A GROUP ASSOCIATED WITH THE AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION ISSUED A REPORT ON SUNDAY CLAIMING THE REAGAN ADMINISTRATION SEEMS TO BE LOSING CONTROL OF ITS COVERT OPERATIONS AIMED AT NICARAGUA'S LEFTIST REGIME.

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00806R000100250007-6
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 11, 2010
• Sequence Number: 7
• Publication Date: November 14, 1982
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/08/11 :CIA-RDP90-008068000100250007-6
UNTIED PRFSS INTERNATIC
14 NOVEN'BEP .1982
By JUAN J. WALTE
M group associated with the Anerican Civil LibFrties Union issued a report
Sv,~day cla,ir,~ing ttiE F,eagan administration se2~~,5 t0 tie losing Control Of its
covert operations aimed at t:icaraGua's leftist regime.
" Either the Reagan adr,~inistration's policy is aimed at destroying the
goverment of Nicaragua or it is out of contral, " said the Center for tyational
Security Studies, a strong liberal critic of administration policies in Central
America.
CLASS Director Morton Halperin, who served on Henry Kissinger's National
Security Council staff in the early 1970s, called on Con~C,?ess to investigate
u.s. actions in regards to Nicaragua.
" The only real secret about its operation is its purpose, " said Halperin in
a statement issued with the report. " It is high time Congress held hearings on
the very dangerous situation developing in Central America because of the
CIA's actions there."
The CLASS retort questioned adnir;istraticn clai?~s that its operations in
=r;+."cl krE'''1Ca ~~'~~, t0 5>.:pNCrt itiicSrafMan ^oderates, dlsrUpt Cuban-Nicaraguan
supplies lines to Ei Salvador, and fer~e t;ic~ragua to a;~d its aid to leftist
guerrillas threatening EI Salvador's U.S.-backed government.
The report cited,U.S. contacts w.it", and alleges aid and support for,
ant:-~anGinista exile groups ranginc f-o~n for,~~Gr supporters of the Sorroza
d i ctators h i p to d i sin c~~anted members ~ ~ the Sandinista rr;e %e-yen t who have fled
Nicaragua.
The report clai^s these Exile groups, many operating cut of neighboring
Hon~uras and same within tdi caragua, ' 'are already too k~eli organized and
committed to be easily turned off by the United States. "
Also, the report said, these groups are not helping disrupt Cuban or othe r
supply lines to S1 Salvador.
The report also claims the administration, contrary to its claims, daes not
help Nicaragua political and private sector moderates. Instead, the report said,
" it cripples them by leading an increasingly nervous and authoritarian
gcvernrr,ent (that of Nicaragua) to mistake opposition for treason. "
" In short, it (the administration's policy toward Nicaragua) serves none of
its stated purposes. "
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/08/11 :CIA-RDP90-008068000100250007-6