CRANSTON ASSERTS U.S. IS VIOLATING O.A.S. CHARTER BY AIDING REBELS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00552R000201360004-7
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: July 6, 2010
• Sequence Number: 4
• Publication Date: September 16, 1983
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/07/06: CIA-RDP90-00552R000201360004-7
ARTICLE APPEARED NEW YORK TIMES
ON PAGE 4 t 16 September 1983
STAT
Cranston Asserts U.S. Is Violatira
O.A.S. Charter by AldingRebels
By FRANK LYNN
In a broad attack on Reagan Admin-
istration policy in Latin America,
Senator Alan Cranston accused the Ad-
ministration yesterday of violating the
charter of the -Organization of Ameri-
can States by providing funds for the
"covert war" in Nicaragua.
"United States policy toward Nicara-
gua stands in direct contravention of
the Organization of American States
charter, which.prohibits nations from
intervening in the affairs of other
signatories," the California Democrat
told some'75 members of the Council on
Foreign Relations at Pratt House, 58 E.
68th St., in the first of two New York ap-
pearances last evening.. .
The Senator, a Presidential aspirant,
called for,an end to United States fi-
nancing of anti-Sandinista rebels in
Nicaragua, the withdrawal of United
States naval forces from the area and
the curtailment of United States
maneuvers in neighboring Honduras.
After his speech, which was billed by
aides as a major foreign policy ad-
dress, Senator Cranston drove to White
Plains for the third of seven Demo-
cratic Presidential forums/ sponsored
by the New York State Democratic
Committee.
Peace Moves Supported
Calling on the United States to ac-
tively support the peace moves of the
so-called Contadora Group - Venezue-
la, Colombia, Panama and Mexico -
the Senator proposed long-term Ameri-
can actions in addition to the immedi-
ate curtailment of military moves. The
Contadora nations, which the Senator
recently visited, propose negotiations
among Latin American nations, Cuba
and the United States. '
"The Reagan Administration's gun-
boat diplomacy' is frustrating Latin
American peace efforts," the Senator
said.
He proposed that the United States
-help promote economic development
and debt refinancing for Central
.American nations, join with other na-
tions in the area to press for interna-
tionally supervised elections in El Sal-
vador, Nicaragua and Guatemala, and
encourage the Contadora nations to
pursue their dialogue with Cuba.
"We should be prepared to enter into
that dialogue either indirectly through .!
them, or directly if necessary," the
Senator declared. He added that "dip-
lomatic recognition of Cuba, which sets
off such a firestorm of political protest
whene'er it is mentioned in our coun
try, is not the issue here.". }
Nationalism a Potent Force ?
"United States policy must reflect an
appreciation of the basic fact that na-
tionalism is today a far more potent
driving force in Latin American na-
tions than capitalism or Communism,"
the Californian said. "Parading Ameri-
can military macho in the region may
make Ronald Reagan feel good today
but it will do a great deal of harm to our
long-term interests."
Earlier this year, Senator Cranston
sought unsuccessfully to cut off mili-
tary aid to El Salvador unless Congress
certified that El Salvador was ending
human rights violations.
`American marines are already
being shot at and killed in the civil war
in Lebanon," the Senator said last
evening. "Unless hotheads in the Pen-
tagon and the White House are re-
strained, more Americans may soon be
shot at and killed in El Salvador and
Nicaragua."
The Senator said more than $1 billion
had been spent or requested by the
Reagan Administration for "the civil
arms flow from Nicaragua to El Salva-
dor, it should make it before the
O.A.S."
"But," he added, "the available evi-
dence suggests that this alleged arms
flow is an insignif cant trickle."
He accused the Administration of
promoting a policy "that inevitably
leads from cruel, authoritarian dicta-
torships through guerrilla warfare to
Marxist regimes. "
war in .El Salvador."
"What are the results of this enor-
mous infusion of guns and ammuni-
tion?" he asked. "More than 30,000
civilians have been killed in El Salva-
dor, the majority of them by Govern-
ment security forces and assassination
squads armed' th American guns and
bullets."
He said that if the Administration
"has a case that there is a significant
STAT
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/07/06: CIA-RDP90-00552R000201360004-7