NEW ANTI-SANDINISTA UNIT FORMING ON SOUTH BORDER

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000403790055-2
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: February 27, 2012
• Sequence Number: 55
• Publication Date: August 25, 1985
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/02/28: CIA-RDP90-00965R000403790055-2
ARTICLE APPEARED NEW YORK TIMES
ON PAGE 25 August 1985
New Anti-Sandinista Unit Forming on
South Border
By JAMBS IwMOYNE
Spscul to TM Nuw Ywb 1S
SAN JOSE, Costa Rica, Aug. ail - A
arm a new rawmnand-CAv-
ernment on me CUM y Rican
from 40
estimated t t of the re ,
on, is part
United Nicaraguan Opposition, kw-
as UNO. The rebel unit is being organ
ized in a renewed effoi to open a two.
fron ists Gov-
ernment, war against the Sandin
ernment, according to a senior United
Nicaraguan opposition official.
The oMcial said the plan was to in-
crease the size of the new rebel unit
sharply in the year ahead, with the
backing of the Nicaraguan Democratic
Force in?Handura$. But it is not clear
how much the .rebels can grow, given
the neutralist stance of costa Rica,
which has been less hospitable to rebel
forces than Honduras has. The new
guerrilla unit calls itself the United
Nicaraguan Opposition - Nicaraguan
Revolutionary Armed Forces.
Coalition Backed by U.S.
Weepers Shipments Repined
Reagan Administration officials said
recently that a member of the National.
Security council, identified as U.
Col. Oliver L. North, had been advlsh
officials aware of the new
NiRebela
unit's development say the goorrilles
in Costa Rica have been gig money
and planeloads of G3 aviomstic rifles
and other weapons for the last month.
A reporter was with two rebiY be.
longing to the new hat weal as
border townmmooit WI1S NBlltflMe
airdrop of weapons. Two other rebel e!-
facials confirmed the airdrop
The creation of the new rebel
appeal to fulfill looPtandini sMla
the Reagan Administrati n, wd"bah
str~tg~led for three yeas to promote at?
united Nicaraguan rebel movameet
that is able to stage coordinated at-
tacks from the borders of HondutY
and Costa Rica.
Divisions Among BseMls
But deep divisions remain among the
diverse groups making up the armed
rebel movement, and a political strag-
gle appears to be under way in Costa
Rica as the United MC I= tries to bring~ rebel
groups under its command.
Personal and political differences b-
tween Nicaraguan rebel exile leaders
may make it dfflcult for the UNO to at-
tract and maintain an army.
For the last three years, the main
rebel group operating from the border
has been the Democratic Revolution-
ary Alliance, led by Mr. l;aatora. But
Mr. Pastora has refused to al a him-
ce charalna Merit i wd by az
on
The United Nicaraguan Opposition
was formed this year with States backing. It is a coalition di-
rected by three exiled leaden, Arturo
Cruz, Alfonso Robelo and Adolfo Cale.
to. The dominant presence in the UNO,
however, is the Nicaraguan Demo-
cratic Force, which Mr. ero heads.
Eden Pastors Gdmez, the leader of a
guerrilla group that appears on the
brink of military collapse, has refused
to join the new coalition.
ccials
Several rebels and rebel of ls
said the new guerrilla unit aided by an American rancher who
owns extensive farmland along the bor-
der. One former guerrilla said the
rancher handled large sums of money
and had told him be was supporting the
rebels with the help of the National Se-
curity Council in Washington. ,
In an interview, the rancher, John
Hull, vehemently denied the rebels' as-
sertions.
treme rUibZ-_w1n am
army of omoea y
i aloes of V.S. Bach
There are several indications of offl-
ciaI and unofficial United States back-
ing for the United Nicaraguan Opposi-
tion and its new rebel unit on the Costa
Rican border. Mr. Robelo said Amer-
ican officials had told him that the
UNO would handle all of the $27 million
in nonlethal aid that the United States
Congress bas to send to Nica-
raguan rebels. Noes of the money will
to to Mr. Pastore, according to Mr.
Robelo and Administration officials.
the money
n arriving next week.
'
UNO official said Mr.
rue
o car out t
W
to
aocarei0s best.
ram-ago to cut on au au a.
acc0 to er-
affl,
Opposition said they would ignore Mr.
Pastors if necessary and use their
ample resources to try to recruit the
some 1,000 rebels in Mr. Erato l
army into their group
two of Mr. Pastora_'s close aides, some
of Mr. Pastora's rebels inside Nicara-
gua are already collaborating with the
Nicaraguan Democratic Force to get
supplies and ammunition.
The men who haalready joined the
of
UNO rebels appear be a to mixture
Pasta
guerrillas formerly loyal _
ra, members of the Nicara De by.
cratic Force and a small t left Fernando Chamorro, who once was
allied with Mr. Pastor's.
Rican GoverimeM for -idin the
rebels on the border said in a ja1house
interview bare that the guerrillas of the
United Nicaraguan opposition were
also being assisted by Mr. Hull, the
American rancher on the border, who
they contended is the main contact in
Costa Rica for the Nicaraguan Demo-
cratic Force. Their account was sup-
ported by three other rebels.
Ties With Police Reported
Mr. Hull denied the accounts, using
strong language. He said that be had
never helped guerrillas and that he did
not understand why anyone would
make such accusations.
Mr. Hull, who is married to a Costa
Rican, has lived in Costa Rica for
several yealzawd
civil defense force. He has close ties to
Costa Rican police officials.
In a two-hour interview, the two pnis-
oners, Steven P. Carr of Naples. Fla.,
and Peter F. Glibbery of Birmingham,
England, said Mr. Hull had arranged
air drops of weapons and stored arms
for the g errilW and had visited them
twice at a camp near the border town of
Los Chiles.
Mr. Glibbery said that he had spent
several days on Mr. Hull's ranch near
the border and that Mr. Hull had told
him be was being supported by "a
friend on the National Security Coun-
cil" in Washington.
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/02/28: CIA-RDP90-00965R000403790055-2