TEXT OF AN ADDRESS BY THE PRESIDENT ON CENTRAL AMERICA

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP86M00886R001900170008-9
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 9
• Document Creation Date: December 21, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 29, 2008
• Sequence Number: 8
• Publication Date: May 9, 1984
• Content Type: REPORT

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Office of the Press Secretary
EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE UNTIL 8:00 PM EDT,
WEDNESDAY, MAY 9, 1984
TEXT OF AN ADDRESS BY THE PRESIDENT
ON CENTRAL AMERICA
May 9, 1984
My fellow Americans, last week I was in Beijing and Shanghai
-- three weeks from now I will be preparing to leave for
Dublin, Normandy and the annual Economic Summit in London.
I am 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 different, we are building
a strong relationship in a genuine spirit of cooperation,
and that is good for the cause of peace.
This was our second trip to Asia in the last six months. It
demonstrates our awareness of America's responsibility for
leadership in the Pacific Basin -- an area of tremendous
economic vitality. I believe our relations with our Asian
allies and friends have never been better.
But that isn't what I want to talk to you about.
I asked for this time to tell you of some basic decisions
which are yours to make. I believe it is my constitutional
responsibility to place these matters before you. They have
to do with your national security and that security is the
single most important function of the Federal Government.
In that context,, it is 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 goodwill
and noble aspirations alone. In the last 15 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 are in imminent
danger of nuclear war. We are not.
As long as we maintain the strategic balance and make it
more stable by reducing 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 surrogate forces, Cubans, for
example. We have seen it intensifying during the last ten
years as the Soviet, Union and its surrogates moved to
establish control over Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Angola,
Ethiopia, South Yemen, Afghanistan, and recently, closer to
home in Nicaragua and now El Salvador. It is the fate of
this region, Central America, that I want to talk 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 assistance; and it sends tons of weapons to
foment revolution in our hemisphere.
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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 order to deter and
defend against aggression -- to preserve freedom and peace.
We help our friends defend themselves.
Central America is a region of great importance to the
United States. And it is so close -- San Salvador is closer
to Houston than Houston is to Washington, D. C. Central
America is America, it is 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 Caribbean shipping lanes, and nearly half of all our
foreign trade passes through the 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 attempt to destabilize the
entire region, and eventually move chaos and anarchy toward
the American border.
As the National Bipartisan Commission 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 control of pro-Soviet regimes.
If we come to our senses too late, when our vital interests
are even more directly threatened, and after a lack of
American 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, recommended 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 have presented
specific proposals for peace. I have appointed two Special
Ambassadors who have made more than ten trips to the region
in pursuit of peace during the last year. And Central
America's democratic neighbors -- Mexico, Venezuela,
Colombia and Panama -- have launched a comprehensive
initiative for peace through what is known as the Contadora
Process. The United States fully supports the objectives 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 Communist aggression and subversion.
This has been the policy of our Administration for more than
three years.
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But making this choice requires a commitment from all of us,
our Administration, the American people and the Congress.
So far, we have not yet made that commitment. We have
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
Administration may be exaggerating the threat we face.
Well, if that's true, let me put that issue to rest.
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 supported by Cuba, the Soviet bloc and the
PLO. 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 "Declaration 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 instructed 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 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 promised to establish democracy. The
Organization'of American States, on June 23, 1979, passed a
resolution stating that the solution for peace in Nicaragua
required that Somoza leave 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 settlement based on
power sharing between Communists and genuine democrats like
the one some have proposed for El Salvador today. Because
of these promises, 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 advisors took power in Managua in July of
1979, the internal repression of democratic groups, trade
unions and civic groups began. Right to dissent was denied.
Freedom of the press and freedom of assembly became
virtually nonexistent. There was an outright refusal to
hold genuine elections couple with the continual promise to
do so. Their latest promise 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.
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The Sandinistas engaged in anti-semitic acts against the
Jewish community. And they persecuted the Catholic Church
and publicly humiliated individual priests. When Pope John
Paul II visited Nicaragua last year, the Sandinistas
organized public demonstrations, hurling insults at him and
his message of peace. On Good Friday, some 100,000 Catholic
faithfuls staged a demonstration of defiance. You may be
hearing about that demonstration for the first time. It was
not widely reported. Nicaraguan Bishop Pablo Antonio Vega
recently said, "we are living with a totalitarian ideology
that no one wants in this country."
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 following quotation:
"We have the brilliant revolutionary example in
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
Shortly after taking power, the Sandinistas -- in
partnership with Cuba and the Soviet Union -- began
supporting aggression 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. lpicaragua is still the headquarters for
Communist guerrilla movements. And Nicaraguan agents and
diplomats have been caught in Costa Rica and Honduras
supervising attacks carried out by Communist terrorists.
The role that Cuba has long performed for the Soviet Union
is now 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 Nicaragua, from
Nicaragua to the Salvadoran guerrillas. These facts were
confirmed last year by the House Intelligence Committee.
The Sandinista regime has been waging war against its
neighbors since August of 1979. This has included military
raids into Honduras and Costa Rica which still continue
today.
And they are getting a great deal of help from their
friends. There were 165 Cuban personnel in Nicaragua in
1979. Today that force has grown to 10,000. And we are
being criticized for having 55 military trainers in El
Salvador. Manpower support is also coming from other parts
of the terror network: The PLO has sent men and so. has
Libya's dictator Quadaffi. Communist countries are
providing 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 Harbor. Another
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Soviet ship. is on its way with more trucks and 155 Soviet
jeeps.
Nicaragua's own military forces have grown enormously.
Since 1979, their trained forces have increased from 10,000
to over 100,000. Why does Nicaragua need all this power?
Why did this country of only 2.8 million people build this
large military force?
They claim the buildup is the result of the anti-Sandinista
forces. But that is a lie. The Sandinista military buildup
began two and a half 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 16,000.
The Sandinistas claim the buildup is in response to American
aggression. That is the most cynical lie of all. The truth
is they announced at their first anniversary, in July 1980,
that their revolution was going to spread beyond their own
borders.
When the Sandinistas were fighting the Somoza regime, the
United States' policy was: Hands off. We did not attempt
to prop up.Somoza. The United States did everything to show
its openness toward the Sandinistas, its friendliness, its
willingness 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 party anthem describe us, the United
States, as the enemy of all mankind.
So much for our sincere but unrealistic hopes that if only
we would 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.
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 Republican and
Democratic Administrations, Castro has kept to his own path
of revolutionary violence. Today, Cuba even provides safe
passage for drug traffickers who poison our children. In
return, of course, Cuba gets hard cash to buy more weapons
of war.
We are 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 hemisphere. He said,
"I want it clearly understood that this government will not
hesitate in meeting its primary obligations which are to
the security of our nation." And the House and Senate
supported him, overwhelmingly, by passing a law calling on
the United States to prevent Cuba from extending its
aggressive or subversive activities to any part of this
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hemisphere. Were John Kennedy alive today, I think he would
be appalled by the gullibility of some who invoke his name.
I have told you that Cuba's and Nicaragua's present target
is El Salvador. And I want to talk to you about that
country because there is a lot of misunderstanding about it.
El Salvador, too, had a revolution several years ago, and is
now struggling valiantly to achieve a workable democracy,
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 armed 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 is just not true. Democratic
political parties range from the democratic left, to center,
to conservative. Trade unions, religious organizations,
civic groups and business associations are numerous and
flourishing. There is a small, violent right-wing as
opposed to democracy as are the guerrillas, but they are not
part of the government. 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
personal letter in which I again made clear my strong
opposition to both violent extremes. And this had a
positive effect.
Land reform is moving forward. Since March 1980, the
program has benefitted more than 550,000 peasants, or about
a quarter of the rural population. But many can't farm
their land; they will 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 functioning. An
election is scheduled for July there, with a real prospect
that that country can return to full constitutional
government in 1985.
In fact, 26 of 33 Latin American countries are democracies
or striving to become democracies. But they are 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
elections, the most recent a Presidential election last
Sunday. It has made great progress toward democracy. In
this last election, 80 percent 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 government
of El Salvador has offered amnesty to the guerrillas and
asked them to participate 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.
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That's why the United States must support both the elected
government of El Salvador and the democratic aspirations of
the Nicaraguan people.
If the Communists can start war against the people of El
Salvador, then El Salvador and its friends are surely
justified 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 interest; it is morally right. It would be
profoundly immoral to let peace-loving friends depending on
our help be overwhelmed 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
is 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 maintaining 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 two
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. Democratic forces succeeded and Greece
became a Parliamentary democracy.
Communist subversion is not an irreversible tide. We have
seen it rolled back in Venezuela, and most recently, in
Grenada. And where democracy flourishes, 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 Session of the Congress
and asked for bipartisan cooperation on behalf of our
policies to protect liberty and democracy in Central
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
Central America. I appointed twelve distinguished Americans
from both political parties to the National Bipartisan
Commission 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 Commission presented positive
recommendations to support democratic development, improve
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
economic and humanitarian, but must also include sufficient
military aid.
In February, I submitted a comprehensive legislative
proposal to the Congress which would implement the
Commission's recommendations. And because this report
presented a bipartisan consensus, I am hopeful that the
Congress will take prompt action. This proposal calls for
an increased commitment of resources beginning immediately
and extending regularly over the next five years. The
program is a balanced combination of support for democracy,
economic development, diplomacy, and security measures,.with
70 percent of the dollars to be used for economic and social
development. This program can get the job done.
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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 intentions to double its support 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 assistance last year, while the United States
provided all its friends throughout Central America with
only a fraction of that amount.
The simple questions are: Will we support 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 1930's, 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
transgression, 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 prevent war -- they assured it.
Legislation is now before the Congress that will carry out
the recommendations of the National Bipartisan Commission.
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 four years, only half of the military aid
requested for El,Salvador has been provided -- even though
total aid for El'Salvador is only five percent of our
world-wide assistance. I am asking the Congress to provide
the funds I requested for fiscal year 1984 and also to enact
the entire 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 facing 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 are
evacuated has 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 otherwise 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 Americans should be proud of what we are
trying to do in Central America, and proud of what, together
with our friends, we can do in Central America -- to support
democracy, human rights, and economic growth, while
preserving peace so close to home. Let us show the world
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that we want no hostile, Communist colonies herein the
Americas: South, Central or North.
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