PHOTOS ON NICARAGUA 'BUILDUP' RELEASED

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00552R000707170006-5
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 6, 2010
• Sequence Number: 6
• Publication Date: March 10, 1982
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/08/06: CIA-RDP90-00552R000707170006-5
,~ ARTICI, x2? :ED LOS ANGELES TIMES
10 MARCH 19'2
_U.. a s Aerial Pic es Support Barg
' ` ~ . , . et; Backed ois E ansi
OSWALD JOHNSTON, TimesSta Writer : ''::'::_
s =WASHijVGTON=I hey. tteagan:: uu uc ~'u1L1 iiraroy.-.111C3C dLC UtU_Cr^
Administration on Tuesday released model tanks; but ' Inman said the,
the : largest.arrayof"secretU.S. re-- `.:only other armor in- all Central
connaissance photographs to be America is one World War:ll-vin-
made public since the Cuban missile,' tage tank in Guatemale and another'
crisis to- back up its' charge'that a:,,,. in Honduras.:. -.. - -
Cubaa=led; Soviet-supplied military-: =A permanent garrison for a 25-
buildup is under way in-Nicaragua.. tank armored. battalion. under con-
`: Adrn.'R Inman; CIA depu- = -struction. Hughes described the in-
Bobby ??`ty director and one of two top intel-' stallation as similar to such garri
ligence officials who presented the - : sons in 'Cuba-complete with bar
;Administration's: case, said-.-he is :.racks, an obstacle course, a training
''concerned and angry": that warn-;. `'ground and covered bays for the
'i
mgs about the military buildup have tanks. Inman-said he expects the
eventual - Nicaraguan armored
.not "been''widely accepted in this ;buildup to reach- 50 or even 75
try. ~.. tanks. .3-....i= ._ . ...
John Hughes,.deputy
direr .,?,.,-'Several'.-examples of wha
ot
r =.of the' Defense; :Intelligence Hughes described - as Cuban-style'
Agepcy-=:-and'the marrwho briefed'' nvlitary garrisons, with a truck ga
the.White House-on the Cubanmis- -? rage
barracks, a training and exer-.
,
%
:'site crisis nearly 20 years ago-Pre=
- cw a area, walled fortifications with
':'rented-'-the'. . recently,.declassified , watchtowers and Soviet-built antiaerialphoto aircraft .: installations - nearby
Pbotogiap}1ie Evidence-' ughes said 36: new' garrisons of
~ The =photographs,;:whose ems this type are in operat;on or are bell
ten:: e. disclosed thatU.Sreconnais ing constructed"in addition to:I3
sane planes have-been flying over `_ older garrisons dating form the re-
Nicaraguan territory,showed: ,-> gine of President Anastasio Somoza,
; who-was overthrown' by the San-
.--Lour- newly unproved Military,".
duustas : who' control the ,present
airstnps,:.recently-paved. or ling
.`
airstrips, two of th em on..th
e east Inman and Hughes claimed that1
coast =of Nicaragua ;,are equippe ,the photographs are clear proof that
smithdefensive: embankments and Nicaragua . is.:building , a milita'ry'
'Soviet,made anti-aircraftbatteries.:;structure far more 'sophisticated and
tThe airfields are'at Puerto Cabezas ,.
larger.-than anything that existed:.
ani1=;=Bluefields : on the.-,Caribbean - :ceder Somoza;?, when- Nicaragua's ,
coast, at Monteclimar on the Pacificrmy numbered 14,000:
coast and at San dino,near Managua. Inmann expressed annoyance that
-lt.was:previouslg;reported that 75 Nicaragua's.,agriculture minister;;
Nicaraguan pilotsare being trained _? Jaime. WheelocWon-.substantial!
=lnBulgariaandCuba. _>>`";::, press coverage, with. his claim: to.
commando tra n ngarea' on .::'.U.S.,reporters Iast: week that Nica-
the=shores of Lake Managua, near- ', . ragua's- army is no larger now- thane
tlie-capital; including a mock air-?-_ it-was in the-previous regime: ?.He
5-field, presumably for trairtingin of ?' lied directly and no one seemed ta.-'
fensive guerrilla tactics such as thechallengehun;' Inman said.. ..s,:
'_'siiccessful'raicl'in ?January on the ^ ; He said the facilities displayed
main military airfield: in.: El; Salvo- : the,,. reconnaissance: photographs
prove earlier estimates that Nic ara
31 ~An armor training area, usclud- gun s regular forces now amount to
ing '25 Soviet-made : T-54 or T-55'r:. 25,000 to 30,000 men, with a militia
tanks and a firing range. The photo-`. ; that -could be as large as 150,000