WHITE HOUSE DIGEST ARTICLE ON DEVELOPMENT OF DEMOCRACY IN CENTRAL AMERICA.

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP86M00886R001900160016-1
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 11
• Document Creation Date: December 21, 2016
• Document Release Date: October 8, 2008
• Sequence Number: 16
• Publication Date: May 31, 1984
• Content Type: MEMO

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Central lntc!! nee Agency ER 84-2341/1
31 May 1984
MEv10RANDUM FOR: The Honorable Robert M. Kimmitt
Executive Secretary, National Security Council
SUBJECT: White Hou.e Digest Article on Development of Democracy in
Central America.
REFERENCE: Your Memorandum, dated 28 May 1984, Subject: Development of
Democracy in Central America.
1. Page 2, first full paragraph on Costa Rica. We suggest you say "with
Central America's longest unbroken".
2. Page 4, first paragraph. Date of Salvadoran run-off election was May
3. Page 5, first paragraph on Nicaragua: "Comandantes" is correct
spelling.
Executive Secretary
cc: Mr. Charles Hill
Executive Secretary
Department of State
Col. John H. Stanford
Executive Secretary
Department of Defense
Distribution:.
Original - Addressee
1 ~O/LA
ER
1 - ES Chrono
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EXECUTIVE SECRETARIAT
ROUTING SLIP
ACTION
INFO
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P morks
- Pl.ease-review as usual from intelligence
point ,of view only and prepare response
for my signature.
29 May 1984
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COL (?) JOHN STANFORD
Executive Secretary
Department of Defense
Executive Secretary
Central Intelligence Igenc;y
White House Digest: I~eve.Lopment
of Democracy in Centro 1 Americo
NATIONAL SECURITY CpUNCIL
WASHINGTON, .D.G. 29506
May 28, 1,984
-; ---: round review/clearance. Please suhmi t? vnur r~nn~n~e?~Q ~... *a-
-.- `-The - attached white House Digest : i s being sent ;-to you for first
Attachment-
"MEMORANDUM FOR MR. CHARLES HILL, .-
~. Executive Secretary.
Department of State
--w4 White House
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"Expe,rience- has des[royed f e argument--of J he old
dictators that a strong hand is ejsseg,tial to avid anarchy
and communism, and that order and,,prggress can a achieved
-only through authoritariar.iSm. The njodern experience of
THE DEVELOPMENT OF DEMOS RACY IN CENTRAL AME11,1CA
Latin America suggests that order-is more often.tktreatened
when peopl,p have no voice in their on destinies . Social
.. peace ids mere likely in societies, where- political justice is
founded on self-determination anc4 protected by formal
guarantees. . [W] e must do all 'we can to nurture democracy
nisphere."
in thin he
;~
----~ -- -Re port f. the - National Bipartisan
C to nmissi.on oin Central America
The interludes of actual democratic government have been few
---and far betweer, in Central America e*cepr in democqatic Costa
Rica. Nevertheless, the peoples of the region have cgrLsistert:y
shown a determination to gain control over their owFt political
and social destinies.
In' recent years they have been turning increasingly toward
.-_.-,democracy as the most effective. means--of doing so They have
recognized it zls a pragr.,atic problem.rsolkirg mechanism -- not
just a political ideal suited only to wealthy, industrialized
states.
The enemies c>f democracy, who are by extension enemies of
the people of. Central America, would have us believe that
communism, or s;omc, form of undemocratic socialist, is the only
form -of government, workable --in Third World countries. They claim
=that expanding state control is the wave of the futupe.
This attitude is at odds with the basic aspirations of the
Central Americans? and indeed, of people all over the world.
TYpiesident Reagan, speaking at Notre Dgme pniversity in May 1981,
offered a predj.ction for the final outcome of the struggle
```=Thetween democracy and communism. -He said:
~-- The west won't contaip communism, it will transcend
c'orRnuni. sm. it wont AOLner LO a15II1155 vi u=iavuia%~c J.%.#, L%-
will dismiss it as some bizarre Chapter in human history
whose last pages are even n;aw beiirng written."
More recently, the President noted the progress of democracy
"The people of Central' Amer ca want democr,cv and
freedom. They want and hope for ' a botter? future. Costa
Rica is a well-established and hEalthy democrac~r. Honduras
made a peaceful transition to dengocr~lcy in 2982,E And in
_-Guatemala, political_poarti1ps anc~ trqqde unions re
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throughout Latin America in his speech of May 9th. Fie pointed
out: -
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Costa Rica is the well known and frequently cited example of
democracy in central America. With Latin America's longest
unbroken histo;.fy of democratic, constitutional government, Costa
Rica has long served as a theoretical model for government and
development in Central America.
f,e country's 1949 Constitution contains a rigorous system
of internal checks and balances. It incorporates reforms as
Constitutional rights, proscribes thip immediate re-election of
the President (or any member of his family), and creates a
Supreme! Electoral Tribunal with the rank, power, and financial
indeper;;dence c!E a. new "Fourth Bz;anch" of government.
A measure of how well the document reflects Costa Rican
political culture is the rigor with which its basic elements have
been defended ;ln practice.
Some say that Costa Rica il5 an 4nom4~lly in Central America;
that its circumstances are so exceptional that it c~:nnot serve as
a model. for other Central American. countfies.. This, argument is
the same as tr,e one that says that I~atir-s are "mat ready" for
Costa Pica
Pe ruv ian
democ.rz;cy.
.
Tt!ose are specious argumenj-' s. Marie Vargas Ll9sa,
-.novelist, addrgzssed such notions in the following way;
1~pl. A"xc~
-': "Americans that, there would be serious consequenc.Ps unless
rnn to 1F.1 Salvador. That assis-
pOSSiL)1!e C.orlLlc.lucca v..+.
tance economic and military -- has been directed 1t bolstering
the centrist democratic groups and their reform prpglrams, at
ending the--violence, and at establishing the conditi!Pns necessary
;;, ', .. for a stable democracy.
With our hhelp, the Government of El Palvador is iziplemer t >g
important economic, political and judicial reforms, including a
far-reaching land reform. It i,s incgeasang the professionalism
of its armed forces and is redvicing all forms of hj~man rights
abuse committed by those forces.
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4
It, nas just held direct popular e~ectj,ons for the presidency
on March 25, 19E;4, with a run-o.ff; vote on May 5th. it did this
in the midst of sustained violence from both right and left,
? including it guerrilla campaign :supported by the Soviet bloc
through ;Nicaragua.
In short, the government of El Salvador is hearing and
responding to the voices o.f its people. With the continued aid
of the U.S. against the Soviet and Cuban backed enemies of
democracy, their; voices will. continue ~o make a difference.
Of critical concern to all of us, the- government of El
Salvador is invf~stigating murders and disappearances of United
3 States citizens in El Salvador and has instituted judicial
proceedings in every case in which sufficient evidence has brsn
obtained. Pres:~dent-elect Jose Napoleon Duarte has pledged to
make this a priority of his administra?ion,
Honduras is another Central! American country which has
turned toward democracy. It is faced with a massive military
buildup in N.;ca'f?agua, accompanied by z7epeted violatops of the
Honduran, border by Sandinista troops and Sandinista 7a^sed and
trained subversives.
Only last !;tovember the Honduran ~y.rmy decimated q column of
Cuban-trained gperrillas. The defeat of the guerril>,as was made
possible by the total lack of support the insurgents found among
the campesinos. Several who turned themselves in wire on the
brink of starvajrion; 'no one would, give them food.
The; insurgents were for the mast (part,; trio)l:ed into
becoming part of the column by falses premises of ;e