REAGAN PUSHES POLICY ON CENTRAL AMERICA BUT TRIES TO AVOID BATTLE WITH CONGRESS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00552R000505390122-6
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 9, 2010
• Sequence Number: 122
• Publication Date: May 10, 1984
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

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Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/08/09: CIA-RDP90-00552R000505390122-6
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WALL STREET JOURNAL
lO May 1984
Reagan Pushes Policy on Central America
But Tries to Avoid Battle With Congress
By ROBERT S. GREENBERGER
Staff Reporter of THE WALL SrREEr JOURNAL
WASHINGTON-President Reagan, care-
fully trying to avoid a new confrontation
with Congress, urged approval of his stalled
proposals for military and economic aid for
Central America.
In a nationally televised address last
night,'Mr. Reagan warned that communist
subversion, spearheaded by Cuban and Nic-
araguan surrogates of the Soviet Union,
threatened "to destabilize the entire region,
and eventually move chaos and anarchy to-
ward the American border."
Mr. Reagan didn't break any new
ground. Instead, he sounded familiar themes
about the moral and strategic reasons for
aiding U.S. friends in the region and halting
the advance of communism. Slightly over a
year ago, in an address to a joint session of
Congress, President Reagan raised many of
the same issues. At the time, he was having
similar problems winning support for Cen-
tral American aid.
However, Mr. Reagan chose last night to
communicate directly with the American
people at a time when the administration is
both buoyed by the apparent election of a
moderate presidential candidate in El Salva-
dor and faces crucial legislative tests on
Capitol Hill. .
The administration is expected to use
Jose Napoleon Duarte's apparent election to
press Congress to approve its request for
emergency military aid for El Salvador as
suggest that our problem to'date Is a result
of congressional inac ' n." ,
The White House also made a last-
dele on yesterday o a direct reference to
the pressure put on Nicara a's Sandinist
government CIA-supported insurgents-
Congress.for aid. Yesterday, many offices
on Capitol Hill received cables from Mr.
Duarte saying that "we need adequate eco-
nomic and military assistance from the
American government."
Mr. Duarte referred to himself as "the
president elect" even though he hasn't yet
been officially declared the winner.
The House is expected to take up, per-
haps today, a foreign aid authorization bill
that contains provisions for military and
economic assistance for the region for this
year and fiscal 1985, which begins Oct. 1.
Also, a conference committee is expected
next week to take up a Senate-approved re-
quest for S62 million in emergency military
aid for El Salvador.
Mr. Reagan said last night that the emer-
gency aid is urgently needed because "evi-
dence mounts of Cuba's intentions to double
its support" to leftist guerrillas in El Salva-
dor for a fall offensive. A senior official
briefing reporters last night said the evi-
dence was based on "reliable, highly credi-
ble reports," but said he couldn't cite specif-
owever, another senior White House of-
ficial has said that if Congress doesn't re-
spond to Mr. Reagan's requests, the White
House is prepared to blame Congress during
the presidential campaign for any problems
in the region.
But last night, Mr. Reagan appealed to
the bipartisan spirit of Congress. He cited
Harry Truman and John Kennedy, and said
that Congress had responded overwhelm-
ingly when these Democratic presidents
asked for aid to halt communist aggression.
Mr. Reagan also reiterated that the admin-
istration didn't have any plans "to send
American troops into combat in Central
America."
In the Democratic response to Mr. Rea-
gan's speech, Rep. Michael Barnes of Mary-
land jabbed at the administration's support
for counter-revolutionary operations in Nica-
ragua that have prompted a -protest in the
World Court. "We believe that we most ef-
fectively advance our interests when we act
in accordance with our nation's highest prin-
ciples and values," said Mr. Barnes, chair-
man of the House Subcommittee on Western
Hemisphere Affairs.
t. Nevertheless, several Democrats who op-
Mr. Reagan chided Congress by saying,' pose the administration's military aid pro-
"We have provided just enough aid to avoid posals conceded that the likely election of
outright disaster, but not enough to resolve Mr. Duarte would make it diffict4t for Con-
the crisis, so El Salvador is being left to gress to hold back aid for El Salvador.
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However, Mr. Reagan, who had a bitter
clash with Congress last month when Con-
gress learned that the Central Intelligence
Agent had failed to inform it adequately
well as its broader, long-range aid packag
for the region. Mr. Reagan didn't refer di-
rectly to Mr. Duarte, but he said that "it
would be profoundly immoral" not to sup-
port "peace-loving friends" in the region.
Mr. Duarte, who is well-known and well-
liked on Capitol Hill, also has begun to lobby
a bout t-he agency's support of mining opera-
tions in Nicaraguan harbors, avoided direct
criticism last night. The senior aide briefing
reporters said Mr. Reagan, in preparing the
speech, "removed any reference that would
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