PRESSURE FOR LATIN AID RISES

Document Type: 
Collection: 
Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 
CIA-RDP90-00552R000302620046-0
Release Decision: 
RIPPUB
Original Classification: 
K
Document Page Count: 
1
Document Creation Date: 
December 22, 2016
Document Release Date: 
August 24, 2010
Sequence Number: 
46
Case Number: 
Publication Date: 
May 9, 1984
Content Type: 
OPEN SOURCE
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PDF icon CIA-RDP90-00552R000302620046-0.pdf113.65 KB
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Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/08/24: CIA-RDP90-00552R000302620046-0 ARTICLE ~EAF`D DU FAGE ~ By Joanne Omang Wuhtngwn Post Staff Writer The Reagan administration yes- terday stepped up pressure on Con. gress to approve military aid to the government of El Salvador, winning an endorsement from the No. 2 House Democrat and springing a moribund aid package from a House committee. Majority Leader James C. Wright Jr. (D-Tex.), one of several congres- sional leaders who met with Presi-, dent Reagan at the White House, told reporters afterward it is "a pol- icy of folly" to provide aid to El Sal- vador to fight leftist guerrillas "on a week-to-week basis' rather than pro- viding "enough to win. We like to give them enough not to lose .... I think we ought to give them enough." Meanwhile, Sen. Jesse Helms (R- N.C.) charged that the CIA has been funding Jose Napoleon Duarte, the apparent winner of Sunday's pres- idential election in El Salvador, for the past two years. The charge could hinder chances for approval of Rea- gan's aid package, which has been billed as support for moderate forces within El Salvador. In a speech to the Senate, Helms said CIA officials told the Senate Intelligence Committee in a briefing last week about the aid, which in- cluded direct funding, use of radio and television facilities and technical assistance. Helms, who is not a member of the intelligence committee, quoted the official as saying, "We did every- thing but stuff the ballot boxes." But Sen. David F. Durenberger (R-Minn.), a member of the commit- - tee, said he did not remember any such remark. The CIA officials, he said, "gave us the impression there had been some involvement, not with any particular candidate but with various parties." WASHINGTON POST 9 May 1984 Reagan Sees Hill Leaders Pressure for Latin Aid es Durenberger said the briefing left him and other committee members "horribly confused" because they had been told earlier there was no CIA involvement in any elections. He said the committee had asked for further briefings on the subject. Reagan used two speaking engage- ments yesterday to insist that U.S. aid is crucial to help El Salvador hold off Marxist guerrillas who could ultimately threaten the United States.. He has scheduled a nation- wide television speech on his Central America policy for 8 p.m. today. Such continuing pressure has ap- parently pried a Senate-passed pack- age of emergency aid for Central America out of committee in the House, according to congressional sources. They said a House-Senate confer. ence will probably be scheduled next week on the package, which provides $62 million for El Salvador and $21 million for Nicaraguan contra rebels fighting the leftist government. House Speaker Thomas P. (Tip) O'Neill Jr. (D-Mass.) opposes the aid and did not attend the meeting with Reagan. Wright, splitting openly with O'Neill for the first time, none- theless predicted that some funds for El Salvador will be approved. "My feeling is that most people in Congress do support the forces of freedom in El Salvador," he said. "It doesn't make any sense to have a friend who is bleeding and refuse to give him a tourniquet:" Reagan made that point yesterday to about 300 business executives of the Council of the Americas, whose members together do 80 percent of all U.S. trade with Latin America. If the United States does not help Central Americans repel "Soviet-bloc and Cuban-backed insurgents," Rea- gantold them, "therewill__be grim consequences to pay. It's not only their security; it's our security. If we face a flood of refugees and a direct threat on our own southern border, it will not be because we acted but because we refused to do what was necessary to avert the crisis." Langhorne A. (Tony) Motley, as- sistant secretary of state for inter- American affairs, talked openly to the same group about the role that the CIA-directed mining of Nicaraguan waters, plays in U.S. pol-. icy there. "Miming is a part of the pres- sure--economic, political and oth- ers-to modify Nicaragua's behav- ior," be said. Motley did not link the. mining directly to the contras, but when he visits Nicaragua, Motley continued, "they only want to talk about the contras .... It's the biggest bar- gaining chip out there." Motley said U.S. policy seeks to.. end Ywaragua's Soviet and Cuban - ties, to reduce its military arsenal, to democratize its internal politics and to end its aid to the guerrilla move- . ment in El Salvador, which Motley said - maintains a communications headquarters in Nicaragua. "If they don't know where that is, we'll give them the street address. It's in downtown *Managua," he said. Reagan also brought up the de- bate over Central America indirectly in a luncheon speech honoring the late President Harry S. Truman on the centennial of his birth, recalling that Democrats and Republicans "were united in their opposition to tyranny" during Truman's,presiden-. Cy.. A Democratic senator said he thought. Congress might approve a small amount of funding for the Nicaraguan contra program,- either to shut it down or to restrict it firm- ly for use in stopping arms " ship- ments to the Salvadoran guerrillas. But a House Republican aide said there is little zeal in the GOP for fighting to save the contra program. Senate Majority Whip Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) agreed. "It's pretty' clear now that Nicaragua [contra aid] can- Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/08/24: CIA-RDP90-00552R000302620046-0