NICARAGUA-EL SALVADOR: POTOSI PROBABLE WATERBORNE INFILTRATION POINT

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP84T00896R000200070001-9
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 11
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: February 23, 2010
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: November 1, 1983
• Content Type: REPORT

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Nicaragua-El Salvador:
Potosi Probable Waterborne
Directorate of Secret
Intelligence
Infiltration Point
Imagery Analysis Report
NGA Review Complete
Secret
IA 83-10127
November 1983
Copy 32
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Nicaragua-El Salvador:
Potosi Probable Waterborne
Infiltration Point
Summary
ment area. We believe it began to function as an infiltration
point for men and materiel to El Salvador in 1981 and has been
The facility, which is located on the 25X1
northern edge of Potosi, was originally a commercial transship-
used for that purpose since then.
25X1
25X1
The facility at Potosi consists of a large, lighted, wooden pier;
two POL tanks; a warehouse; and two nearby groups of buildings
where men and supplies could be housed. It is guarded by a mili-
tary outpost located just outside its main entrance. The infil-
tration of men and supplies to El Salvador appears to be carried
out primarily with large canoes that cross either the Gulf of
Fonseca or the open sea to the Salvadoran coast. 25X1
25X1
However, canoes an other sma craft,
ideally suited for waterborne infiltration operations, have been
observed at the facility. In addition, on several occasions 25X1
Nicaraguan patrol boats have been observed in the Potosi area
under circumstances that suggest they were supporting infiltra-
tion operations.
Analysis. Comments and queries are welcome and may be directed
Information available as of 11 October 1983 was used in this
report. 25X1
The author of this paper is office of Imagery 25X1
to the Chief, Third World Forces Division, OIA,I 2bX1
25X1
Secret
U 83-10127
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Secret
Infiltration of men, arms, and munitions from Nicaragua to the
insurgents in El Salvador continues to be a subject of serious
concern for the Intelligence Community.
This report discusses
25X1
25X11
25X1
25X1 X1
25X1
Nicaragua is being used as an infiltration point to the insur-
gents in El Salvador. 25X1
1) . I 25X1
Potosi is a small village located on the Gulf of Fonseca in
northwest Nicaragua, about 50 kilometers from El Salvador (figure
the Potosi area is being uled to infiltrate men and supplies t
i-hp gn 1 varlnran i nsnraents _
The facility consists of a lighted, wooden pier 25X1
measuring 6 meters by 86 meters; a 25-meter by 40-meter ware-
house; two 28,000-liter horizontal POL tanks; a group of 10
buildings located west of the warehouse; and another rou of
three buildings located east of the warehouse The 25X1
entire facility is fenced and there is a gate or Darr ica a across
the road leading into it. A guard post is located just inside
the gate/barricade and two foxholes are located beside it 25X1
military outpost--the only one identified in Potosi--is 25X1
....
veYOl
outpost h
hi
a the entran
s se
T
s
Potosi-La Union, El Salvador ferry. 125X1
The Potosi facility originally functioned as a terminal for the
small buildings and is ringed with defensive trenching. 25X1
men destined for the guerrillas in El Salvador and has been used
for that purpose since then. 25X1
,25X1
25X1
shipment activity had ceased. We believe that in 1981 the facil-
ity began to function as an infiltration point for supplies and
warehouse and pier
a facility at Potosi in northwestern
at least 13 semitrailers and 25X1
n the facility compound near the
Secret
IA 83-10127
all signs of commercial trans-
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Location of Potosi, Nicaragua
Boundary representation is
not necessarily authoritative.
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Iq
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Secret
The location of the military outpost suggests that its primary
function is to guard the facility. It is positioned just outside
the main entrance to the facility--a location with no tactical
advantage for defending the town of Potosi, other installations,
or road intersections. The outpost was enlarged and its defenses
were expanded significantly between early 1981, shortly after the
facility had ceased to function as a commercial transshipment
area, and December 1982, when we believe it was activel aged
in infiltrating men and materiel to El Salvador. eng 25X1
Although on a few occasions Nicaraguan patrol boats have been
observed anchored several hundred meters offshore of Potosi vil-
lage, the primary activity at the infiltration facility is the
presence of canoes/small boats along the shoreline. These small
craft are ideally suited for waterborne infiltration operations.
Since 1981, we have frequently seen between one and five canoes/
small boats along the beach from 20 to 100 meters north and south
of the pier but still within the confines of the facility. They
have never been tied up at the pier. 25X1
Other than the presence of the canoes/small boats, which are
often partially hidden under the trees along the shore, it
appears that great care has been taken to conceal activity at the
facility--suggesting the facility has a covert function.
No vehicles, 25X
troop formations, or other groups of people have been observed
within the compound over the nearly three-year period. Nor have
any vessels other than canoes/small boats been seen near the
pier. This apparent lack of activity within the compound is not
compatible with a facility having either a commercial/industrial
function or an overt military function such as a patrol boat or
military logistics facility. 25X1
While obvious signs of activity within the facility have been
extremely rare, this does not indicate that the facility is in-
active. In addition to the pile of materials and POL tanks which
appeared in March and August 1982 respectively, we have observed
that paths leading from the warehouse to the two groups of build-
ings and elsewhere within the compound have remained worn and
fresh. a vehicle was observed just outside 25X1
the main entrance gate, awaiting entrance into the facility. 25X1
25X1
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Men and supplies intended for El Salvador would most likely be
delivered overland to Potosi by road from Managua through Leon
and Chinandega (figure 1). An alternate method would be by sea,
in which case men and supplies would arrive at Potosi, be trans-
ferred to canoes/small boats, and be infiltrated into El Sal-
vador. Few vessels larger than canoes have been observed in the
Potosi area. However, on three occasions a Dabur patrol boat was
seen anchored several hundred meters offshore of Potosi village
and about 800 meters southeast of the probable infiltration fa-
cility. Two of the sightings were on consecutive days in early
May 1983 when an unidentified boat, slightly more than half as
long as the Dabur, was anchored immediately astern of the patrol
25X1
25X1
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boat. We do not know what type of activity was under way,
A Dabur patrol boat was sighted for the third time
a large tar draped across the aft deck and a large
alongside he combination of the patrol
canoe, and the tarp a this location indicates that
arms transfer in progress, with the tarp being used
25X1
25X1
25X1
offs ore with
25X1
canoe moored
boat, the
25X1
there was an
to conceal or
protect the materials onboard the. patrol boats While the three
patrol boat sightings suggest that infiltration activities were
under way in the Potosi area, we cannot specifically link the
patrol boats' activities with the Potosi probable infiltration
facility. 25X1'
Canoes probably cross either
the Gulf of Fonseca or the
open sea to the Salvadoran
coast at night. If the wooden
canoes remain close to the
Nicaraguan coast until they
are west of Punta San Jose
they probably would not be
detected by Honduran or Salva-
doran surveillance. Once the
canoes begin crossing the Gulf
of Fonseca near its mouth or
farther west through the open
25X1
sea, they are difficult to
detect at night because of the
1
large waves.
25X1
25
X1
25X1
7 ecre
The boat was anchored several hundred meters
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Document references are available upon request.
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