THE TOUGH U.S. GENERAL ON DUTY IN LATIN LANDS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00552R000202320022-0
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: July 20, 2010
• Sequence Number: 22
• Publication Date: May 19, 1984
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

;STAT
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/07/20: CIA-RDP90-00552R000202320022-0
ARTICLE_AFFIAM NEW YORK TIMES
ON PAGE ~~- 19 Mary 1981
'fears it could compromise'Costa Rican
Tough U? neutrality.
General
The ` Barricade said General associated with a S t i ? I j ~ Ito costa Rica was
it O } %A the saner
of
k- J.1 L J -..If U L y 11 c chological preparation for war."
By STEPHEN gi aER General Goren a West Point
rector o T&
~iOTa!rk'?Ya~t __~. -- Was ro ect an ater
During maneuvers in 1983 General sere as senior mi itary c er? e-
~p?~ iQersp Agenc. He de-
Gorman often traveled to Honduras C, ran ternew: lire"ests e
from his command post in Panama to Wi lists and, ac-
review progress, according to an co to an encaninessman
American diplomat. ive _ ez rience iI3~ Whir
Relations between Honduras and .y,,, g 1y does not Tike the i
Nicaragua have been poor for the last p
two years. They worsened further last Differed on Vietnam Strategy
week after a Honduran helicopter Was - -_ - - ..,__ .-,.... I
o and
G
uan en
a
N
..---. __ _
.
--
awe
g
-.
its own. of United States strategy. He did Ao`
l
gram of airborne surveillance of Nica-
ragua and guerrilla-held parts of El
Salvador. A 300-man United States
Army intelligence battalion has been
stationed in Palmerola, Honduras, and
C-130 aircraft based there are among
those conducting surveillance mis-
sions.
and has close ties to the military in!
Honduras, Guatemala and El Salva-
dor.
According to Costa Rican Officials,
General Gorman's policies have be-
come a matter of dispute in Costa Rica,
which has no army and has tried to re-
main neutral.
Veteran of Vietnam and Korea
PANAMA, May 12 - As United
States policy in Central America has
come to emphasize an increasing mili-
.tary presenceand cooperation with
allied armies in the region, Gen. Paul
F. Gorman has emerged as a. key,
American strategist, according to dip-
i1omats and military officers.
General Gorman, 56 years old, was
:named chief of the Army's Southern
Command a year ago. He heads United
..States forces in Latin America and the
Caribbean but has focused his attention
on Central America! He travels
through the region more often than his
predecessor, Gen. Wallace Nutting,
War Powers Act at Issue
Some Congressional critics have sug-
gested that the program could be a
violation of the War Powers Act be-
cause it involves the United States in
providing combat intelligence to the
Salvadoran Army and could expose
American pilots to hostile fire.
The Guatemalans have not fully sup-
ported General Gorman's efforts and
have indicated they resent American
criticism of human rights abuses.
United States officers consider
Guatemala to have the best army in
Central America. In recent years, they
say, it has turned to Israel and other
countries for supplies and is no longer
dependent on the United States. Con-
gress has imposed restrictions on mili-
G t a1a d 'te Admin-
y
es
em
d
an
share Gen. William Westmore
belief in the effectiveness of large-
scale offensives, recommending in-
stead the use of repeated forays from
secure bases.
Military officers and others who
have worked with General Gorman cite
his mastery of detail as his most out-
standing trait. He is said to be among
the Army's best briefers, able to speak
at length and in great detail without
notes. "I think he has a kind of photo-
graphic memory," one of his former
Pentagon colleagues said.
Associates also said General Gor-
man was by nature an activist and not
the sort to sit back and let events take
their course. He has clashed with sev-
eral United States ambassadors in Cen-
tral America, and three of them who
were considered insufficiently promili-
tary have been transferred from the
area in recent months.
"He's what we call the hard-charg-
ing type of commander," a retired
American officer said. "He looks at a',
map and likes to envision the grand
strategy.".
'Borders on Arrogance'
p
,
to ua
terry ai
istration efforts to increase it. Representative W. G. Hefner, Demo-
According to Costa Rican officials, crat of North Carolina, told General
ional hearin
C
g
ongress
General Garman has pressed Presi- Gorman at a
dent Luis Alberto Monge to accept 1,000 last year that his approval of construct
National Guardsmen from the United tion projects in Honduras without in-
States to build roads and airstrips near forming Congress "borders on arro-
the border with Nicaragua. An aide to gance." The general said Pentagon
president Monge said General Gorman lawyers had advised him the construc-
"really exerted pressure," but there tion was not considered permanent
has been no agreement.has been no thus did not require approval.
agreement. A three-member Congressional dele-
onth and
hi
s m
A Visit to Costa Rica gation visited Panama t
On an unannounced visit last week,' met with General Gorman. One memer-
General Gorman met with Costa Rican ber of the delegation, Bill Alexand,
Democrat of Arkansas, who is a critic
leaders to discuss the project again and of policy in Central America, said he
to offer an acceleration of military aid, disagreed with those who portray Gen-
according to American and Costa eral Gorman as "a man who wants war
Rican officials. . - ... ` down here.,'
After the visit Ambassador Curtin "We have got a President who sees
winsor said National Guardsmen solution as military and not diplo-
the might arrive later this year to begin
matic," Representative Alexander
has not accepted the projects. But Costa Rica said in an interview. "General Gorman
Ccuta not Rican official can project, said there were e is a good soldier. In the absence of a de-
fined diplomatic strategy, he is provid-
ing military leadership to fill the void."
Advocate of U.S. Maneuvers
General Gorman's efforts to modern-
ire the armies of Honduras and El Sal-
vador-have been more successful.
Dip- lomats say be backs United States ex
ercises in Honduras, which are in-
tended both to train Honduran soldiers
and to warn Nicaragua that the United
States is prepared to back Honduras in
any contingency.
United States alliance that fell apart
-after the Sandinista victory in Nicara-
gua in I.M. He called together officers
from Panama, Honduras, El Salvador
and Guatemala in October to discuss
the project but was said to have been
-unable to persuade them to put aside
their differences and unite to counter
what he has described as subversion
- sponsored by Cuba and Nicaragua.
Western diplomats said General Gor-
man is convinced that the leftist rebel
movement in El Salvador can be
tarily defeated if the United States pro-
. vides enough weapons, ammunition,
training and logistical support to the
Salvadoran Army.
A veteran of the wars in Korea and
Vietnam, General Gorman is described
by associates as intelligent, self-confi-
dent, vigorously anti-Communist and
highly ambitious. He is considered an
accomplished strategist, and Central
American officers who have dealt with
him say he is convinced that the United
States must establish a military pres-
ence in the area to prevent leftist gains.
Last year General Gorman tried un-
successfully to revive the Central
American Defense Council, a pro-
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/07/20: CIA-RDP90-00552R000202320022-0