NICARAGUA/U.S.

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP88-01070R000201360011-6
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 21, 2016
• Document Release Date: September 22, 2008
• Sequence Number: 11
• Publication Date: September 3, 1984
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Approved For Release 2008/09/22 : CIA-RDP88-01070R000201360011-6
NBC NIGHTLY' NEWS
3 September 1984
NICARAGUA/U.S. BROKAW: In Nicaragua tonight, the identity of the three
men killed in the crash of a U.S.-built helicopter remains
a mystery. The chopper was shot down during an attack on
a Nicaraguan training base, and according to Nicaraguan
rebels, two of the three men were American mercenaries who
were not working -for-the -CIA. -- Meanwhile, the rebels
remain on the attack. And as Mike Betcher reports
tonight, the casualty list keeps growing.
BETCHER: The newest, casualty of Nicaragua's three-year
war with American-backed rebels is mourned by his widow.
A small casket containing the body of a child is carried
across a rain-swollen river in Nicaragua's contested
northern frontier. The young man and the child died in a
raid against a Nicaraguan military school, carried out by
CIA-supported anti-Nicaraguan rebels. Rebel leaders say
two Americans fighting with them were killed in the attack
when their helicopter was shot down. The CIA has funded
and advised the rebels in their war against the
Cuban-supported Nicaraguan government, but rebel leaders
say the two Americans killed in the crash were
mercenaries, not CIA agents. Villagers killed in the
attack were hailed as martyrs. When the rebels 'kill
civilians, they leave behind a strong anti-American
feeling in the towns of northern Nicaragua. This time the
villagers say the rebels lost more than a helicopter and
two American crewmen. They say they turned the entire
town against them. The persistent rebel attacks have only
quickened the pace of Nicaragua's military buildup. This
weekend, in ceremonies marking the fifth anniversary of
Nicaragua's Cuban- and Soviet-supplied army, an impressive
parade of Nicaragua's new military might was displayed.
The Nicaraguans have matched U.S.-funded military buildups
in Honduras and El Salvador with an array of tanks,
anti-aircraft guns, heavy artillery pieces and amphibious
vehicles, at a time when continued funding for
anti-Nicaraguan rebels is in doubt. Mike Betcher, NBC
News, Managua, Nicaragua.
Approved For Release 2008/09/22 : CIA-RDP88-01070R000201360011-6