TRAINING OF FOREIGN SUBVERSIVES IN NICARAGUA; PRESENCE IN NICARAGUA OF FOREIGN ADVISORS TO ASSIST IN THE TRAINING OF FOREIGN SUBVERSIVES

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90M00004R000300140043-3
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 4
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: September 1, 2011
• Sequence Number: 43
• Content Type: MISC

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OCA 87-0910
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
Office of Congressional Affairs
W h'
, %J~ as mgton, D.C. 20505
??... d Telephone: [phone]
12 March 1987
TO: Mr. William L. Ball, III
Assistant to the President
for Legislative Affairs
The enclosed unclassified paper
was prepared in response to a question
from Representative Dick Cheney (R., WY)
during a recent Committee hearing on
Nicaragua.
I thought you might find it
interesting.
STAT
Deputy Director for House Affairs
Office of Congressional Affairs
STAT
2.166M 1533 M ".i
EDITIONS
Distribution:
Original - Addressee (w/att)
~.1 - [XA T2cnr p-r ~?
1 - OCA Chrono
1 Chrono
DD/HA/OCA- (12 Mar 1987)
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SUBJECT: Training of Foreign Subversives in Nicaragua;
Presence in Nicaragua of Foreign Advisors to Assist
in the Training of Foreign Subversives.
The following information was provided by a former
Operations Officer in the Directorate of Military Intelligence
(DIM) who deserted in April 1986.
Training of Foreign Subversives in Nicaragua
1. Three organizations within the Sandinista regime work
together in a program of training revolutionaries from other
countries in Nicaragua: The Directorate of International
Relations (DRI) of the Sandinista National Liberation Front Party;
the F-3 Section of the Directorate General of State Security
(DGSE) of the Ministry of Interior; and the Military Intelligence
Directorate (DIM) of the Sandinista Popular Army.
2. The DRI is the key organization involved in bringing both
political and military trainees to Nicaragua. It determines how
many individuals from which groups are to be trained; this
depends on availability of training space and instructors.
Individuals who train in Nicaragua are from revolutionary groups
in Costa Rica, Honduras and El Salvador. (Comment: Source was
not aware of any Guatemalan insurgents trained in Nicaragua.)
Once the DRI has determined how many individuals can be handled,
it informs the respective revolutionary groups, whose
responsibility it is to select the political and military
trainees. Once the trainees have arrived in Nicaragua, the DRI
and the DGSE are the primary liaison organizations for military
trainees. Both the DRI and DGSE are in contact with the trainees
before they are put in contact with Military Counterintelligence
(CIM) and the Seventh Section of the DIM.
3. The CIM handles physical security for the trainees after
they are assigned to a training facility. Each trainee is given
false identification and assigned a pseudonym by a CIM officer,
who picks up and holds the documentation used by the trainees
during their travel. The DIM plans the training agenda, and, if
the arriving trainees cross into Nicaragua by land, places a
reception team on the border to receive them. The DIM and the
DGSE jointly provide the weapons and armament to be used by the
trainees. Weapons and equipment are adapted to meet the needs of
specific activities for which the revolutionaries are being
trained. The F-3 section of the DGSE does the alterations.
Training Facilities in Nicaragua for Foreign Revolutionaries
1. Trainees are usually sent to Montelimar, which can
accommodate up to 2,000 personnel. Occasionally trainees are
assigned to one of a number of Special Assignment Training
Centers (CEPEDE). Trainees who are en route to Cuba are usually
lodged in villas, houses or apartments in the Las Colinas area of
Managua.
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BREAKDOWN OF RESPONSIBILITIES FOR TRAINING OF FOREIGN SUBVERSIVES
IN NICARAGUA
FSLN - Party organization
Directorate of Internatational Relations
(DRI)
Responsible for: Determining the number of foreign subversives
that can be trained in political and military
activities.
Acting along with the DGSE as primary liaison
for military trainees once they are in
Nicaragua.
Ministry of Interior
Directorate General of State Security
(DGSE)
Responsible for: Acting along with the DGSE as primary liaison
for military trainees one they are in
Nicaragua.
Altering weapons and equipment to meet the
needs of the trainees (F-3).
Providing weapons and equipment to be used by
the trainees, jointly with DIM.
Sandinista Popular Army
Military Intelligence Directorate
(DIM)
Responsible for: Planning the training agenda.
Meeting the trainees at the border if they
arrive by land.
Providing weapons and armament to be used by
the trainees, jointly with DGSE.
Sandinista Popular Army
Military Counterintelligence
(CIM)
Responsible for: Providing physical security and false
documentation for the trainees after they are
assigned to a training facility.
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2. For specific terrorism training, trainees receive two
months of basic training in a camp located near Managua. They
then receive advanced training in a variety of activities,
including guerrilla warfare. Guerrilla warfare training, which
takes up to six months to complete, is conducted in a northern
region. The guerrilla warfare course includes, among
other things, training in the use of a variety of weapons and the
use of explosives. One of the long-range goals of this program is
to form a Libyan-sponsored International Revolutionary Army which
would provide protection for all member groups. The DRI, through
the Sandinista National Center for Solidarity with People (CNSP),
is in contact with counterpart groups in Cuba, Vietnam and Iran to
set up such an organization. (Comment: Source also indicated
that a group of 20 Nicaraguan intelligence officers was scheduled
to go to Libya in August 1986 for training, possibly in connection
with this program, but he does not know whether the travel took
place.)
Foreign Advisors in Nicaragua
1. As of early 1986 there were about 30 Cuban advisors and
instructors assigned to the DIM. There were four or five Cuban
instructors on the General Staff at Montelimar. One taught
marksmanship and physical education, one specialized in
marksmanship, and a third taught diving, parachuting and karate.
In 1982, most Sandinista trainees were not favorably disposed
toward the Cuban instructors. This dislike stemmed from the
Cubans' harsh criticism and disparaging personal remarks both in
and out of class. Gradually, however, the Cuban instructors
earned their students' respect because of their knowledge and
unselfish contribution to the Sandinista Revolutionary cause.
2. In early 1985 there were five Vietnamese instructors at
the CEPEDE in Montelimar. They taught courses in reconnaissance,
personal camouflage, silent and hidden advance, enemy search,
military engineering, ambushes/jungle combat, and karate. The
Vietnamese instructors were popular and, more importantly,
respected for their expertise in guerrilla warfare tactics.
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