ENVOY ASSAILS REAGAN AIDES ON EL SALVADOR

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00552R000505420020-5
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 17, 2010
• Sequence Number: 20
• Publication Date: December 10, 1980
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/08/17: CIA-RDP90-00552R000505420020-5
A?~ ~ THE WASHINGTON POST
LL
Envoy Assails
Reagan' Aides
On El Satvador
:. By Christopher Dickey
Wu nseonPcKP ,i nSanta..-
SAN SALVADOR; Dec 9 U.S..
Ambassador'. to El Salvador- Robert E.
White today acc ed -President-elect
Ronald Reagan's advisers of 'weaken.
ing my-authority to carry outthe'pol-
icy of [the Carter] administration" in
the. midst of a crisis that threatens to.
destroy-, the - : US: backed Salvadoran
regime and could lead to- expending
fli
k
d
d
armre
con
ct an
-an extremist ta
e-
oven
."When civil war breaks out m this ?.
country; I hope they 'get theirs chance
to serve,". said White, his hands grip-
ping-the- as of ; the- chair-'as-he
talked to- two American reporters this
morning......
His anger was focused-on the -leak
to the press last week of a so-called
"hit list," prepared by members.of the
Reagan transition - team, that. named
White as one of several ambassadors
accused of improperly acting as "social
reformers" and slated for removal
soon-. after Reagan's inauguration Jan.
20.
White, 54, a career diplomat, is also
concerned about the unannounced
presence in El Salvador last week of
Cleto Di Giovanni Jr, a-conservative
Central American analyst with ties to l
several members of the Reagan trarrsi?-,
tion team. White and other U.S oLfr=I
cials here said Di Giovanni --bath
presented himself as being on an, offr-4
cal mission for the incoming admix
tratron.
The message he .carried, said an
embassy official who-met Di Giovanni
during his visit, was that 'the-Reagan
team's public denials-of support for s
rightist military coup should be ' disre
garded,,,M ,.::.:. Y..:..
A spokesman for the Broad Nation
al Front, a leading rig wing orgsai
zation, implied Di Giovanni. was;-here,'
to gather information for Reagan. that
would - -balance,- that provided .by _ the.
Carter administratiam.::.,s;.
Reached . in Washnrgton, ;;; Reagan:
State Department ..ttan dtion> teat
head Robert Neumann,: repeating last;
week's 'deriial said today that .the
leaked "hit list" was neither policy, nor
individual papers" written by 'team -1
members ' and represented "the first'
cut" of opinions that may be part of
the final recommendations sent to
Reagan.
Also contacted in Washington, Di
Giovanni said that he had gone to El
Salvador on personal business and
that he "did not represent Reagan nor
have I ever represented, Reagan" in
this or any other mission.. A former
CIA official who served six years in"
utti erica, Di Wovanni said he:
66
currently operates a security consul-
e ps Salvadoran
businessmen learn protect. em-:1
selves against rroris attacks.
Netmzann also . said' that .,.Di' Giovanni "certainly wasn't sent by us".
on a trip to El Salvador or anywhere
else. Apparently referring to similar
reports ? that have plagued the Reagan'
team over - the past several weeks,
.Neumann said "we have half a dozen
pretend emissaries all over the world
who are complete hoaxes."
Another transition team, member
said that Di Giovanni, who has pub-
lished a number of articles critical of
Carter's policy in Central America, in-!
cluding one in the current edition of
The Washington Quarterly co-
authored with Reagan foreign policy:;
advisor Roger Fontaine, informed the:
-team he was traveling to El Salvador
and asked if he could carry a message.
"Not only was he not authorized" to
speak for the incoming administration,
the - team member said,'. "he was
strongly discouraged" from making the.
trip because: it was "thought perhaps
he would be' misunderstood."
'T'he vehemence of White's charges
indicate both the extent of the tension-
here and'the depth'of policy disagree-
;nients between the outgoing and in--
coming'administrations in this part of
the world. The situation also. illus-
.crates - the strong belief of the right
here that Reagan .wil abruptly .change
. U.S. policy in the region.
After a year of widespread political
violence and uncertainty, the current
Salvadoran crisis began with the:mur-
der last month of five prominent left-
ist. s. political leaders. ~It.' became 'ex-
tremely grave a week ago when four
Aineiican''women missionary : workers
rwere-savagely tortured and, killeGL .
i U.S. aid-to the government was sus-1
-pended pending an investigation of
the murders, and a special- high-level'
-U.S. diplomatic mission was sent here,
to look into the question of institu-
tionalized violence and the govern-
ment's stability. The team left El Sal-
'_vador today and is expected to report-t
to. Carter later in the week. . -
The entire government of El Sal-
vador is in the process of restructuring
itself, and its final composition could
.be decisive. not -only in determining
the-immediate future of .El Salvador,
but of the entire Central American re-
gion, because of. the. danger of the.
conflict here spilling over into: other
countries.
The Carter administration hasz
sought to establish'-- and nurture a
moderate coalition government of ci-
vilian and military men, which has in-
stituted sweeping reforms in. the 14
months since the ouster of Can. Car-
lcs- Humberto Romero's- corrupt con-
,servative regime.
U.S.- backing of the government, ' a
five-member junta composed of two
Christian Democratic politicians, an
independent and two military repre-
sentatives, has been largely successful,
White believes, in undercutting what
was a growing threat of leftist insur-
rection
'But both 'the ` left - arid . the right'
have sought to undermine this policy.-
The-orientation of the regime has be-I
come increasingly conservative, 'and 1
since early November the extreme`
right has been marshalling forces bothi
inside and outside the government to
launch a coup to take controL
`Right now,". White. said, "in this'
critical juncture when there is clearly;
.a lot of pressure being placed on mill.-!
'tary officers to move this government',,
to the right, the. various mixed and l
'contradictory siognals -coming out oft
various people who think they speak
for the , Reagan administration have!
STAT
^t.;?r'??' Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/08/17: CIA-RDP90-00552R000505420020-5