement with Long was
confirmed by an administration of-
ficial who sought to play down ear-
lier reports that Reagan would ap-
point "a grandiose type negotiator
envisioned by those who want a
power-sharing role in the region."
Long has said he wanted someone
of the stature of Philip C. Habib,
special envoy to the Middle East, or
Sol Linowitz, who undertook a
similar job for President Carter.
A congressional source said Long
will settle for an ambassador-rank
Latin American expert "who would
have the trust of the liberal mem-
bers of Congress." Several career dip-
lomats with expertise in the region,
including several former ambassa-
dors to Latin American countries,
are being discussed.
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/08/09: CIA-RDP90-00552R000100880007-9