U.S. INTERESTS IN CENTRAL AMERICA

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP88B00443R000301140033-0
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 5
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 30, 2010
• Sequence Number: 33
• Publication Date: May 9, 1984
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

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U.S. Interests
in Central America
May 9, 1984
United States Department of State
3ureau of Public Affairs
Washington, D.C.
Following is President Reagan's tele-
vised address to the nation, Washington,
D.C., May 9, 1984
My fellow Americans, last week I was in
Beijing and Shanghai-3 weeks from now
I'll be preparing to leave for Dublin, Nor-
mandy, and the annual economic summit
in London.
I'm pleased that our trip to China was
a success. I had long and thoughtful
meetings with the Chinese leadership.
Though our two countries are very dif-
ferent, we are building a strong relation-
ship in a genuine spirit of cooperation;
and that's good for the cause of peace.
This was our second trip to Asia in
ar_ the last 6 months. It demonstrates our
awareness of America's responsibility for
leadership in the Pacific Basin-an area of
tremendous economicvitality. I believe
our relations with our Asian allies and
friends have never been better.
The Fate of Central A.terica
But that isn't what I want to talk to , ou
about. I asked for this time to tell you of
some basic decisions whic..A are yours to
make. I believe it is my constitutional
responsibility to place these matters
before you. They have to do with your na-
tional security, and that security is the
single most important function of the
Federal Government. In that context, it's
my duty to anticipate problems, warn of
dangers, and act so as to keep harm away
from our shores.
Our diplomatic objectives will not be
attained by good will and noble aspira-
tions alone. In the last 1;, years the
growth of Soviet military power has
meant a radical change in the nature of
the world we live in. This does not mean,
as some would have us believe, that
we're in imminent danger of nuclear war.
We're not.
As long as we maintain the strategic
balance and make it more stable by reduc-
ing the level of weapons on both sides,
then we can count on the basic prudence
of the Soviet leaders to avoid that kind of
challenge to us. They are presently
challenging us with a different kind of
weapon: subversion and the use of sur-
rogate forces-Cubans, for example.
We've seen it intensifying during the last
10 years as the Soviet Union and its sur-
rogates moved to establish control over
Vietnam, Laos, Kampuchea, AT,; .:a- . -
Ethiopia, South Yemen, Afgi,snistah, and
recently, closer to home in Nicaragua and
now El Salvado-. It's the fate of this
region, Central America, that I want to
.A k to you about tonight.
The issue is our effort to promote
democracy and economic well-being in the
face of Cuban and Nicaraguan aggression,
aided and abetted by the Soviet Union.
It is definitely not about plans to send
American troops into combat in Central
America. Each year, the Soviet Union
provides Cuba with $4 billion in assist-
ance; and it sends tons of weapons to fo-
ment revolution here in our hemisphere.
The defense policy of the United
States is based on a simple premise: we
do not start wars. We will never be the
aggressor. We maintain our strength in
ordae to deter and defend against aggres-
sion-to preserve freedom and peace. We
help our friends defend themselves.
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Central America is a region of great
importance to the United States. And it
is so close-San Salvador is closer to
Houston, Texas, than Houston is to
Washington, D.C. Central America is
America; it's at our doorstep. And it has
become the stage for a bold attempt by
the Soviet Union, Cuba, and Nicaragua to
install communism by force throughout
the hemisphere.
When half of our shipping tonnage
and imported oil passes through Carib-
bean shipping lanes, and nearly half of all
our foreign trade passes through th?.
Panama Canal and Caribbean waters,
America's economy and well-being are
at stake.
Right now in El Salvador, Cuban-
supported aggression has forced more
than 400,000 men, women, and children to
flee their homes. And in all of Central
America, more than 800,000 have fled,
many, if not most, living in unbelievable
hardship. Concerns about the prospect of
hundreds of thousands of refugees fleeing
communist oppression to seek entry into
our country are well founded.
What we see in El Salvador is an at-
tempt to destabilize the entire region and
eventually move chaos and anarchy
toward the American border.
As the National Bipartisan Commis-
sion on Central America, chaired by
Henry Kissinger, agreed, if we do nothing
or if we continue to provide too little help,
our choice will be a communist Central
America with additional communist
military bases on the mainland of this
hemisphere and communist subversion
spreading southward and northward.
This communist subversion poses the
threat that 100 million people from
Panama to the open border on our south
could come under the contro]^of?':
Soviet regimes. f r "'
If we come to our senses too late,
when our vital interoeL are even more
directly threatened, and after a lack of
America" support causes our friends to
lose the ability to defend themselves, then
the risks to our security and our way of
life will be infinitely greater.
But there is a way to avoid these
risks, recommen, led by the National
Bipartisan Commission on Central
America. It requires long-term American
support for democratic development,
economic and security assistance, and
strong-willed diplomacy.
There have been a number of
high-level bilateral meetings with the
Nicaraguan Government where we've
presented specific proposals for peace. I
have appointed two special ambassadors
who have made more than 10 trips to the
region in pursuit of peace daring the last
year. And Central America's democratic
neighbors-Mexico, Venezuela, Colombia,
and Panama-have launched a compre-
hensive initiative for peace through what
is known as the Contadora process. The
United States fully supports the objec-
tives of that process.
We can and must help Central
America. It's in our national interest to
do so; and, morally, it's the only right
thing to do. But, helping means doing
enough-enough to protect our security
and enough to protect the lives of our
neighbors so that they may live in peace
and democracy without the threat of com-
munist aggression and subversion. This
has been the policy of our Administration
for more than 3 years.
But making this choice requires a
commitment from all of us, our Ad-
ministration, the American people, and
the Congress. So far, we have not yet
made that commitment. We've provided
just enough aid to avoid outright disaster
but not enough to resolve the crisis; so
El Salvador is being left to slowly bleed
to death.
Part of the problem, I suspect, is not
that Central America isn't important, but
that some people think our Administra-
tion may be exaggerating the threat we
face. Well, if that's true, let me put that
issue to rest.
The Real Nature of the
Sandinista Regime
I want to tell you a few things tonight
about the real nature of the Sandinista
regime in Nicaragua.
The Sandinistas who rule Nicaragua
are communists whose relationship and
ties to Fidel Castro of Cuba go back a
quarter of a century. A number of the
Sandinistas were trained in camps sup-
ported by Cuba, the Soviet bloc, a' a the
PLO (Palestine Liberation Organization].
It is important to note that Cuba, the
Sandinistas, the Salvadoran communist
guerrillas, and the PLO have all worked
together for many years. In 1978, the
Sandinistas and elements of the PLO
joined in a "dec:aration of war"
against Israel.
The Cuban-backed Sandinistas made a
major attempt to topple the Somoza
regime in Nicaragua in the fall of 1978.
They failed. They were then called to
Havana, where Castro cynically in-
structed them in the ways of successful
communist insurrection. He told them to
tell the world they were fighting for
political democracy, not communism. But
most important, he instructed them to
form a broad alliance with the genuinely
democratic opposition to the Somoza
regime. Castro explained this would
deceive Western public opinion, confuse
potential critics, and make it difficult for
Western democracies to oppose the
Nicaraguan revolution without causing
great dissent at home.
You see, that's how Castro managed
his revolution. And we have to confess he
fooled a lot of people here in our own
country-or don't you remember when he
was referred to in some of our press as
the George Washington of Cuba?
The Sandinistas listened and learned.
They returned to Nicaragua and prom-
ised to establish democracy. The
Organization of American States (OAS),
on June 23, 1979, passed a resolution
stating that the solution for peace in
Nicaragua required that Somoza step
down and that free elections be held as
soon as possible to establish a truly
democratic government that would
guarantee peace, freedom, and justice.
The Sandinistas then promised the OAS
in writing that they would do these
things. Somoza left, and the Sandinistas
came to power. This was a negotiated set-
tlement based on power sharing between
communists and genuine democrats like
the one some have proposed for El
Salvador today. Because of these prom-
ises, the previous U.S. Administration
and other Western governments tried, in
a hopeful way, to encourage Sandinista
success.
It took some time to realize what was
actually taking place; that almost from
the moment the Sandinistas and their
cadre of 50 Cuban covert advisers took
power in Managua in July of 1979, the in-
ternal repression of democratic groups,
trade unions, and civic groups began.
Right to dissent was denied. Freedom of
the press and freedom of assembly be-
came virtually nonexistent. There was an
outright refusal to hold genuine elections
coupled with the continv promise to do."
so. Their latest prome is for elections by
November 1984. In the meantime, there
has been an attempt to wipe out an entire
culture, the Miskito Indians, thousands of
whom have been slaughtered or herded
into detention camps where they have
been starved and abused. Their villages,
churches, and crops have been burned.
The Sandinistas engaged in anti-
Semitic acts against the Jewish communi-
ty. And they persecuted the Catholic
Church and publicly humiliated individual
priests. When Pope John Paul II visited
Nicaragua last year, tae Sandinistas
organized public demonstrations, hurling
insults at him and his message of peace.
On this last Good Friday, some 100,000
Catholic faithfuls staged a demonstration
of defiance. You may be heari,ig about
that demonstration for the first time right
now. It wasn't widely reported.
Nicaraguan Bishop Pablo Antonio Vega
recently said: "We are living with a
totalitarian ideology that no one wants in
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this country"-this country being
Nicaragua.
The Sandinista rule is a communist
reign of terror. Many of those who fought
alongside the Sandinistas saw their
revolution betrayed; they were denied
power in the new government; some were
imprisoned, others exiled. Thousands who
fought with the Sandinistas have taken
up arms against them and are now called
the contras. They are freedom fighters.
What the Sandinistas have done to
Nicaragua is a tragedy. But we
Americans must understand and come to
grips with the fact that the Sandinistas
are not content to brutalize their own
land. They seek to export their terror to
every other country in the region.
I ask you to listen closely to the
followingquotation: "We have the
brilliant revolutionary example of
Nicaragua.... The struggle in El
Salvador is very advanced. the same in
Guatemala, and Honduras is developing
quickly.... Very soon Central America
will be one revolutionary entity .... "
That statement was made by a
Salvadoran guerrilla leader in March
of 1981.
Shortly after taking power, the San-
dinistas-in partnership with Cuba and
the Soviet Union-began supporting ag-
gression and terrorism against El
Salvador, Honduras, Costa Rica, and
Guatemala. They opened training camps
for guerrillas from El Salvador so they
could return to their country and attack
its government. Those camps still
operate. Nicaragua is still the head-
quarters for communist guerrilla move-
ments. And Nicaraguan agents and
diplomats have been caught in Costa Rica
and Honduras supervising attacks carried
out by commanist,terrorists.
The role OA +a has long per-
formed for tie Soviet Union is now also
being played by the Sandinistas. They
have become Cuba's Cubans. Weapons,
supplies, and funds are shipped from the
Soviet bloc to Cuba, from Cuba to
Nicarag, from Nicaragua to the
Salvadoran guerrillas. These facts were
confirmed last year by the House Intel-
ligence Committee.
The Sandinista regime has been wag-
ing war against its neighbors since
August of 1979. This has included military
raids into Honduras and Costa Rica which
still continne today.
Cuban Presence in Nicaragua
And they're getting a great deal of
help from their friends. There were 165
Cuban personnel in Nicaragua in 1979.
Txday that force has grown to 10,000.
And we're being criticized for having 55
military trainers in El Salvador. Man-
power support is also coming from other
parts of the terror network: the PLO has
sent men, and so has Libya's dictator
Qadhaf. Communist countries are pro-
viding new military assistance, including
tanks, artillery, rocket launchers, and
help in the construction of military bases
and support facilities.
Just last week a Soviet ship began
unloading heavy-duty military trucks in
Nicaragua's Corinto :,arbor. Another
Soviet ship is on its way with more trucks
and 155 Soviet jeeps.
Nicaragua's own military forces h;.ve
grown enormously. Since 1979, their
trained forces have increased from 10,000
t -, over 100,000. Why does Nicaragua
need all this power? Why did this country
of only 28 million people build this large
military force?
They claim the buildup is the result of
the anti-Sandinista forces. That's a lie.
The Sandinista military buildup began 2%
years before the anti-Sandinista freedom
fighters had taken up arms.
They claim the buildup is because
they are threatened by their neighbors.
That, too, is a lie. Nicaragua's next door
neighbor, Costa Rica, doesn't even have
an army. Another neighbor, Honduras,
has armed forces of only 1G,000.
The Sandinistas claim the buildup is
in response to American aggression. And
that is the most cynical lie of all. The
truth is they announced at their first an-
niversary, in July 1980, that their revolu-
tion was going to spread beyond their
own borders.
When the Sandinistas were fighting
the Somoza regime, the U.S. policy was
hands off. We did not attempt to prop up
Somoza. The United States did every-
thing to show its openness toward the
Sandinistas, its friendliness, its will-
ingness to become friends. The Carter
Administration provided more economic
assistance to the Sandinistas in their first
18 months than any other country did.
But in January 1981, having concluded
that the Sandinistas were arming the
Salvadoran guerrillas, the Carter
Administration sent military aid to
El Salvador.
As soon as I took office, we attempted
to show friendship to the Sandinistas and
provided economic aid to Nicaragua. But
it did no good. They kept on exporting
terrorism. The words of their official par-
ty anthem describe us, the United States,
as the enemy of all mankind.
So much for our sincere but unrealis-
tic hopes that if only we'd try harder to
be friends, Nicaragua would flourish in
the glow of our friendship and install
liberty and freedom for their people.
The truth is: they haven't.
Nicaraguan Forces
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Back in 1958, Fidel Castro pledged
that, once his revolution had triumphed,
he would start a much longer and bigger
war-a war against the Americans. That
war, Castro said, "will be my true
destiny." For 26 years, during Republi-
can and Democratic Administrations,
Castro has kept to his own path of revolu-
tionary violence. Today, Cuba even pro-
vides safe passage for drug traffickers
who poison our children. In return, of
course, Cuba gets hard cash to buy more
weapons of war.
We're in the midst of what President
John F. Kennedy called "a long twilight
struggle" to defend freedom in the world.
He understood the problem of Central
America. He understood Castro. And he
understood the long-term goals of the
Soviet Union in this region.
Twenty-three years ago, President
Kennedy warned against the threat of
communist penetration in our hemi-
sphere. He said: "I want it clearly
understood that this government will not
hesitate in meeting its primary obliga-
tions which are to the security of our na-
tion." And the House and Senate sup-
ported him overwhelmingly by passing a
law calling on the United States to pre-
vent Cuba from extending its aggressive
or subversive activities to any part of this
hemisphere. Were John Kennedy alive to-
day, I think he would be appalled by the
gullibility of some who invoke his name.
The Need for U.S. Support
I have told you that Cuba's and Nica-
ragua's present target is El Salvador.
And I want to talk to you about that coun-
try because there is a lot of misunder.
standing about it.
41 Salvador, too, had a revolution
several ems ago, and is now struggling
valiantly to achieve a workable demo-
cracy and, at the same time, to achieve a
stable economic system and to redress
historical injustices. But El Salvador's
yearning for democracy has been
thwarted by Cuban-trained and -arrnd
guerrillas, leading a campaign of violence
against people and destruction of bridges,
roads, power stations, trucks, buses, and
other vital elements of their economy.
Destroying this infrastructure has
brought more unemployment and poverty
to the people of El Salvador.
Some argue that El Salvador has only
political extremes-the violent left and
the violent right-and that we must
choose between them. That's just not
true. Democratic political parties range
from the democratic left, to center, to con-
servative. Trade unions, religious organi-
zations, civic groups, and business
associations are numerous and flourish-
ing. There is a small, violent rightwing as
opposed to democracy as are the guerril-
las, but they are not part of the govern-
ment. We have consistently opposed both
extremes, and so has the Government of
El Salvador. Last December, I sent Vice
President Bush to El Salvador with a per-
sonal letter in which I again made clear
my strong opposition to both violent ex-
tremes. And this had a positive effect.
Land reform is moving forward. Since
March 1980, the program has benefited
more than 880,000 peasants or about a
quarter of the rural population. But many
can't farm their land; they'll be killed by
the guerrillas if they do.
The people of Central America want
democracy and freedom. They want and
hope for a better future. Costa Rica is a
well established and healthy democracy.
Honduras made a peaceful transition to
democracy in 1982. And in Guatemala,
political parties and trade unions are func-
tioning. An election is scheduled for July
there, with a real prospect that that coun-
try can return to full-constitutional
government in 1985.
In fact,.26 of 33 Latin American coun-
tries are democracies or striving to
become democracies. But they're
vulnerable.
By aiding the communist guerrillas in
El Salvador, Nicaragua's unelected
government is trying to overthrow the
duly elected government of a neighboring
country. Like Nicaragua, the Government
of El Salvador was born of revolution, but
unlike Nicaragua it has held three elec-
tions, the most recent a presidential elec-
tion last Sanday. It has made great prog-
ress toward democracy. In this last elec-
tion, 80% of the people of El Salvador
braved communist threats and guerrilla
violence to vote for peace and freedom.
Let me give another example of the
difference between the two countries-El
Salvador and Nicaragua. The Govern-
ment, of El Salvador has offered amnesty
to the guerrillas and asked them to par-
ticipate in the elections and democratic
processes. The guerrillas refused; they
want to shoot their way into power and
establish totalitarian rule.
By contrast, the contras, the freedom
fighters in Nicaragua, have offered to lay
down their weapons and take part in
democratic elections; but there the
communist Sandinista government has
refused.
That's why the United States must
support both the elected Government of
El Salvador and the democratic aspira-
tions of the Nicaraguan people.
If the communists can start war
against the people of El Salvador, then El
Salvador and its friends are surely justi-
fied in defending themselves by blocking
the flow of arms. If the Soviet Union can
aid and abet subversion in our
hemisphere, then the United States has a
legal right and a moral duty to help resist
it. This is not only in our strategic in-
terest; it is morally right. It would be*pro-
foundly immoral to let peace-loving
friends depending on our help be over-
whelmed by brute force if we have any
capacity to prevent it.
If our political process pulls together,
Soviet- and Cuban-supported aggression
can be defeated. On this, the centennial
anniversary of President Harry Truman's
birth, it's fitting to recall his words
spoken to a joint session of the Congress
in a similar situation: "The free peoples of
the world look to us for support in main-
taining their freedoms. If we falter....
we may endanger the peace of the world,
and we shall surely endanger the welfare
of this nation."
The speech was given in 1947. The
problem then was 2 years of Soviet-
supported indirect aggression against
Greece. The communists were close to
victory. President Truman called on the
Congress to provide decisive aid to the
Greek Government. Both parties rallied
behind President Truman's call. Democra-
tic forces succeeded and Greece became a
parliamentary democracy.
Communist subversion is not an ir-
reversible tide. We've seen it roiled back
in Venezuela and, most recently, in
Grenada. And where democracy flour-
ishes, human rights and peace are more
secure. The tide of the future can be a
freedom tide. All it takes is the will and
resources to get the job done.
In April 1983, I addressed a joint ses-
sion of the Congress and asked for bipar-
tisan cooperation on behalf of our policies
to protect liberty and democracy in Cen-
tral America. Shortly after that speech,
the late Democratic Senator Henry
Jackson encouraged the appointment of a
blue-ribbon, bipartisan commission to
chart a long-term course for democracy,
economic improvement, and peace in
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1983 Economic and Military provide the funds I requested for fiscal
Assistance year 1984 and also to enact the entire
Central America. I appointed 12 distin-
guished Americans from both political
parties to the National Bipartisan Com-
mission on Central America.
The bipartisan commission rendered
an Important service to all Americans-all
of us from pole to pole in this Western
Hemisphere. Last January, the commis-
sion presented positive recommendations
to support democratic development, im-
prove living conditions, and bring the
long-sought dream for peace to this
troubled region so close to home. The
recommendations reinforce the spirit of
our Administration's policies that help to
our neighbors should be primarily eco-
nomic and humanitarian but must also in-
clude sufficient military aid.
In February, I submitted a com-
prehensive legislative proposal to the
Congress which would implement the
commission's recommendations. And
because this report presented a bipar-
tisan consensus, I am hopeful that the
Congress will take prompt action. This
proposal calls for an increased commit-
ment of resources beginning immediately
and extending regularly over the next b
years, The program is a balanced com-
bination of support for democracy, eco-.
nomic development, diplomacy, and
security measures, with 70% of the
dollars to be used for economic and social
development. This program can get the
job done.
The National Bipartisan Commission
on Central America has done its work.
Our Administration has done its work.
We now await action by the Congress.
Meanwhile, evidence mounts of Cuba's in-
tentions to doable its suppoprt to the
Salvadoran guerrillas and bring down
that newly elected government in the fall.
Unless we provide the resources, the
communists will likely succeed.
Let's remember, the Soviet bloc gave
Cuba and Nicaragua $4.9 billion in assis-
tance last year, white the United States
provided all its friends throughout all of
Central America with only a fraction of
that amount.
sovbt-eWoc
Ass lane
to Cubs and
Nicaragua
U& Assistance
to Central America
The simple questions are: will we sup-
port freedom in this hemisphere or not?
Will we defend our vital interests in this
hemisphere or not? Will we stop the
spread of communism in this hemisphere
or not? Will we act while there is still
time?
There are those in this country who
would yield to the temptation to do
nothing. They are the new isolationists,
very much like the isolationists of the late
1930s, who knew what was happening in
Europe but chose not to face the terrible
challenge history had given them. They
preferred a policy of wishful thinking that
if they only gave up one more country,
allowed just one more international trans-
gression, then surely, sooner or later, the
aggressor's appetite would be satisfied.
Well, they didn't stop the aggressors;
they emboldened them. They didn't pre-
vent war; they assured it.
Legislation is now before the Con-
gress that will carry out the recommenda-
tions of the National Bipartisan Commis-
sion. Requests for Interim appropriations
to give the soldiers fighting for their
country in El Salvador and the freedom-
loving people of Central America the tools
they need also await action by the House
of Representatives.
For the last 4 years, only half of the
military aid requested for El Salvador has
been provided-even though total aid for
El Salvador is only 5% of our worldwide
assistance. I am asking the Congress to
National Bipartisan Commission plan for
democracy, economic development, and
peace in Central America.
As I talk to you tonight, there are
young Salvadoran soldiers in the field fac-
ing the terrorists and guerrillas in El
Salvador with the clips in their rifles the
only ammunition they have. The lack of
evacuation helicopters for the wounded
and the lack of medical supplies if they're
evacuated have resulted in one out of
three of the wounded dying. This is no
way to support friends-particularly
when supporting them is supporting
ourselves.
Last week, as we returned across the
vast Pacific to Alaska, I could not help
being struck again by how blessed has
been our land. For 200 years, the oceans
have protected us from much that has
troubled the world. But clearly, our world
is shrinking. We cannot pretend other-
wise if we wish to protect our freedom,
our economic vitality, and our precious
way of life.
It's up to all of us, the Administration,
you as citizens, and your representatives
in the Congress. The people of Central
America can succeed if we provide the
assistance I have proposed. We Ameri-
cans should be proud of what we're trying
to do in Central America, and proud of
what, together with our friends, we can
do in Central America, to support demo.
cracy, human rights, and economic
growth, while preserving peace so close
to home. Let us show the world that we
want no hostile, communist colonies here
in the Americas: South, Central, or
North. ^
Published by the United States Department
of State ? Bureau of Public Affairs
Office of Public Communication ? Editorial
Division ? Washington, D.C. ? May 1984
Editor. Colleen Sussman ? This material is in
the public domain and may be reproduced
without permission; citation of this source is
appreciated.
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