REAGAN STAFF TO TEST MOOD IN CONGRESS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000201470007-4
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: January 20, 2012
• Sequence Number: 7
• Publication Date: January 6, 1986
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

ST"T
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/01/20: CIA-RDP90-00965R000201470007-4
ARTICLE PP CHICAGO TRIBUNE
ON P A G L L P a r f Z_ ..- in
00
Reagan staff
to test mood
in Congress
tial lobbying blitz would be a major
political blow for Reagan and could
heighten the perception that he is a lame-
duck President.
Congress cut off covert U.S. military
aid to the contras last year but later
agreed to provide $27 million in so-called
"humanitarian" assistance for nonlethal
supplies after Nicaraguan President Dan-
iel Ortega traveled to Moscow to request
Soviet military aid.
fear that a defeat in Congress on the sionN a *ectiona.
contra aid after a high-profile presiden-n aides acknowledge that
anuary ou
"The answer to Central America's In particular, Reagan can be
problems is political and economic free- expected to publicly' criticize the
dom, not Soviet tanks and ruthless re- Sandinistas' recent closing of
gimes like the communistic dictatorship Radio Catolica, the official Roman
in Nicaragua that wages war with its own Catholic Church radio station in
people ' he said. "And this is why Nicaragua, the officials said.
the United Staft win cond= to
support those fs for hvedom
am democracy
Among the wo aides pr
ior
out about -~ -"--
Managua's warm ex-
pression of "revolutionary solidar?
ity" with the Palestine Liberation
Organization on the occasion of the
PLO's 21st anniversary last week.
Coinciding with the recent wave
of Palestinian terrorism in Europe
and the Middle East, the Sandinis,
tas' public embrace of the PLO is
seen by administration officials as
another example of Managua's
poor sense of political timing.
"In some ways, the Sandinistas
themselves are the best thing
we've got going for us," said one
Reagan aide. "We're confident we
can always count on them doing
something that will help us out."
d
By George de Lama la -
Chicago Tribune a fk" ~ House corn ti f a
WASHINGTON-President Reagan is director Patrick B, nation-
being urged by top aides to step up his al ty adviser John Poindeo-
public attacks against Nicaragua's leftist ter, Secretary of State
Sandinista government and launch an all- Shultz. for Wi am
out campaign to renew military aid for CA 8111W Assistant Secretary of
Nicaraguan rebels, administration ate Elliot Abrams, the sources
sources said. said.
Reagan is considering requesting $40 White House chid of staff Don.
million in military aid this year for the AM ROW, however, and other
contras, as the rebels are known, and has dOmsstk Political advisers are ur
ordered senior advisers to "test the Sing cconcerned that Do-
waters" in Congress before going ahead, mcrab in Congress might try to
the sources said. make the contra aid a campaign
Some White House officials, however, tsars during this year's congres.
The "humanitarian" assistance is
scheduled to run out March 31, forcing
Reagan to decide during the next two or
three weeks whether he will renew the
request for nonlethal aid or seek a re-
sumption of direct military assistance.
"I'm confident the President is going to
go for the military aid," said one senior
administration official, speaking on the
condition he not be identified. "It all
depends on how we see the mood in
Congress. So far, we think the chances
for approval look good."
Even if Reagan decides to forgo
seeking military aid and instead simply
requests additional "humanitarian" fund-
ing for the contras,. he.will . asp. for $.36
million, a 33 percent increase from 'Last
year, officials said.
Reagan stepped up his anti-Sandinista
rhetoric over the weekend, using his
weekly radio address Saturday to de-
scribe the Managua regime as "a com-
munistic dictatorship that wages war
oft-expressed, vow to continue seeking ...aa~suou"LW" W{u
try to use the s' recent
U.S. financial support for the contras actions in its new lobbying to overthrow the Sandinista gov bid.
ernment.
lukewarm to the idea of resuming
military aid to the contras, par-
ttcularly after news reports that
some of the rebels were being
ted by officials of the U.S.
for alleged cocaine tiACtuan
ftking.
'Reagan's trip to Mexicali, Mexicof meetings
inwith Mexican President Miguel de
is Madrid, senior administration
officials denied those news reports
and asserted there was no evi-
dence of contra involvement in
drug trafficking.
"Them in not and never has been
an investigation:' said one official.
Some congressional critics of ad-
ministration policy are likely to try
to link approval of any contra aid
to an administration pledge to re-
sume
tions with the San-
dinista&
The administration cut off direct
talks with the Sandinistas last Jan-
uary, insisting that bilateral dis-
cussions would not resume until
the Nicaraguan government
opened a dialogue with the contras
and instituted other reforms. The
Sandinistas have so far refused.
Some senior administration ofl-
cials, mindful of the way congres-
sional Democrats changed their
minds last year about aiding the
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/01/20: CIA-RDP90-00965R000201470007-4