A D'AUBUISSON LINK TO PLOT UNCERTAIN

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00552R000706940005-2
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 27, 2010
• Sequence Number: 5
• Publication Date: June 24, 1984
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

P
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/08/27: CIA-RDP90-00552R000706940005-2
ARTICLE APPEARED NEW YORK TIMES
ON PAGE -24 June 1984
A D'AUUISSON LINK
TO PLOT UNCERTAIN
C.I.A. Receiving Reportp
Officiais hgre~aid that thti~CIIllgl
Intelli ence en in El Salvador ha
been ~eceivini a Mestnetaia0l pw_pf ?nfnr-
,mtion about bya both le -wing and right-wing
gronpgs In early May, the reports inten-
sified and included details of an effort
to kill Mr. Pickering
.
.U.S. Aides Say Plan to Murder An authoritative source said that it
was "all the same crowd" as Mr. d'Au-
the Envoy Did Not Directly buisson.
The plot -against Mr. Pickering was
Involve the Salvadoran said to have been foiled when Gen. Ver-
non A. Walters, the Administration's
special envoy, was sent to El Salvador
to warn right-wing leaders against any
By LESLIE H. GELB attack.
sP.dal wtbe tae.e rat rims An Administration official in Wash-
WASHINGTON, June 23 - Adminis- won and two sources in El Salvador
tration officials with access to intelli-
gence data from El Salvador said today
that top right-wing leaders were not di-
rectly involved in a plot to kill the
United States Ambassador there.
The officials said, however, that the
plotters were known to be associates of
Roberto d'Aubuisson, leader of the Na-
tional Republican Alliance, known as
Arena.
They said the intelligence reports did
not establish direct presence in the plot
d'Aubulsson was among a small group
of Arena members who were said to
have planned to kill Mr. Pickering.
General Walters was said to have
told them that they would "regret," as
one official put it, any mishap to the
United States Ambassador or any other
American.
The officials denied that General
Walters offered Mr. d'Aubuisson a visa
to the United States in return for his
to kill Ambassador Thomas R. Picker- help. They stated that Mr. d'Aubulis-
ing by Mr. d'Aubuisson. son had been given and denied visas in
According to sources who saw the in- the past, and that they simply ran out
telligence reports, however, senior Ad- of reasons for further denials after the
ministration officials acted on the as- Salvadoran elections.
sumption that whether or not Mr. Mr. d'Aubuissson has since been in
D'Aubuisson was directly involved, he the United States for two or three days
would have influence with the plotters and returned to El Salvador, one offi-
and be in a position to stop them. cial said today. There were other re-
[According to an official in El Sal- ports that Mr. d'Aubuisson had gone
vador who has proved to have reli- today from El Salvador to the United
States
.
able knowledge of the plan to kill the
Ambassador, United States intelli- According to a source in El Salvador,
gence sources received at least two a letter from Senator Jesse Helms, Re-
reports last month providing details publican of North Carolina, regarding
of the plot by members of Arena. the role of Mr. Pickering in the Salva-
[Mr. d'Aubuisson was among those doran elections did not help the Ambas-
with knowledge of the plot, the offi- sador's already difficult position in
cial said.The reports convinced that country:
United States officials here and in
Washington that the plan to assassi-
nate Mr. Pickering was well-ad-
vanced, the official said.]
At the time of the Salvadoran presi-
dential elections in early May, Senator
Helms wrote a letter to President Rea-
gan, which be then made public in El
Salvador, in which he accused Mr.
Pickering of siding with the eventual
winner, Jose Napoleon Duarte, and of
using his influence "to strangle liberty
in the night." He demanded Mr. Pick-
ering's recall.
After the letter and after Senator
Helms also publicly accused the Cen-
tral Intelligence Agency of buying
votes for Mr. Duarte, White House offi-
cials said that the Senator met with
President Reagan and apologized for
any problems he may have caused and
offered to do what be could to help in
Salvador. An aide to Senator Helms
today denied any apology was offered.
Senator Helms, in an interview Fri-
day, called statements that he might
have fueled feelings against Mr. Pick-
ering in El Salvador "ridiculous."
Senator Helms also rejected reports
that Mr. Reagan had reprimanded him
about his remarks against Mr. Picker-
ing and White House officials said
today that there had been no such re-
buke. The officials said that Senator
Helms offered to help bring about a
reconciliation between Mr. Duarte, the
Christian Democrat, and Roberto
D'Aubuisson, the conservative candi-
date favored by Mr. Helms, and that he
had been helpful subsequently in trying
to do this.
Senator Helms also rejected reports
that Mr. Reagan had reprimanded him
about his remarks on Mr. Pickering,
and White House officials said today
there had been no such rebuke. The of-
ficials said Senator Helms offered to
help bring about a reconciliation be-
tween Mr. Duarte, the Christian Demo-
crat, and Mr. d'Aubuisson, the Arena
candidate who was favored by Mr.
Helms, and that be had been helpful
subsequently in trying to do this.
Asked Friday about a possible con-
nection between his statements and the
plot, Senator Helms said: "That's a
ridiculous statement. I'd have to be a
mind reader. How can I know what
d'Aubuisson is thinking? If you have
evidence, you ought of present it
through people who have the courage
and integrity to be quoted by name."
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/08/27: CIA-RDP90-00552R000706940005-2