CRITICS OF REAGAN'S SALVADOR POLICY FIND CREDIBILITY ATTACKED

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00552R000100980015-9
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: June 22, 2010
• Sequence Number: 15
• Publication Date: March 22, 1984
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/06/22 : CIA-RDP90-00552R000100980015-9
I CLE 1;PP.: AK D
ON PAGE____~ L
Credibility Attacked
Critics of Reagan's Salvador
By Joanne Omang
Washington Pott. Staff Writer
Critics 'of the Reagan administra-
WASHINGTON POST
22 March 1984
dangers in that country. Administra.
tion critics hinted yesterday that
pro?administr
ti
a
on . groups had
bon's policy in El Salvador?have?suf-
fered: attacks on their credibility helped in the staging of the two new
~' deve lopments
the last two days, just as the Senate' White told a congressional 7sub
-
has 'begun moving toward 'a vote -on.-" committee Feb. 2 that the Reagan
the controversial question of- in administration has known for three
creased military aid to that country... years and has covered up certain
Robert White, former U.S. ambas knowledge that former major Rober-
sador to El Salvador and now a lead
'
er of those who say the edministra- to DAubuisson, a leading candidate
for president of El Salvador, is "a
tion is shoring up a repressive regime yterrorist, a muroerer and a leader of
there, has admitted.thatJie-yvronRly death squads." White made public_-
named a Salvadoran living in this the contents of'a Jan..7, 1981, cable
country as one of six who had orga- to Washington from the U.S. Em-
nized and financed death-squad ac- bassy in San Salvador that named
tivity in El Salvador. White leveled six Salvadorans living in M'jami as-,
h
h
?
t
e c
arge in congressiona testimo-
l
ny last month in which he also ac-
cused the Reagan administration of
a_ cover-up in El Salvador:.
It- was also disclosed ? yesterday
that 'a former Salvadoran nulitary
,
.
ea
er,
offi cer who provided The New York White charged, ation," as one Senate aide put it. h ;
Times and CBS News with detailed : Late Tuesday, as White was re: But V6 niie and those who put the
descriptions of the history-and strut- .heating this_cestimony-before,Lhe military' officer in touch with the
-tore of the death sQua s .eerier Senate Foreign Relations .subcom news
rt insisted that no_ -, ecep.
was a
omez
tratio'n policy.* Among other things. *this'former
official is said to have charged that
there are links between the CIA an
d
the chief -of 'El Salvador's feared
Treasury police, Nicolas Carranza.
The ' Salvadoran debate has
reached an . urgent pitch in recent
days, and the two new disclosures
are part of a high-stakes informa-
tion-disinformation game in' which
each side has attacked the other's
image of human rights and political
.the source of money, orgaa6t;.
.
and Planning for death-squad- ma
- joiced at the official's initial vela.
r
ders and threats. -bons March 3, yesterday's report in
"Ina very real sense, the effect damaged The Times' source
administration created Roberto and further involved White in what
D'Aubuisson the
" seemed to-be "a pretty sleaze op rr
political
l
d
fairs, 'chaireii' by Sen. Jssae HPtrr,t: formerly the No. 2 man in El Sal-
`(R-N.C.), an administration defend-
er, one of the ell Salvadorans ap:.
peared in the hearing room with his
attorney and boxes of documents. -
The attorney, Jerris Leonard, told
the hearing that White had slan-
dered the_?.',Sal'adoran, Arturo
Muysbondt, 35, of San Salvador?-He
said White "should be stripped of the
lifelong titeof ambassador and an-
nounced that he had filed a $10 mil-
lion lawsuit against White. _
White admitted that "the report I
quoted may have named Arturo
Muvshondt erroneously." He said he
had learned; of Muysbondt's suit
three weeks -ago and rechecked his
informat and that the first name
may hay - en reported incorrectly.
Helms, a~vocal backer of admin-
STAT
istration efforts in Central America,*
pounced on White, asking if he were'
prepared to withdraw his other
charges. White said no, that he had
accurately reported. the contents of
the cable.. '
-"You can certainly say that was a
setup," White said yesterday. "Helms
brought that guy in to say' I said
White was also involved, less di-
rectly, in the episode about the .mil-
itary officer: The New York Times
reported yesterday that the officer
had been promised $50,000 by some
administration critics, including
White, If he would speak out" to the
-
public
and Congress.
According to several administra-
tion critics -in Congress who
had re-
vador's land-reform . program and .
now a political refugee here, said in
an interview that the officer had told
White, three congressional aides and
Gomez details of his story before the
subject of money was raised.
It. was I that insisted we should
come up with a safety net to provide
for this man and get his family out
of El Salvador,' Gomez said..'Fund-
ing was confirmed . Feb. -11 from a
Massachusetts businessman .' and
.from other individuals and founda-.
tions, he said, two days after the of-
ficer talked with Rep. James M
Shannon (D-Mass.) and Sen. Paul E.
Tsongas. jD-Maas.).
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/06/22 : CIA-RDP90-00552R000100980015-9