'CONTRAS' STRATEGY: PUSH FOR MANAGUA

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP91-00587R000200740007-4
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: June 25, 2010
• Sequence Number: 7
• Publication Date: August 11, 1986
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/06/29: CIA-RDP91-00587ROO0200740007-4
T
USA TODAY
11 August 1986
`Conhm'
strategy:
Push for
Managua
Richard Whitmire
USA TODAY
TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras
- FUat, say the 'contras."
come guerrilla attacks, then
possibly holding Nicaraguan
territory and finally an assault
on Managua.
With a boost from $100 mil-
lion in U.& aid, that's the shate-
gy the contras - the guerrillas
fighting the Nicaraguan Sandi-
nista government - have
planned for winning their war.
"We will be in Managua by
the end of 1987," predicts
Frank Aran, spokesman for
the Nicaraguan Democratic
Force, the largest of the contra
The immediate contra
needs: small cargo planes, anti-
helicopter rockets and money
to expend their fighting force
from 18,000 to 35,000.
If the war turns In thee fa-
vor and they're able to hold
Nicaraguan territory, then
heavy artillery and anti-tank
weapons will be needed.
No Honduran oftal
in
by the end of 1887" a realistic
goal. The tiny, Il-trained con-
tra force needs far more than
the $100 million before it's a
match for the well-supplied
Sandinista troops, they W&
Aran dairns that half his
18,000 troops are inside Nice.
rsguan territory - a figure
:Maybe i~ soo many.
said
Manuel Gemero, the editor of
the Honduran newspaper
Tiempo.
Many analysts think the con-
ON will a hold territory
and declare ernment, a prov move critics call
the "Bay of Pigs" option.
m rr? ti i
"'They could be resupplied
by sea," said MacMichaeL "It's scenaft
and o ta haty of fraught
with During aborted Cuban
Invasion, former President
John F. Kennedy decided
agalwt sending U.S. troops to
rescue the U.S.-trained-and-
equipped Cuban expatriates,
"Kennedy said no," said
MacMichael, who then waved
his hand in the direction of the
White House.
"But I don't think anyone
would give odds that these guys
would say no."
STAT
STAT
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/06/29: CIA-RDP91-00587ROO0200740007-4