REAGAN OPENS CAMPAIGN FOR AID TO CONTRAS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000100450026-7
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: January 6, 2012
• Sequence Number: 26
• Publication Date: February 19, 1986
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

i
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/01/06: CIA-RDP90-00965R000100450026-7
UI P'AGt t - n
WASHINGTON TIMES
19 February 1986
Reagan opens
campaign for
aid to Contras
By Jeremiah O'Leary
and Mary Belcher
President Reagan launched an all-
out effort yesterday to wrest $100
million in military and humanitarian
aid from Congress for Nicaragua's
anti-Sandinista rebels.
"You can't fight attack helicopters
piloted by Cubans with Band-Aids
and mosquito nets,' Mr. Reagan told
GOP congressional leaders at an
hour-long White House meeting.
Resistance leaders and Western
military observers have said in re-
cent months that among the rebel's
top military needs are weapons to
shoot down Soviet Mi-24 helicopter
gunships used by the Sandinista
army. The gunships, known as "fly-
ing tanks," decimated the resistance
fighters in several key battles last
year.
The president did not rule out the
possibility of a negotiated settle-
ment between the Marxist Sandin-
ista regime and the rebels. But, he
said, "there are many ways in which
a democratic outcome can be
achieved in Nicaragua."
"It could happen at the negotiat-
ing table or by the success of the
ground resistance," he said.
After lengthy haggling with the
White House last year, Congress
granted only $27 million in humani-
tarian assistance to the anti-
Sandinista rebels, also called "Con-
tras." That aid package will expire at
the end of March.
Richard Lugar, chairman of
the Foreign Relations Committee,
and House Minority Leader Robert
Mice declined yesterday to ma e a
firm prediction on the fate on Capitol
Hill of the new Nicaraguan aid pack-
age - $30 million in humanitarian
aid and $70 million in covert, unre-
stricted assistance for the rebel
forces.
But both said that congressional
sentiment for the anti-Sandinista
rebels appears to be building.
Mr. Reagan is expected to inaugu-
rate a high-visibility campaign for
Nicaraguan aid tomorrow, when he
travels to the Caribbean nation of
Grenada.
But administration officials admit
there is little public understanding
of the issue. Mr. Reagan, they say,
will have to make his case in simple,
forthright terms.
The president is expected to argue that
Nicaragua's Sandinista government is indis-
putably linked to Cuba and the Soviet Union,
posing a major threat to Central America and,
ultimately, the United States.
One source said Mr. Reagan essentially
must tell the public that "a communist gov-
ernment has hijacked a country down there
the same way they've hijacked airplanes"
The argument that U.S. aid is needed to
pressure the Sandinistas to fulfill the demo-
cratic promises they made in 1979 "lacks clar-
ity," one source said.
Mr. Reagan said yesterday. "The resistance
has continued to grow and is operating deep
inside Nicaragua," but more aid is needed.
After meeting with the president and bear-
ing ing situation reports from Seretary_ of State.
George P Shultz, Defense Secretary Caspar
Weinberger. CIA Dire tor_Williem_Cuey and
T]-easury Secretary James Baker, Mr. Michel
said the $70 million in proposed aid would be
spent at the resident's discretion and could
be used for "almost anything."
No official would say which government
department would administer the military as-
sistance package, but, as covert aid, it would
normally be handled by the CIA._
"But the bottom line here is you cannot
counter helicopter gunships with pea-
shooters:' said Mr. Michel- Illinois Republi-
can. He indicated the bulk of the aid would be
spent on military needs.
Mr. Lugar, Indiana Republican, said the So-
viets appear to be putting "substantially
more" military equipment into Nicaragua,
and two ports and three airfields are being
built.
"In short, we have to make the decision
whether we're going to have a Soviet base on
this continent or not," Mr. Lugar said. "Essen-
tially, we're going to have one if the Contras
are not successful in reordering the govern-
ment of Nicaragua."
Mr. Lugar said the package is crucial for
the establishment of a democratic govern-
ment in Nicaragua.
"Clearly, without the support of this new
legislation, the Contras would have trouble
bringing the Sandinistas to the negotiating
table," Mr. Lugar said. "And that's the point of
all this, to get negotiations and a new govern-
ment"
White House spokesman Larry Speakes
said there was a massive influx into Nicara-
gua of Soviet and Cuban weaponry and per-
sonnel in December and January. That, plus
the lack of funding for the resistance forces,
"has tied our hands;' he said.
When asked if the United States was out to
overthrow the Sandinista regime, Mr. Speakes
said: "Yes, to be absolutely frank. Our objec-
tive is to stop the communist foothold in the
Western Hemisphere. We have the potential
here for a new Cuba. It doesn't have to be an
overthrow, but we want the Sandinistas to
hear the voice of the democratic opposition"
Mr. Reagan has indicated repeatedly that
he does not plan to let a communist stronghold
develop in Central America while he is pres-
ident.
Mr. Michel said the president would have
to build public understanding to win congres-
sional support for the aid package. He pre-
dicted that the Sandinistas would launch a
"great disinformation campaign" as soon as
the administration made public its new aid
program.
Mr. Speakes said the United States is aware
of a "very sophisticated, carefully drawn plan
by the Sandinista government to influence
Congress against providing additional aid to
the resistance."
"It calls for use of the media and a cam-
paign of disinformation of the success or fail-
ure of the Contra force;' Mr. Speakes said. But
he declined to say how the administration
knows about the disinformation plan to influ-
ence American opinion.
The anti-Sandinista rebels are seeking the
$70 million in proposed military aid for all
types of equipment, particularly small arms,
government sources said yesterday.
The amount roughly correlates to the
amount the rebels said they needed last Au-
gust, one congressional source said. Topping
the list of needed equipment were small arms,
ammunition, trucks, field radios, training and
other items all the way down to shoes, sources
said. ,
Some of the trucks and radio equipment
have been supplied alread% in recent months
under covert ai provided under the Intel-
ligence Authorization Act of 1986, which was
approved late last year. The legislation ex-
tended the types of aid that could be supplied
to the rebels.
Continued
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/01/06: CIA-RDP90-00965R000100450026-7