ABC WORLD NEWS TONIGHT

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP88-01070R000201150019-1
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 21, 2016
• Document Release Date: December 10, 2008
• Sequence Number: 19
• Publication Date: April 11, 1984
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Approved For Release 2008/12/10: CIA-RDP88-010708000201150019-1
ABC WOiLD P,'~47S T01~IGFT
11 April 195+
CENTRAL AMERICA JENNINGS: Good evening. The Reagan administration has
/U.S: AID been up on Capitol Hill again today trying to explain to
Congress's (sic) satisfaction why the waters around
Nicaragua have been mined without many members of Congress
knowing anything about it. It was the deputy secretary of
State, Kenneth Dam, who had to face the congressional mine
field, and as Charles Gibson reports, both the rhetoric
and the votes were running strong against the White House.
GIBBON: The House Foreign Affairs Committee voted today
32-to-3 for a non-binding resolution to cut off funds for
mining the ports of Nicaragua. House leaders now intend
to rush it onto the floor of the House tomorrow, where an
overwhelming vote against the administration is also
expected. REP. WILLIAM BROOMFIELD (R-Mich.): What is the
rush of getting it through our Congress tomorrow? REP.
DANTE FASCELL (D-Fla.): I think it's important for the
Congress, one way or another to express its opinion on the
matter now.
GIBBON: The same language passed the Senate last night,
8~;-to-12, with even staunch supporters of the president,
like Laxalt of Nevada, voting for it. The resolutions are
non-binding, but their practical effect is that as the
funding for the anticommunist rebels in Nicaragua runs
out, probably by the end of the month, Congress certainly
will not appropriate any more. REP.- HOWP.P,D WOLPE
(D-Mich.): The Senate voted 8~{-to-12 to reject the mining
of the harbors in which the United States is engaged. If
that's not a repudiation of an administration policy on a
bipartisan basis, I don't know xhat is? REP. GERP.Y STUDDS
(D-Mass.): What the hell are you doing? What are you
doing with and to our country?
GIESON: Deputy Secretary of State Kenneth Dam was taking
that congressional heat today. Realizing Congress will no
longer fund the Nicaraguan guerrillas, the administration
is now just trying to save funds for the government of E1
Salvador. Without such funds, says Dam... KENNETH DAM
(Deputy Secretary of State): It would be just a~question
of time before, uh, democracy in, in E1 Salvador goes down
the drain. Um, not everyone's happy about the situation
in, political situation in E1 Salvador,. but believe me, it
can be a lot worse.
GIBSOI~T: But things couldn't be much worse for the
administration here on Capitol Hill on the subject of
Central America. Some ,House Democrats are asking the
attorney general now whether a special. prosecutor.
Continue
Approved For Release 2008/12/10: CIA-RDP88-010708000201150019-1
 Approved For Release 2008/12/10: CIA-RDP88-010708000201150019-1
shouldn't be appointed to .investigate possible U.S.
violations of international law in Nicaragua. Charles
Gibson, ABC News., Capitol Hill.
NICARAGUA/ JENNINGS: Couple of observations about the mines in
FIGHTING Nicaraguan waters in a minute, but as the debate continues
over funds for covert operations. against Nicaragua, the
administration today leaked new figures reportedly showing
major buildups of troops and equipment in Nicaragua
itself. The Sandinista regime reportedly has about 60
tanks, 10 times any other nation in the region. And
thousands of Cuban workers, says the administration, along
with 200 Soviet advisers, are helping to build at least 13
new Nicaraguan bases.
NICARAGUA/ JENNINGS: Now, a couple of ,observations, as I said, about
MINES the mines in those waters. American shipping companies
who travel to and from Nicaraguan ports say the mines
appear to be low-level explosives designed to harass
rather than destroy. The shipping companies say they
continue to operate in Nicaraguan waters despite the
threat. As ABC's John Quinones reports, not all ship
owners are so relaxed, and neither are the Nicaraguans.
QUINONES: The government of Nicaragua wasted no time in
presenting its case to~the international press by giving
reporters a 'tour of the mined harbor of Port Corinto.
Military officials today charged the explosives were
planted in these waters at nigh t. by CIA-trained
Cuban-Americans and other Hispanic commandos on board
armed speedboats. The commander-in-chief of Nicaragua's
navy charged that the mining operation was directed from a
CIA freighter called the Gallery, 35 miles off the
Nicaraguan coast. Nicaragua's minister of commerce then
talked about the damage to the economy. At least seven
shops have refused to enter the mined harbor, he said,
including an English freighter headed to Nicaragua with
1,000 tons of milk. The mining of the harbor, he said,
has had the effect of a blockade. The underwater sabotage
has also hit hard at ?~icaraguan exports. Thirty percent
of the country's shipments, including thousands of bales.
of cotton, are still sitting on the docks of Port Corinto.
The shippers are too afraid to venture out past the mines.
Although there have been reports that the alleged CIA
operation has been suspended, ?dicaraguan officials say
they plan to continue asking foreign countries for
technical assistance to remove the mines and for military
aid to defend their harbors, if necessary. John Quinones,
ABC News, Port Corinto, Nicaragua.
Approved For Release 2008/12/10: CIA-RDP88-010708000201150019-1