A D'AUBUISSON LINK TO PLOT UNCERTAIN

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00552R000302620022-6
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 24, 2010
• Sequence Number: 22
• Publication Date: June 24, 1984
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/08/24: CIA-RDP90-00552R000302620022-6
ARTICLE APPEARED NEW YORK TIMES
ON PAGE -/1 - 24 June 1981i.
A D'AUBUISSON LINK
TO PLOT UNCERTAIN
C.I.A. Receiving Report; Senator Criticized Ambassador
Of is ale hag_&1d that the~gp 1 At the time of the Salvadoran presi-
Intelligence Aged in El Salvador had dential elections in early May, Senator
beeniving a stea QDLiufaz_. Helms wrote a letter to President Rea-
'mati about potential assassinatioris gan, which he then made public in El
both left-wing and right-wi Salvador, in which he accused Mr.
groins. In early May, the reports inten- Pickering of siding with the eventual
sified and included details of an effort winner, Jose Napoleon Duarte, and of
to kill Mr. Pickering. using his influence "to stran
le libert
g
y
.U.S. Aides Say Plan to Murder An authoritative source said that it ? in the night." He demanded Mr. Pick-
w
"
ll th
d'A
d"
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a
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u
as same crow
as
the Envoy Did Not Directly
The plot .against Mr. Pickering was
Involve the Salvadoran said to have been foiled when Gen. Ver-
nox A. Walters, the Administration's
special envoy, was sent to El Salvador
to warn right-wing leaders against any
By LESLIE H. GELB attack.
sped.IwrheNewYork Timms An Administration official in Wash-
WASHINGTON, June 23 - Adminis- ingt?D and two sources in E1 Salvador
tration officials with access to intelli-
gence data from El Salvador said today
that top right-wing leaders were not di-
rectly involved in a plot to kill the
United States Ambassador there.
The officials said, however, that the
plotters were known to be associates of
Roberto d'Aubuisson, leader of the Na-
tional Republican Alliance, known as
Arena.
d'Aubuisson was among a small group
of Arena members who were said to
have planned to kill Mr. Pickering.
General Walters was said to have
told them that they would "regret," as
one official put it, any mishap to the
United States Ambassador or any other
American.
The officials denied that General
They said the intelligence reports did Walters offered Mr. d'Aubuisson a visa
not establish direct presence in the plot ; to the United States in return for his
to kill Ambassador Thomas R. Picker- help. They stated that Mr. d'Aubulis-
ing by Mr. d'Aubuisson. son had been given and denied visas in'
According to sources who saw the in-
telligence reports, however, senior Ad-
ministration officials acted on the as-
sumption that whether or not Mr.
D'Aubuisson was directly involved, he
would have influence with the plotters
and be in a position to stop them.
[According to an official in El Sal-
vador who has proved to have reli-
able knowledge of the plan to kill the
Ambassador, United States intelli-
gence sources received at least two
reports last month providing details
of the plot by members of Arena.
[Mr. d'Aubuisson was among those
with knowledge of the plot, the offi-
cial said.The reports convinced
United States officials here and in
Washington that the plan to assassi-
nate Mr. Pickering was well-ad-
the past, and that they simply ran out
of reasons for further denials after the
Salvadoran elections.
Mr. d'Aubuissson has since been in
the United States for two or three days
and returned to El Salvador, one offi-
cial said today. There were other re-
ports that Mr. d'Aubuisson had gone
today from El Salvador to the United
States.
According to a source in El Salvador,
a letter from Senator Jesse Helms, Re-
publican of North Carolina, regarding
the role of Mr. Pickering in the Salva-
doran elections did not help the Ambas-
sador's already difficult position in
that country.
After the letter and after Senator
Helms also publicly accused the Cen-
tral Intelligence Agency of buying
votes for Mr. Duarte, White House offi-
cials said that the Senator met with
President Reagan and apologized for
any problems he may have caused and
offered to do what he could to help in
Salvador. An aide to Senator Helms
today denied any apology was offered.
Senator Helms, in an interview Fri-
day, called statements that he might
have fueled feelings against Mr. Pick-
ering in El Salvador "ridiculous."
Senator Helms also rejected reports
that Mr. Reagan had reprimanded him
about his remarks against Mr. Picker-
ing and White House officials said
today that there had been no such re-
buke. The officials said that Senator
Helms offered to help bring about a
reconciliation between Mr. Duarte, the
Christian Democrat, and Roberto
D'Aubuisson, the conservative candi-
date favored by Mr. Helms, and that he
had been helpful subsequently in trying
to do this.
Senator Helms also rejected reports
that Mr. Reagan had reprimanded him
about his remarks on Mr. Pickering,
and White House officials said today
there had been no such rebuke. The of-
ficials said Senator Helms offered to
help bring about a reconciliation be-
tween Mr. Duarte, the Christian Demo-
crat, and Mr. d'Aubuisson, the Arena
candidate who was favored by Mr.
Helms, and that he had been helpful
subsequently in trying to do this
I Asked Friday about a possible con-
nection between his statements and the
plot, Senator Helms said: "That's a
ridiculous statement. I'd have to be a
mind reader. How can I know what
d'Aubuisson is thinking? If you have
evidence, you ought of present it ~
through people who have the courage
and integrity to be quoted by name."
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/08/24: CIA-RDP90-00552R000302620022-6