THE ESCALATING WAR OF WORDS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00806R000201110077-2
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: July 21, 2010
• Sequence Number: 77
• Publication Date: April 11, 1983
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

STAT
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/07/21 : CIA-RDP90-00806R000201110077-2
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11 APRfl 1983
World
The Escalating War of Words
Nicaragua launches a rhetorical counterattack against the U.S.
E aster Week is a major holiday
throughout Latin America. But in
revolutionary Nicaragua there were a few
differences in the seasonal festivities. The
Sandinista government announced that it
would ban all radio broadcasts of Easter
Masses unless the regime could censor
pastoral sermons. Then, as half the coun-
try prepared to flock to the beach after
their religious observances, the others
girded for war.
While there were reports of fighting in
the area near the border with Honduras.
much of the struggle seemed to be a battle
of words. chiefly directed against the U.S.
Declared Nicaraguan Foreign Minister
Miguel D'Escoto Brockman: "The Unit-
ed States is waging war against Nicara-
gua." That kind of provocative rhetoric
drew a sharp response from U.S. Ambas-
sador to the United Nations Jeane Kirk-
patrick. Said she: "The United States isn't
invading anybody."
The Nicaraguans were trying as hard
as they could to appear beset. but the
reality was somewhat different. A cam-
paign organized by opponents of the re-
gime was indeed under way. And it was
an open secret that the contras, as they
are known. were receiving advice and lo-
gistical assistance from the U.S. Central
Intelligence Agency. Yet. by Western
diplomatic estimates. only 2.000 to 3.000
rebels were involved in the insurgency.
far too feu to oust the increasingly un-
popular Marxist-led Sandinista govern-
ment. which is named after a Nicaraguan
nationalist rebel of the 1930s. Augusto
Cesar Sandino and took power in 1979
after the overthrow of Dictator Anastasio
Somoza Debayle.
Although the overall results of the
contra campaign are difficult to deter-
mine. it is having a dire effect in some ar-
eas. Rancho Grande. a hamlet of wooden
and tin-roofed dwellings in the coffee-
growing region of Matagalpa, 35 miles
from the Honduran border, was struck. by
the rebels last week. Two members of the
local militia force. numbering about 25.
were killed. along with a French microbi-
ologist. Pierre Grosjean. 32. who was vis-
iting the area to study leishmaniasis. an
ulcerating skin disease. After the Rancho
Grande assault, Nicaraguan Defense
Minister Humberto Ortega Saavedra.
whose brother Daniel is coordinator of
the Nicaraguan junta. declared confi-
Many of the 55 countries that took part
in the U.N. Security Council debate felt
that the U.S. was being disingenuous. Re-
plying to a predictable Soviet diatribe
about incidents ? of U.S. intervention in
Latin America. Kirkpatrick said that such
actions were past history. On the other
hand, she added, a computer would be re-
quired to keep track of Soviet interven-
tions in the affairs of other countries, the
most recent example being Afghanistan
dently that "the counterrevolutionary
forces are in serious difficult- "
From the contra side of the shifting
battlefront, the opposite seemed to be true.
TnO has learned that, for the first time
last week, members of the rebel Nicara-
guan Democratic Force (F.D.N.), a group-
mg of conservative and moderate Nicara-
guans combined with former members of
the Somoza National Guard, began coor-
dinating their northern actions with an-
other group operating in the country's
south. Meanwhile. more than 175 Miskito
Indians from Nicaragua's Atlantic coast
have completed a rebel training course
that will help them to lead as many as
8.000 of their alienated fellow Indians into
battle against the Sandinistas. The F.D.N.
also plans to send some of its members to
Argentina for instruction in the use of
shoulder-fired antiaircraft missiles.
Whatever the actual military situa-
tion, the Sandinistas were trying to make
the most of their uncomfortable circum-
stances. They demanded an emergency
Security Council debate in the United Na-
tions that eventually lasted five days. Nic-
araguan Deputy Foreign Minister Victor
Hugo Tinoco warned darkly that the con-
hict could turn into a war with neighbor-
ing Honduras. where many of the anti-
Sandinista rebels have been based.
The Nicaraguan charges drew scath-
ing replies from U.S. officials. who de-
clared that there were many good reasons
for the Nicaraguans to rebel against their
Sandinista rulers. According to recent hu-
man rights reports. the regime has sys-
tematically violated the rights of local
Miskito Indians, undermined religious
freedom, and continued to practice arbi-
trary arrest and detention. Said State De-
partment Spokesman Alan Romberg: "It
is not surprising the Sandinistas are try-
ing to convince their public and the out-
side world that there is not an internal
problem in Nicaragua, when there is."
Reagan Administration officials refused
to discuss charges that the U.S. is covertly
supporting the Nicaraguan insurgents. In
a newspaper column, however. Ambassa-
dor Kirkpatrick implicitly defendeu the
idea of such an operation, saying in effect
that if Nicaragua and Cuba could arm
and train revolutionary insurgents, it was
wrong to think the U.S. could not do so.
D espite the show of support for Nicara-
gua, there were some important ex-
ceptions. Italy, Holland and Belgium, all
NATO allies, remained quiet during the Se-
curity Council debate, as did France,
which earned Washington's ire in Janu-
ary 1982 by selling $90 million worth of
military equipment to the Sandinistas.
While Nicaragua is eager to urge other
nations to condemn the U.S.. it is far less
anxious to consider many of the suggested
peaceful solutions to Central America's
political troubles. Even though the U.S. is
aggrieved at the extremist nature of the
Nicaraguan regime, it is far more con-
cerned over Nicaraguan support for leftist
insurgents in nearby El Salvador. Last Oc-
tober the U.S. endorsed the idea of an
agreement with the Sandinistas that
would have included an end to cross-bor-
der support for guerrillas, a ban on foreign
military advisers in the region. and guar-
antees of local political pluralism. The
Sandinistas dislike that Central American
initiative, but the Reagan Administration
says that it is still eager to pursue the earli-
er proposal.
Discussions are under way in Central
America to hold a meeting of five Central
American countries (Nicaragua. Hondu-
ras. El Salvador. Guatemala and Costa
Rica). with five other Latin countries from
the region as observers. Said Secretary of
State George Shultz two weeks ago: "Nica-
ragua should be engaged in the process. Its
good faith. or lack of it, will be tested." So
far, however, no date has been set for that
meeting. and Nicaragua is apparently re-
fusing to participate. -By George Russell.
Reported by Bernard Diederich/Managua and
Martin Casey/Tegucigalw
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/07/21 : CIA-RDP90-00806R000201110077-2