HOW THE C.I.A. HELPED IN SALVADOR S ELECTION

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00552R000707170016-4
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: July 23, 2010
• Sequence Number: 16
• Publication Date: July 30, 1982
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/07/23: CIA-RDP90-00552R0
ARTICLE APPEEIR.
ON PAGIr-,,~~
NEW YORK TIMES
30 JULY 1982
Letters
How the C.I.A. Helped
In Salvador's Election
To the Editor:
In his Op-Ed article of July 27, for.
mer United States Ambassador to El
Salvador Robert White placed a false
interpretation on a piece in The Wall
Street Journal of July 16, which re-
ported me as saying, "For instance, we
helped in the El Salvador election. In ;
Honduras, we put people through i
school and gave them instruments that
can detect bow much metal a truck is
carrying. Some countries we help with
photographic information, or sensors,
or Mrtraining for antiterrorist
only the first sen-
takes ,
tence, thus stripping the quotation of
detail. This frees him to convert "help
in the election" to "meddle in the elect
tion."
I was referring to the C.I.A.'s assist.
ance in meeting a genuine concern on
-the part of both the United States and
the Salvadoran Governments that the
election be held, and that people not be
intimidated from voting.
The whole American television audi.
ence on the evening of the national
election saw with their own eyes how
guerrilla forces succeeded in aborting
the election in the provincial capital of
Usulutan by terrorizing its citizens. We
provided the Salvadoran Government
with information and capabilities
which helped it to reduce the supply of
weapons from Cuba and Nicaragua
and to break up guerrilla formations
intended to destroy the election by
creating disruptive violence in other
communities throughout El Salvador.
In addition, we provided election au-
thorities invisible ink, which could be
placed on the wrist of each voter and
be detected again only under ultravio.
let light. This was needed to assure an
honest vote and to protect voters from
retaliation, with which the guerrillas
had publicly threatened anybody who
voted. WILLIAM J. CASEY
Director of Central Intelligence
Washington, July 29,1582
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/07/23: CIA-RDP90-00552R000707170016-4