U.S. SHOWS PHOTOS TO BACK CHARGE OF NICARAGUA BUILDUP

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000302450035-3
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 3
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: October 4, 2012
• Sequence Number: 35
• Publication Date: March 10, 1982
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/10/04: CIA-RDP90-00965R000302450035-3
THE WASHINGTON POST
10 March 1982
LS. Shows Photos,
To Back Charge of
Nicaragua Buildu
By John M. Goshko
Washington Post Staff Writer
The Reagan administration, seek-
ing to swing public^. opinion behind
its Central America-policies, yester-
day staged a display of blowups of
aerial photographs - to bolster. its,
charges that Nicaragua is engaged in
a massive military buildup that
poses a threat to its neighbors.
The photographs, projected onto a
giant screen in the darkened large
auditorium of the State Department,
were the highlights: of a lengthy,
press briefing given by Adm. Bobby
R. Inman, deputy- director of the
Central Intelligence Agency, and
John Hughes, deputy director of the
Defense Intelligence Agency.
As described by Hughes, the pho,
tographs purported to show
Nicaraguan military installations
built according to an alleged Cuban,
model, airfields With runways length::
ened to handle Soviet Mig jets that.
the United States 'claimsare ear,
marked for Nicaragua, and Soviet
tanks and artillery in piece at some
of these installationa', _
The two officials.- also showed"
series of before-and-after photo
graphs showing :Indian villages 'near
Nicaragua's border. ,?:with Honduras
that -allegedly were... burned
Nicaraguan The admin
istration has ChargOiCaragua,Wit
repression an` crio'.-'d relocation%
the Miskito Indiangand other 'tribeii.
that lived in the-aria '
Except for the' phatographstiii
lected by unspecified aerial *xi ,
naissance-inethods).the briefing was.
largely a reiteraitiOn.-of;inforrnatio
that the administration:: preVioual
made public. 1,11.;-J-
Its main pokitz, ' ich, Inman an
Hughes tried._ to - drive ?home . with, a.
drumbeat of toiigh'rhetaric,waS
allegation that.; Isliaragua's
dinigta" -tiolled
tionary,y an - on , gp
ernment:-.'withitclibir irict 'So*
help; is buildinean' Ywtose
is *far largn,atth!..C4),
-- -
needs for: legitimate self-defense.
Inman said the intelligence commu-
nity believes Nicaragua's goal is to I
create a standing army of ?25,000 to
30,000 and a ready-reserve militia of
between 100,000 and 150,000.
He added that while the purpose
wasn't clear, he believes the "pattern
of Cuba" is being repeated in Nic-
aragua and that "the military infra-
structure is there to turn the country
into a Soviet bastion" from which
campaigns of political intimidation
or outright warfare can be waged
against the rest of the Central Amer-
ican isthmus.
"This time, the ocean barriers
aren't there," Inman said. "They can
move much more easily into central
American countries."- ,
What set yesterday's' briefing
apart from ,previous administration
attempts to make its case about
communist penetration, of Central
America was the almost theatrical
flair with which it was staged. Ad-
ministration officials also made clear
it was only the opening salvo in a
major effort to influence public opin-
ion and counter the mounting oppo-
sition iii,C,ongress and elsewhere to
President Reagan's backing* of the
-military-civilian goverment in_El Sal-
vador and his hostility to Nicaragua.
? The session yesterday was limited
to presenting evidence about the
.Nicaraguan arms buildup and did
'not_ deal 'Nvith the charge made by
Secretary of State Alexander M.
Haig ai That the leftist guerrillas in
the Saliradoran civil war are con-
trolled and supplied by such Outside
forces as Cuba and Nicaragua
Haig': caused several
members of Congress who advocate
negotiating with the-- Salvadoran
guerrillas and Nicaragua to ask him
for prOof.'7,...' ?
about the
- -Inman said evidenceso-called 4,'Salvador-Ni con-
'n'ection" is eing presented to Con-I
gress. in closed briefings that will 1,
continue through Thursday. He also
said a similar briefing will be given.
today at the State Department for a
bipartisan group of distinguished
former government officials, and he
added that another press briefing. on
the subject is likely Friday.
The tone of the administration's
approach was set by Inman, who
opened the briefing by saying he was
"concerned" and "angry" because the
-public has not been getting "a clear
idea of what is concerning us in the
intelligence community" and because
government officials liave been' in-
hibited in responding to congression
al interrogation by the need to pro-
tect intelligence sources. ,
For that reason;. he continued;
CIA Director William J. Casey ha
declassified the aerial photographs
Made public yesterday. To explain
,them, Inman then ,called on Hughes,
whom he described as !the premier
;photo interpreter in the intelligen
community." He also' noted pointed-
ly that Hughes had Conducted the-
briefings during 'the 1962 "Cuban
missile crisis dealing with aerial re:
cOnnaissance of Soviet missile sites
there
Hughes said the are 49' active
military garrisons in -Nicaragua,- 36
of them built since the Sandinistas
. won power in 1979. He then showed
aerial photos of .several that he'sai
were built on the eubannattern.of
rectangle divided h4p,three partki..;
motor pool, a !barracks area and -,Ta
training area -Containing whilt,..h
contended were "Soviet-model'''.9
' stacle and physical jralning
coivrgiu?3
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/10/04: CIA-RDP90-00965R00030245nrns_fl
STAT
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/10/04: CIA-RDP90-00965R000302450035-3
To emphasize that point, Hughes
also displayed an aerial view of a
military garrison in Cuba con-
structed in the same way. As the
photos of the different Nicaraguan
installations were flashed on the
screen, Hughes pointed out what he
said were Soviet. T55 tanks and ar-
tillery pieces, East German trucks
and hardened shelters for jet fight-
ers.
He said the Nicaraguans have an
estimated 25 T55 tanks equipped
with 100-mm. guns, 12 155-mm.
howitzers, 12 armored personnel car-
riers, two heavy-duty Soviet helicop-
ters and amphibious ferry equip-
ment. He added that four airfields
are being prepared for Migs that the
United States expects to arrive later
this year, and he contended that this
equipment gives Nicaragua an arse-
nal more formidable than that of
any other Central American country.
In other actions- relating_to Cen-
tral America yesterday, the? State
Department dismissed as one-sided
an Amnesty International report ac-
cusini government forces of murder-
ing Civilians in El Salvador and
urged authorities in Guatemala to.
respond quickly to charges of irreg-
ularities in its presidential election
last Sunday.
On Capitol Hill, Sen. Mark 0.
Hatfield (R-Ore.) joined the ranks of
Reagan's critics by announcing that
he .will ask Congress to halt the
"mad course" toward a Vietnam-type
involvement in El Salvador. But
Sen. Steve Symms of Idaho and five
other Republican conservatives
called on the Senate to reaffirm a
1962 resolution authorizing the use
of any means, including military
force, to halt Cuban intervention in
the hemisphere.
,
VIETIEAST--.MILITAR.Y.:ECitliPM
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DlRAM
?-?A NICARAGUA."
.?
Anoclated Press
Blowup of aerial reconnaissance photograph used in supporting Reagan administration charge of military buildup Nicaragua
. , ?
vcos.'
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/10/04: CIA-RDP90-00965R000302450035-3
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/10/04: CIA-RDP90-00965R000302450035-3
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Associated Pres:
tatektLapePartit press briefing, Defense Intelligence Agency's John Hughes uses slide of reconnaissance photo to support administration claims on Nicaragua's strength.
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/10/04: CIA-RDP90-00965R000302450035-3