CIA EXCEEDED AUTHORITY WITH SALVADORAN AID

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00552R000505390075-9
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: January 13, 2011
• Sequence Number: 75
• Publication Date: August 15, 1984
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/01/13: CIA-RDP90-00552R000505390075-9
ARTICLE LrFZARED
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CIA Exceeded
Authority .With
Salvadoran Aid
Scarcely 14 years after the CIA
meddled in Chile's national election
and was property scolded by Con-
gress for its bizarre plottings, the
CIA again has intervened in the pol-
itics of a sovereign nation.
The story behind the CIA's
machinations in El Salvador have
been hushed up. But here are the
details, which my associate Dale
Van Atta has pieced together from
intelligence sources:
? In 1981, President Reagan ap-
proved a covert action "finding"-
the secret routine that authorizes
CIA funds for clandestine opera-
tions. This allowed the CIA to fi-
nance non-communist candidates in
Latin American elections. The in-
tent was to block communist sym-
pathizers from coming to power,
not to discriminate between rival
anti-communist candidates.
? Without further White House
authorization, the CIA slipped a re-
ported $960,000 to El Salvador's
Christian Democratic Party, whose
candidate, Jose Napoleon Duarte,
won the presidential runoff on May
6. 1984. Also, $437,000 was deliv-
ered to the moderate National Con-
ciliation Party. The purpose was to
defeat Roberto D'Aubuisson, the
WASHINGTON POST
'15 August 1984
right-wing candidate, who allegedly
is linked to the notorious "death
squads."
? President Reagan didn't learn
about the CIA's meddling in the Sal-
vadoran election until after the Sen-
ate Select, Committee on Intelli-
gence was briefed May 3 about the
secret payments. Five days later,
Sen. Jesse Helms (R-N.C.) went
public with the charge that the CIA
had "bought the election , for
Duarte.
Press accounts Deported that the
president summoned Helms to the
White House for a reprimand. Our
sources say that Reagan was furi-
ous, not at Helms but at the CIA.
He thanked Helms for saving him
from the embarrassment of hailing
the election in his May 9 television
address as an example of democra-
cy in action-words be would have
had to eat when the CIA's involve-
ment became known.
? After the election, the Reagan
administration changed its attitude
toward D'Aubuisson. The policy-
makers decided that a leader who
had won 46 percent of the vote-
regardless of his alleged bloody
background-could not be ignored
and that it would be wise to start a
dialogue with him. Reagan wrote
D'Aubuisson, congratulating him on
his strong showing. Secretary of
State George P. Shultz, who pre-
viously denied D'Aubuisson a visa,
asked Helms privately to invite the
right-wing leader to Washington.
Footnote: There have been other
occasions when Helms has used his
right-wing channels. He won a stun-
ning concession from the Argen-
tines at the beginning of the Falk-
lands waz because the military junta
trusted him. The Argentines told
Helms that they would withdraw
their troops from the islands if the
British would halt their fleet before
it readied the Falklands. This se-
cret concession, which could have
prevented the war, got lost in the
rush of events.
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/01/13: CIA-RDP90-00552R000505390075-9