PRESIDENT AGREES TO SPECIAL ENVOY FOR EL SALVADOR

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00552R000201580005-2
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 9, 2010
• Sequence Number: 5
• Publication Date: April 26, 1983
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/08/09: CIA-RDP90-00552R000201580005-2
1kASH1NGTON POST
OltiFL 26 APPTL 1983
President AgreeS,
To special Envo
:
For El Salvador
By Patrick E. Tyler
and George C. Wilson
''?ashington Pest Stair Writers
The Reagan administration has
agreed to ' appoint an ambassador-
level special envoy to El Salvador to
help arrange elections this year in
which warring political factions in-
side and outside the government can
safely participate, according to ad-
minist_ation and congressional
sources.
They said the commitment is con-
tained in a draft letter from Secre-
tary of State George P. Shultz to
Rep. Clarence D. Long (D-Md.);
chairman of the powerful House Ap-
propriations subcommittee on for-
eign operations. The subcommittee
has been holding up President Rea-
gan' revue=t to transfer $60 million
in En:er_encv military aid for the
government of El Salvador in its
civil v...- leftist guerrillas.
a commitment for the
negotiator in tike draft letter" from
Shultz. one congressional source
said. .nother source said the letter,
which pr omises "a senior presidential
envo% of ambassador level," will be
livered to-the subcommittee today
n the ct.:td tion that Long introduce
a suece: fui motion to approve hall'
of the transfer request, or $30 nail-.
lion.
The ,:__reement with Long comes
during a crucial week for the pres-
ident's Central American policy.
which he will defend Wednesday
night in, a nationally televised speech
before a ioint session of Congress.
His p:: f, rmance may well affect
key committees that
are considering cuts in his requests
for military aid to El Salvador and
f:rr-her t : tinr.~ on CIA support
inst the
t.. Nica-
House Speaker Thomas P. (Tip) It immediately ran into trouble in
O'Neill Jr. (D-Mass.) yesterday
asked the networks to televise a
Democratic response after Reagan's
speech. A spokesman for O'Neill said
the networks expressed interest.
In another sign of the formidable
opposition the president still faces in
Congress, Senate Minority Leader
Robert C. Byrd (D-W.Va.) predicted
yesterday that the Senate would re-
ject Reagan's pleas for substantially
increased military and economic aid
to El Salvador.
"The administration is traveling
down the wrong road," Byrd told a
group of reporters, by seeking a gov-
ernment military victory rather than
a negotiated settlement between
combatants in El Salvador. The
United States "ought to be trying to
bring about a dialogue" between the
Salvadoran government and the
guerrillas to obtain "a political solu-
tion." he said.
Reagan upped the ante in Central
America in mid-March after pessi-
mistic assessments from key mem-
bers of his administration. including
U.N. Ambassador Jeane .1. Kirkpa-
trick.
They told the president that the
Salvadoran military was losing
ground in its struggle against leftist
insurgents who the administration
says are receiving significant assist-
ance from the Cuban-backed govern-
ment of Nicaragua.
Reagan asked Congress for $110
million in additional military aid for.
El Salvador this fiscal year and an-
one Senate committee and was bot-
tled up in Long's subcommittee in
the House while he bargained with
administration officials for commit-
ments to appoint a special envoy to
help arrange all-party elections in,El
Salvador, to have a legal expert re-
view FBI investigative files on mur-
ders of U .S. citizens there and to
seek judicial reforms from the Sal-
vadoran government.
Besides winning concessions from
the administration in the draft letter
from Shultz, Long elicited commit-
yesterday from Salvadoran
ments
President Alvaro Magana to release
political prisoners and open jails to
spot inspections by human rights
organizations.
The agreement with Long was
confirmed by an administration of-
ficial who sought to play down ear-
lier reports that Reagan would ap-
point. "a grandiose .type negotiator
envisioned by those who want a
power-sharing role in the region."
Long has said he wanted someone
of the stature of Philip C. Habib,
special envoy to the Middle East, or
Sol Linowitz, who undertook a
similar job for President Carter.
A congressional source said Long
will settle for an ambassador-rank
Latin American expert "who would
have the trust of the liberal mem-
bers of Congress." Several career dip-
lomats with expertise in the region,
incltufin several former ambassa-
`
other 885 million in fiscal 1984, g
fl], dors to Latin American countries,
which begins Oct. 1. The $110 mil-
are being discussed.
l
on to
lion request included 860 mi
be transferred from other foreign aid
accounts.
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/08/09: CIA-RDP90-00552R000201580005-2