NICARAGUAN YOUTH RETURNED BY U.S.

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00552R000606580004-4
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 27, 2010
• Sequence Number: 4
• Publication Date: March 14, 1982
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/08/27: CIA-RDP90-00552R000606580004-4
APPEARED
ON Pr1G 0,
NICARAGUAN YOUTH?
REiUNED BY. U.S.
Guerrilla Who Recanted !s Sent
Home From Washington ?
By PHILIP TAUHMA111
SPw''a Oliq YewYorkl7ne~,
WASHINGTOM, March 13 =- A Nica-
1; raguan who dismayed the Reagan Ad..
ministration on Friday by recanting as-
sertions of outside interference-in E1-
Salvadorwas turned over to the Nicara-j
guan Embassy early today, according;
toembassyofficials:.
The Nicaraguan, Orlando dose,Tar
dencillas Espinosa, who said he was 19'
years old, was captured in El Salvador-
last year while fighting for the guerril
las and was expected to describe Cuban
and Nicaraguan aid to the rebels In a
press briefing Friday He left this
morning on- the first leg of a flight back
to Nicaragua, a Nicaraguan Embassy'
spokesman said. ? : . '
As Mr. Tardencillas headed. home,
Administration officials.were trying to '
assess the damage done, to the Govern-
ment's credibility by his: refusal to re-
peat Previous. assertions.that.Cuba and
Nicaragua were providing military aid'
to the Salvadoran guerrillas.,
After the briefing Friday, Dean Fisch-
er, the State Department spokesman,
said that despite- the fact that Mr. Tar
dencillas had changed his story, he did
confirm that be had led guerrillas in El
Salvador:' :: -
In his recantation;; Mr..Tardenciilas
suggested that he had been in El Salva
idor as a private Individual'and that he
'had never seierranotherNicaraguan or a
Cuban in the cotmtry. " ;
Senior officials said 'today that-their
initial impression was that Mr.: Tarden-
NEW YORK TIMES
14 MAR CH 1982
ci not appearance was a serious but ` Administration officials said today!
not fatal setback for Administration ef- that the C.I.A. and. the State Depart-i
1forts to convince Congress and the pub. ` ment appeared to share responsibility'.
lic that the Soviet Union, Cuba and Nica. for not thoroughly questioning Mr. Tar-I
ragua had given financial and military l',dencillas before making him available
aid to the Salvadoran guerrillas. to the press.
"It was a disaster," said one senior of- How U.S. Learned of Captive
' ficial. He added, "I don't know whether According to these sources, Mr. Tar-
to laugh or cry," - dencillas was first discovered by the
Mr. Tardencillas, to the visible dis- United States Government last week
comfort-of State Department officials
when the Salvadoran authorities in-
who had advertised him as further proof formed
the American Embassy in c.,.,
of outside interference in El Salvador
told reporters on Friday that he had no
knowledge of Cuban or Nicaraguan in-
volvement and said that he had made
his earlier statements under coercion.
In the aftermath of Mr. Tardencillas's
unexpected comments, the State De-
partment and the Central Intelligence
A
Nicaraguan captive for more than a
year.
Mr. Tardencillas first came to public
attention in February 1981, when he was
brought before a news conference in San
Salvador and told reporters that he had
gency were reportedly investigating 1 peen se to El Salvador to train las. Hensaid that ther Nicaraguan n-
how the Government had failed to an- structors had been sent to El Salvador. , 1I ticipatehis turnabout. I After he was questioned at the em
Mr. Tardencillas was turned over to
the Nicaraguan Embassy at 3. A.M.
after a formal request was made to the
State Department by the Nicaraguan
Ambassador, Francisco Faillos, accord-
ing to Angela Saballos, an embassy
spokesman.
Incident Viewed as Serious
dencillas was flown to Washington last
Monday, where he was questioned
again. On Friday, only hours before his
appearance, Mr. Tardencillas was ques-
tioned by senior State Department offi-
cials. They recommended that he be
made available to. the press, these
sources said. .
"Nobody picked up a hint that he
would recant," said one official familiar
with the discussions.
been a comedy of errors," said Repre=sentative Michael D. Barnes, Democrat
of Maryland, who is chairman of the
House subcommittee on Inter-American!
Affairs. . .
She said that Mr. Faillos took custody
of Mr. Tartlencillas in a brief meeting at
the State Department. She said that Mr.
Tardencillas had left for Nicaragua at
midmorning and was being accompa.
Hied byan embassy official.
Although some Administration offi-
cials joked about Mr. Tardencillas's ap.
pearance - one senior official told re-
porters this morning that he was late for
a meeting because he had "to wipe the
egg off his face" --.others seemed to
view the incident as a serious problem.
They noted that the Administration
has , attempted in recent weeks to
present evidence of outside interference
in El Salvador to Congress and the pub-
lic in-hopes of building support for its
policy of providing military and finan-
cial aid to, the junta that governs the
country.:
"You can't throw away credibility the
way we did yesterday and still expect to-
convince people," said one senior offi-
cial who asked not to be identified.
Critics of the Administration's policy
said today that they were not surprised
byMr. Tardencillas.
"The whole Administration effort has
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/08/27: CIA-RDP90-00552R000606580004-4