SANDINIST FACTIONS FIGHT, REAGAN SAYS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00552R000202000017-1
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: July 20, 2010
• Sequence Number: 17
• Publication Date: March 30, 1983
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/07/20: CIA-RDP90-00552R000202000017-1
AR Ti i L 'rr.~w, 1'Ek' YORK TES
30 MARS 1983
SANDINIST FACTIONS ''drink that Amen can credibility was that the
provided wen said
agency has
pons
being damaged. He said the United ammunition-and financial aid to pa
re-
t i A V States e told otq itallies that "they've This dtf forces in Central America.
}j~ been subjb jetted d to quite a wave of world- This effort, which they said was ap-
(U=S wide propaganda based on the Salvado- proved by President Reagan in Novem
ran conflict. ber 1981 as part of an extensive plan for
i "And I think we have convinced
a
He Declines Comment on U.S.
'Aid and Says the Conflict Is
Between Ins and Outs
- WASHINGTON, March 29 - Presi-
.dent Reagan today described the recent
fighting between.'the military and anti-
Government forces in Nicaragua as a
factional conflict between different ele-
ments of the coalition that seized power
in Nicaragua in 1979.
. In a question and answer session with
six White House reporters, Mr. Reagan
.said the coalition that toppled the Gov
eminent of Gen. Anastasio Somoza De-
:bay)e collapsed when "the extreme left-
ist.faction" took control and created a
-'"Marxist-Leninist government openly
`acknowledging their ties to Cuba and
the Soviet Union_."
. "What we're seeing now," he said,
are the other revolutionary factions
totally ousted from any participation in
the Government now fighting back on
that.
'r 'Tried to Get Along'
Mr. Reagan declined to comment on
whether the United States was covertly
supporting the anti-Government para.
military forces. He said his Administra.
STATion had "tried. to get along with the
Goverztnent -of Nicaragua" but had
found it "ir, direct violation" of pledges
that it orow uld not support guerrillas in El
Salvad.
gun has contended in recent days that
paramilitary forces supported by the
United States have stepped up their ac-
tivities within the cotmtry, attacking
civilians and Government troops in as-
saults in northwestern Nicaragua.
The Reagan Administration, while'
not denying it has aided anti-Govern'
' ment forces, has portrayed the fighting
as an internal affair. That has been
greeted with skepticism at the United
Nations, where the Security Council has
debated the Nicaraguan conflict this
;week. Allies like the Netherlands, Spain
wand Pakistan have questioned the
' American assessment of events...
intelligence operations in Central
number of them that what we're doing America, called for using the paramili-
is valid," the President said. tary units to stop the flow of Soviet and
Questions Raised in Coqp Cuban arms that the Administration
ragua has also raised questions in Con. 11 1"""` io guerrillas in El Salvador.
-gross. There the key issue is whether ' According to senior national security
the Administration is honoring off, the irregular forces, up
'-that prohibits Americans for any primarily of Nicaraguan exiles includ.
-military effort to overthrow theSandin- mg some former supporters of General
-tat Government. Somoza, were also to be used to harass
`The law, which was passed by lop, the Sandinist Government by conduct.
sided votes in both the Senate and , tog hit-and-run raids in Nicaragua from
House in December, was in the form of bases in Honduras and Costa Rica.
an amendment to a catchall appropria- ? Psychological warfare
tions bill for the fiscal year 1983. It was Reagan Adxn nistration officials said
introduced after a fn ? f b
reports that the Central Intelligence
Agency was providing arms and finan-
cial assistance to anti-Sandinist groups
based in Honduras and Costa Rica.
The amendment, named for its spon-
sor, Representative Edward P. Boland,
Democrat of Massachusetts, chairman
of, the House intelligence committee,
bars support to paramilitary forces that
is "for the purpose" of overthrowing .
the Nicaraguan Government.
Members of both the Senate and
House intelligence committees said this
week that concern was growing about
the Central Intelligence Agency's role
in the Nicaraguan conflict
Representative Wyche Fowler Jr.,
Democrat of Georgia, a member of the
House intelligence committee ks -' '
fusal to disclaim American support for
anti-Sandinist forces was meant in part
to be a form of psychological warfare.
They said it was designed u+ keep Nica-
raguan leaders worried about the ex-
tent of American involvement in hopes
that this would force them to cease sup-
porting guerrillas in El Salvador.
Central Intelligence Agency officials
have told Congress that all these uses of
the paramilitary forces fail within the
terms of the Boland amendment be-
cause the United States assistance is
not specifically for the purpose of over-
throwing the Nicaraguan Government.
The problem, according to both
Democrats and Republicans on the Sen-
ate and House intelligence committees,
is that the C.I.A. cannot control the ac-
fng Nicaragua and Honduras this week
to look at the agency's activities. Other
members said they expected the House
committee to hold hearings on the issue
next month.
Senator Patrick J. Leahy, Democrat
of Vermont, visited Central America
earlier this year for the Senate intelli.
gence committee. Members who have
read a report that Mr. Leahy prepared
about his visit said it had let little doubt
that the agency, while following the let-
ter of the Boland amendment, was vio.
lating its spirit.
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/07/20: CIA-RDP90-00552R000202000017-1