NICARAGUA GUERRILLAS PONDER CHANCES WITHOUT U.S. HELP

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000403790062-4
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: February 9, 2012
• Sequence Number: 62
• Publication Date: March 18, 1985
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/02/09: CIA-RDP90-00965R000403790062-4
P`F= 1 NE' YORK TIMES
L.h
18 March, 1985
Nicaragua Guerrillas Ponder
Chances Without U. S. Help
By JAMES LeMOYNE
Special to The New Your Times
TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras, March
17 -akt their sprawling mountain head-
quarters on the border between Nicara-
gua and Honduras, Nicaraguan guer-
rilla commanders soberly assessed
their chances of victory last week and
spoke anxiously of the debate on their
future in Washington.
The apparently impregnable mili-
tary,camp; shrouded by dense jungle
and gray rain clouds, is far from Wash-
ington. But the rebels' keen awareness
of the heated debate they have gener-
ated in Congress almost seems to nar-
row the distance between their base
and the American. capital.
Loss of Aid Is Hurting
The border camp is the command
center for the Nicaraguan Democratic
igaders said, the Nicaraguan Demo
cratic Force has grown in four years
from a marauding band numbering a
few hundred into a veteran army. of i
12,000 to 14,000 men whose amuses,
and sabotage have turned much of
northern Nicaragua into a war zone.
But the loss of American aid has
created serious supply problems for
the guerrillas, according to their com-
manders and to Western officials here
,
limiting their. military activity and
raising strong doubts about their pros-
pects. '
Second article of a series on the
Nicaraguan rebels.
'A Terrible Image'
"We have a terrible image there," he
told an unshaven rebel unit that had
just returned from a long combat pa-
trol. "They say we are violators of
human rights, rapists, destroyers of
farms who have hurt the civilian popu-
lation. "
Senior guerrilla leaders said their ob-
jective is now and always has been to
overthrow the Sandinista Government
in Nicaragua. The colloquial Spanish
name by which the rebels are known,
the contras, means counterrevolution-'
aries. Administration officials origi.
nally said the guerrillas'
oal
g
was to
'Our Situation Isn't Good' cut off the supply of arms from Nicara-
"Our situation isn't good," said a 25- gua to leftist rebels in El Salvador.
year-old. commander who uses the But Colonel Bermudez said in an in.
name Mike Lima, a four-year veteran teM !t that his troops were fighting
The Asked If the Sanamtst8 revolu-
I
up received most of the ESO mil- giona guerrilla force. He added that
The gm u2 had produced any positive es
lion the Central Intelligence Agency re- his men needed "guns, boots, every- for the people of Nicaragua, hem lied
portedly spent on the war ntil financ_ thing." "Absolutely not." '
init was ended last June. A C.I.A., Despite such problems, the rebels Such views appear
kesman said declined appeared far better equipped tha to limit the pros. the alzency comment on its activities or on the comparable anti-Government guerrill
pects of a negotiated end to the fight-
.
rebels. forces in El Salvador and Guatemala. -"He who speaks of dialogue with the
The goals of the rebels, the number Unlike those groups, the Nicaraguan Communists speaks of wasting his
of former officers of the Nicaraguan - time," said 'Capt. Armando L6pez,
National Guard in their ranks and re- rebels "appear to enjoy secure supply' I Colonel Bermudez's second in com-
ports of human rights violations have lines to their headquarters base. Their mand' v
become major issues in the debate be- chief problem seems to be maintaining', Offcers'.Past Is Issue,
tween the Administration and Con-
gress on whether to renew aid to the
guerrillas.
President Reagan has called the
rebels freedom fighters who are the
"moral equal of our Founding Fa-
thers."
With the support of advisers from the
C.. Argentina and Honduras and a
handful of Cuban-Americans, rebel
ranged by rebel officials on the condi-
tion that its location not. be revealed..
No other-restrictions were placed on
several reporters' freedom to carry out
interviews or visit the, camp's installs=
tions, which included a firing range,
warehouses, an armory, 'a training
school,,_a ; long-range radio center,, a
map room and a .hospital. Some 4,000
rebels appeared to be is the camp,and
its environs?,` . r. ,: nv,, irty;e,- -jn %.
The top guerrilla military command-
er, COE Enrique Ali-tmudez, had just re=
turned from a visit to Washington and
seemed shaken by the debate he had
heard and its effect on support for the
guerrillas.
Guard officers in the rebel movement
has, become an important issue be-
cause their presence appears to have
limited the rebels' popular support in-
side Nicaragua and obstructed re.
peated efforts to form a united front
with other rebel groups. ,
A former Sandinista leader, Eden
Pastors G6mez, who leads an esti-
mated 2.000 rebels on the Costa Rican
border, has refused for two years to
unite with the Nicaraguan Democratic
Force because he says it is dominated
by National Guard officers who cannot
win popular support in Nicaragua.
Interviews with over 40 rebels indi.
cated that the majority were peasants
from northern Nicaragua angered by
severe rationing and the Sandinistas'
socialist Program. Their morale .
seemed high and the depth of their op.
position to the Sandinistas made it ap. '
pear likely that a bitter war will be
waged in northern Nicaragua for years
to come.
Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/02/09: CIA-RDP90-00965R000403790062-4
 Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/02/09: CIA-RDP90-00965R000403790062-4
?The problems of fear and affliction Although weapons are still arriving with the loss of American financing,
began in 1982 when the Sandinistas in the rebel camp, the supply does not Mr. Calero said his main task now is
came to our village," said a rebel who match the needs of an army that fires raising money and buying supplies.
identified himself only as Culebrina, 33 one million bullets in two or three days Private businessmen in the United
years old, from the department of Ji- of combat, according to Captain Lopez, States and "political sectors" in other
notega. w4o is head of logistics. The leader of countries have given the rebels $5 mil-
But the founders of the Nicaraguan one rebel unit, a commander Dimas, lion in the last nine months, he said.
Democratic Force and its most senior said his men had been waiting five He visited the headquarters camp
commanders are almost all former months for supplies. last week with a retired United States
members of the Nicaraguan National A 72-man rebel unit that marched major general, John K. Singlaub, who
Guard, an army known for its corhe into the camp after a two-month patrol said he was trying to funnel assistance
tion and unswerving loyalty the in Jinotega showed the effect of such to the rebels in his capacity as presi-
Nicaraguan dictator, : Anastasio shortages. The guerrillas' toes stuck dent of the World Anti-Communist
Somoza Debayle, until he was toppled through torn American-made boots. League and the United States Council
by the Sandinista-led insurrection in Without ponchos, the men were soaked for World Freedom, based in Phoenix.
by the constant drizzle. Most were Mr. Calero said a shipment of 40,000
1979. nearly out of bullets. hand grenades being unloaded in the
National Guard officers formed the pearly Rivera, a leader of one fac- nucleus of the Nicaraguan Democratic tion of an estimated 1,000 Miskito In- camp had been bought from a South
Forciwhen it was organized in 1981, dian rebels on Nicaragua's Caribbean American nation that was told they
were going to a country in Africa.
according to Captain Lopez. The group ? coast, and rebels in Mr.- Pastora's The rebels bribed a ship's captain to
was based on the 15th of September Le- Sandino Revolutionary Front said in in- carry the grenades and bought proper
gion, a band of 60 exiled National terviews that their forces were also for the shipment for be-
Guardsmen, he said. He added that 15 critically short of supplies. documentation
i3,0tition and $5,000, he added.
ing founders were still active, dez. Coin
ing himself elf and Colonel Bermudez. Plaints Against Sandinistas Friendly army officers in Central
Besides Mr. Bermudez the heads of The foot soldiers of the Nicaraguan American countries also helped the
1 s tcs rote t ence tions -sDe. I Democratic Force are volunteers be- guerrillas, he said.
cial warfare and tra ggU and several tween the ages of 13 and 30 who fight Reporters saw one box of 40-millime-
all former ZL - without pay, belying Sandinista claims
ke coin at units are
tiona ua men. that they are mercenaries. ter ter of the ammunition Guatemalan marked "ArmQy" Several
ut erebels chief political official, several said in interviews that their boxes of ammunition were eral
Adolfo Calero, was an outspoken oppo- lives had been better under the Somoza other writing and one case
nent of the Somoza regime. Mr. Calera regime. They cited the military draft in ered a "Montreal, Arabic and one
was jailed for organizing A strike of Nicaragua, rationing, state control of was ma with Therk marked rebels under a ."adi-
businessmen against Mr. Somoza in agricultural production and Sandinista tional hierarchioperate
cal military command
1978. political pressure as reasons for their
in 8 regional units divided into at least
"We have been called Reagan's decision to join the guerrillas.
army, a .I. . s arm eve arm The rebel army appears to have no 40 "task forces" of 200 to 1,000 men, ac-
t our Own.? Mr. Calm Salo. trouble attracting recruits. But the cording to Captain Lopez. With 12,000
b? to 14,000 men, the rebel force is larger
fact that we continue to exist and oiler- peasant rebels seem to represent a so- national armies in Central
ate successfully means that we are cially and geographically limited seg- than most
here of out own free will. We are no ment of the Nicaraguan population, America before war enveloped the re-
one's creation.". / ' ^' 4 .. , raising questions-about the breadth of gion in 1979. .
ular support for the guerrillas. Few Rebel commanders said that as
Edgar of the rebels' who was a National leading Direc-m middle-class youths or residents of the many as 1,000 guerrillas had died in
years the guer-
member of the
months until he was forced to resign five populated southern half of Nicaragua four f ur years of fought over fighting and that h times r-
months ago, said'in an* Interview that have joined the rebel ranks. rillas had one of his disagreements with the or. There have been several reports of January
When and February. dwindling supplies
ganization was its reliapce on National human rights violations by the rebels,
Guard officers. including the killing of unarmed civil- might lead the rebels to give up, Cap-
. The
"They lack social sensibility," he tans. Colonel Bermudez dismissed the wtain ar will r pone : "Never even with pn evver and
said. "The Guard wants to take venge- reports in an interview as lots of mis-
ance and settle accounts.'. don't information." shovels."
realize things have changed in Nicara- Reporters met two recently captured. I -
,? Sandinista prisoners who said they had
8 Supplies Fall Sbort of Needs ,,~sbeen well treated. Mr. Calero said the
prisoners, Rufo Adrian Hernandez
The loss of' American su~?rt:ha ~ from the town of Masatepe and Miguel
forced the rebels to begin learning to Angel Romero from Diriamba, would
wage a smaller-scale guerrilla war, be allowed to return home if they
their commanders said. Their chief wanted to. -
problem appears to be a reduced flow But rebel fighters described a more
of supplies rather than a complete cut- ruthless-war in which neither side nor-
off of aid. Lack of supplies and aircraft mally takes prisoners and suicide is
forced rebel units to begin withdrawing preferable to capture. Two rebels, San-
from their deepest bases; inside Nicara- cudo and Devocton, sa4I that guerrillas
gua late last year, according to rebel often killed Sandinista prisoners and
officials. Government officials and that they be-
lieved the Sandinistas would kill them.
In the Field for 5 Months
Rebel units go into the field for up to
five months and their independence
from central command would appear
to make it difficult to control their ac-
tions. The guerrillas appear to be an
exclusively military force with almost
no political direction other than the
goal of overthrowing the Sandinistas..
Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/02/09: CIA-RDP90-00965R000403790062-4