'CONTRAS' STRATEGY: PUSH FOR MANAGUA

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000807360001-0
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: January 11, 2012
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: August 11, 1986
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Declassified in Part -Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/01/11 :CIA-RDP90-009658000807360001-0
~_,`b USA TODAY
(~'~'~" 1 1 August
`~,ODti"dS'
Sh'atCgy:
Push for
Managua
19 8 6
Richard Whitmire
SA TODAY
TEGUQGAI.PA, Honduras
- Fir9t, say the "contras,"
come guerrilla attacks, then
possibly holding Nicaraguan
territory and nnauy an assault
on Managua.
With a boast fmm 1100 mil-
lion in US. aid, that's the strate?
gy the contra4 -the guerrlllas
ilghting the Nicaraguan Sandi-
nista government -have
planned for winning theU war.
"We wW be in Managua by
the end of 1987," predicts
Frank Anqua, spokesman for
the Nicaraguan Democratic
Force, the largest of the contra
groups.
The immediate contra
needs: small cargo planes, antl-
helicopter rockets and money
to expand their >fghting force
from 18,000 to 35,000.
U the war turns In theL? fa-
vor and they're able to hold
Nicaraguan territory, then
heavy artillery and antHatrk
weapoas wW be needed.
No U.S. or Honduran o>ndal
interviewed found "Managua
by the end of 1887" a realistlc
goal. The any, W~rained con-
tra forcx needs far more than
the 1100 mWion before it's a
match for the well~rrpplled
SandiNst$ troops, they sold.
Annna claims that half hb
18,000 troops are hide Nica-
raguan territory - a 11Sgure
scoffed at by many.
'Maybe 1,500 at mast," said
Manuel Gamero, the editor of
the Honduran newspaper
Tiempo.
Many analyst thWk the con-
tras wW try to hold territory
and declare a provL~tonal gov
ernment, a move crltlcs call
the "Bay of pigs" optlon.
The logical beachhead
HPQIIffi 1]nyiri MA~MInhAwl~ A
former C[w anaty~
"They could be resupplied
by sea," said MscMichaeL "It's
simply a Bay of Pigs soenarto,
and for that reason it's fraught
with danger."
During the aborted Cuban
invasion, former President
John F. Kennedy decided
agalrist sending US. troops t0
rescue the U.S.-tralned~and-
~IWPPed Clrban expatriates
"Kennedy said no," said
MacMichael, who then waved
his hand in the directlon of the
White House.
But I don't think anyone
would give odds that these guys
would say no."
Declassified in Part -Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/01/11 :CIA-RDP90-009658000807360001-0