U.S. APPROVES COVERT PLAN IN NICARAGUA

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP91-00561R000100040061-0
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: February 23, 2012
• Sequence Number: 61
• Publication Date: March 10, 1982
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Declassified in Part -Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/02/27: CIA-RDP91-00561 R000100040061-0
c _ _ ?P . ARED
U.S. Approves-
Covert Plan
In Nicaragua
By Patrick E. Tyler
and Bob Woodward
Washington Post Staff Writers '- `
President Reagan has authorized
covert operations against the Central
American nation of Nicaragua,
which, administration officials have
charged, is serving as the military
command center and supply line to
guerrillas in El Salvador.
According to informed adminis-
tration officials, the president has
ruled out the use of U.S. military,
forces in direct anti-Nicaraguan op-
erations. But the authorized, covert
plan directs the CIA to begin to
build and fund a paramilitary force
of up to 500 Latin Americans, who
are to operate out of commando
camps spread along the Nicaraguan-
Honduran border
The officials stressed that it- will
take months for the paramilitary
force to be recruited, trained and
positioned to begin operations.. They-
did not say precisely when. the cross
border operations, are, scheduled to
begin.
As part of this plan, the comman -.
dos eventually would attempt to de-
stroy vital Nicaraguan targets, such
as power plants and bridges, in an
effort to disrupt the economy and
divert the, attention and the ` re
sources of the govemment -i CIAO-
strategists believe these covert-op-
erations inside.: Nicaragua will ' slow-
the flow of arms to-.El Salvador,and_
disrupt what they claim is a Soviet
and Cuban-controlled government in.
Nicaragua. ~
Operating under a- ?$19 million
CIA budget, the- planned 500=man '
force could be increased in siz if
necessary, officials said. The, CIA
force would be supplemented by an=y
other Latin - American commando
force of up to 1,000, men-some-.of.
whom currently . -are undergoing
training by Argentine militaryoffi-
cials...
THE WASHINGTON POST
10 March 1982
This is the plan for CIA covert
operations first reported in The i
Washington Post on Feb. 14 as part;
of the Reagan administration's strat-
egy in the region. At the time, it;
could not been determined whether
the president had authorized the:
.CIA's plan to build a paramili
force against Nicaragua.
Several informed sources new say'
that the president did formally au-
thorize the proposal, but the precise
timing of his authorization could not
be determined. It may have occurred
late. last year.
The covert action proposal was
developed by the CIA and.. first
presented in detail to President Rea-
gan by CIA Director William J.
Casey at the Nov. 16 meeting of the
National Security Council. It was'
supported by Secretary of State Al-1
exander M. Haig Jr. and Defense
Secretary Caspar W. Weinberger, ac-
cording to knowledgeable officials.
Administration officials familiar
with the CIA covert- program
stressed that the decision to focus on
economic targets was based on a de=
sire to- disrupt the Nicaraguan. arms
supply line to El Salvador in a man-
ner that is relatively inexpensive and,
least threatening to the civilian pop
ulation.
"If you blow up a dam, you cause)
a lotof trouble, but you're not kil-
ling people," one high-level official
said.
In his Feb. 18 press conference,,
-Reagan was asked if ~:the?- United
-States- was planning- covert- opera
tions in Nicaragua, .but he declined]
to comment.
- Nicaragua - currently. is ru led byl
the Sandinista National Lil:eratiofi
Front, whose guerrilla. forces over-
threw the-.government of dictator
Anastasia Somoza in July 19r,'9_4
'?: Honduras has a close mili'rary re=-
7ationship :with the United States;.
.and Honduran officials-fear that the
.political upheaval in El Salvador and .1
Nicaragua will spill into-their coun
try. As a. separate' part o? the U.S
strategy in the region,.. the U.S. mil `
itary currently is engaged?in two op.1
erations in neighboring .Honduras t
indirectly : support anticNicaraguan
efforts, .informed ;administration of=
:;finials said.. t. - Y
Accor
NSC records,
al in Novemt
and conduct
military ope
-Cuban preset
vista support
and elsewher-
The CIA, in,
thorization fc
military force
program shoe
-that funding
force describ;
Covert opt
proposal,- ac
records, are i
s 'Build p
tral America
opposition front that: woutu uc itv-
tionalistic, anti-Cuban and anti-
Somoza.'
"Support.- the opposition. front
through. formation and .training of
action. teams to collect intelligence
and engage in paramilitary and po-'
litical operations in Nicaragua and
elsewhere. :4-
"Work primarily through non-+
Americans" to achieve these covert
objectives, but in some cases the CIA
might "take unilateral. pararnilitaryi
action-possibly using U.S. person-
nel-against special Cuban targets."
After the initial presentation, the)
CIA proposal was turned over to- the!
national security planning group, a
subcommittee of the NSC, as a draft
"presidential finding,". which states
the need for specific covert opera-1
tions. Under national security stat-
utes, no funds can be expended for-
covert: actions "until the president
finds that each such operation is im-
portant to the national, security of
the United States."
Senior U.S. defense and intelli-
gence officials ; have said in. recent
weeks that without a slowdown in !
the arm:; supply. to El Salvador by
air, land and sea routes from Nica--
ragua, the . position of,, government
forces in the-war-torn country could
deteriorate rapidly, potentially
prompting an escalation of Salvador
an requests for U.S. military assist-
ance. Such requests arelikely, to run
into strong congressional and public
resistance:~.,r,
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/02/27: CIA-RDP91-00561 R000100040061-O