REAGAN REMOVES ENDERS AS HEAD OF LATIN BUREUA AT STATE DEPT.

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000201020038-9
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: January 25, 2012
• Sequence Number: 38
• Publication Date: May 28, 1983
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/01/25: CIA-RDP90-00965R000201020038-9
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'. SHIN C T Q: \ POST
zs rwpY 1963
Reagan Removes Enders H'
Of Latin Burea
By John M.. Goshko and Lt~trC.annon
WWftMFM PostBtaTi-wrsets -
President Reagan yesterdayremoved Thom-
as 0. Enders as assistant secr+etarv of state for It
inter-Amen= affairs, anJacdor at-ref-ected
pptn witi; the ezeartioni~flS. pol
icy' n Cenral Amen cL -*c=,diW o an ad-
tain.ion official' _ ::
R~
Several adman: S Lion .bffc`2 Z-ftsid 'the
change -;,%U lead xo .a.xnugh :policy .in
Central America., .controlled goirectly by the
Wrote house 'rather'thantrough the 'State
Department. .
Enders Xl be -replaced -by 3rangborne A.
onv' Motleti?. a land developer and Repub-
lican Parr stalwart from Alaska?wbo has been
ambassador to Brazil for the lass two years.
7 be officia! who spoke of Reagan'F `unhar-
pme---' a so -rraised Enders' diplomatic abil-
ities. which he said-would t>e putzo proper use
in tus rep. post as ambassador-xoo',pain. But,
in .a sharp implied criticism of the-my Enders
had performed his present duties, he -added,
You don't handle Central American policies
with tea and crumpets on the diplomatic cir-
cuits
Several administration officials :said U.S.
policy In Central America now seems :likely to
increasingly bear the stamp of Reagan's -na-
tional security affairs adviser, -William P.
Clerk.. He is sympathetic to the view, shared
by U.N. Ambassador Jeane 0. Kirkpatrick,
that even tougher measures are -required to
combat leftist guerrillas in El Salvador and to
counter the -influence of Cuba and and the left-
ist Sandinista government of Nicaragua in that
region.
They regarded Enders as favoring a diplomatic
solution to the civil war in El Salvador. Reagan
agrees with Clark and Kirkpatrick that the guer.
rM?s must be defeated militarih, -the officials said.
One official added that Reagan decided to 'put
his own people? into key Central America policy.
making positions even before he made his speech
or, Central America to a joint session of Congress
on April 27.
However, other sources in the administration
cautioned that it -would be incorrect to assume
there -wi l be swift and radical changes in Central
P ericar, policv;-which is under heavy, fire from
liberals in Congress. In particular, these sources
disputed the idea that Enders' departure means
that Clark has -wrested -control of the policy from
Secretary of State-George-P. Shultz
'Shutt who announced-the change yesterday to
-reporters aboard Air Force One en route to The
W hiam.sburg, va., economic summit, -praised
Enders es `a ' great mar," and .said the move was
made because it was time for E "rotation m the
State 'Department, and we 'do Make changes.''
, ne extent of Shulr's involvement in the de-
cision was not cieaV, but one official said that the
secretan? "fully concurred- in the 'it Thissug-
gested that Shur did .not .initiate the -move. But
he -was said -w be pleased -with the elevation of
Motley, who has been giver, almost, universally
high marks as ambassador in Brazil. -
On the surface, Enders' replacement would
seem -w be a relatively unremarkable move,- as his
lob is nominally E second-echelon position in the
governmental hierarchy. Iiowever. it seem-. certain
to star controversy because U.S. involvement in
Central America.is a subiect of emotional national
interest and Enders has been regarded as the
principal architect of U.S. policy in the region.
In the view of many officials Enders' problem
was that he had come to exercise a power over
Central American policy decisions far greater than
is normally granted to assistant secretaries of
state. That was particularly the case after Shultz
took office last summer and found himself forced
to devote most of his time to the Middle East and
other problems.
In the process, Enders became, as one source
put it. "a man caught in the middle. Although he
got on well with Congress, he still was pushing a
policy fiercer opposed by liberals fearful of in-
creasing US. involvement- At the same time, his
efforts -w build -support with the -liberals -trade
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/01/25: CIA-RDP90-00965R000201020038-9