U.S. SAID TO SEND MILLIONS TO NICARAGUAN OPPOSITION

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP84B00049R001202830019-1
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 19, 2016
• Document Release Date: April 18, 2006
• Sequence Number: 19
• Publication Date: March 11, 1981
• Content Type: OPEN

ARTICLE APPS
ON PACE ~ pproved For ReleaAe 20Q6/Q5J25 : CIA-RDP84B00049R001202830019-1
11 i=arch 1982
J.S. said to send millions
to Nicaraguan opposition
From Wire Services
Washington-The Reagan administration is
providing millions of dollars in covert aid to in-
dividuals and private organizations in Nicara-
gua in hopes of bolstering moderate forces in
that nation, according to senior administration
officials.
The effort, which is being managed by the
Central Intelligence Agency, began late last
year after it was approved by President Rea-
gan, these officials said.
They said that Mr. Reagan and his national
security advisers rejected a proposal to fund the
creation of a paramilitary force in Central
America.
Several South American nations, however,
including Argentina and Venezuela, are working
together to assemble paramilitary units that
would infiltrate Nicaragua for hit-and-run at-
tacks against government troops and installa-
tions, these. officials said.
The Reagan administration is aware of the
formation of these units, according to the offi-
cials, but has declined to provide financial or
military support.
"The president and the National Security
Council looked over proposals to create our own
paramilitary force, but once the idea of using
former Nicaraguan national guard command-
ers was rejected, there didn't seem to be-a feasi-
ble way to do it," recalled a senior administra-
tion official familiar with the deliberations that
took place last November.
Mr. Reagan decided, officials said, to ap-
prove the less risky option of secretly financing
individuals and private organizations that op-
pose Nicaragua's government.
The country has been governed since 1979 by
a nine-member Sandinist National Directorate
made up of the leaders of the revolution that
overthrew the government of Gen.
Anastasio Somoza Debayle. A three-
man junta administers the country.
The Reagan administration has ac-
cused the Sandinist government of
promoting Soviet and Cuban interests
in Central America, including provid-
ing military and financial assistance
to guerrillas in El Salvador. Sandinist
leaders, who describe themselves as
Marxist reformers, have denied the
charges.
On Tuesday, the Reagan adminis-
tration made public aerial photo-
graphs which intelligence officials
said proved that Nicaragua, with
Soviet and Cuban assistance, was cre-
ating the largest military force in
Central America.
The Nicaraguan government yes-
reconnaissance a flagrant violation of
international law. It also accused the
United States of trying to convert
Nicaragua into "another Chile" by
ousting the junta.
Nicaraguan Ambassador Francis-
co Fialios Navarro, in an ABC-TV ap-
pearance, called the U.S. allegations
of a major military buildup by his
country "totally false."
Then Directorate member Jaime
Wheelock, speaking at a news confer-
ence, denied allegations that Nicara-
guan pilots are being trained in Bul-
garia, but was vague on whether Nic-
aragua plans to acquire MiG fighters
from the Soviet Union.
Mr. Wheelock said the military
buildup was mainly defensive, and
also called for development of "a nor-
mal constructive relationship with
the government of the United States."
The Reagan administration's re-
view last fall of covert action options
in Central America was prompted
partly by the reconnaissance photos
and *a growing belief within the ad-
ministration that the Sandinist gov-
ernment was becoming a surrogate of
Cuba and the Soviet Union, senior
American officials said.
The options presented to the Na-
tional Security Council November 19
covered many proposals, according to
these officials, including the one for
creating an American-sponsored
paramilitary force.
This and several other options
were sent back to intelligence.agen-
cies for further study, they said. When
the ideas were submitted again for
discussion at a National Security
Council meeting later that month, the
paramilitary option was rejected be-
cause it seemed to require the use of
former Nicaraguan national guard of-
ficers who had supported General
Somoza.
"We realized that the surest way
to have this kind of project backfire
would be if Somoza's military men
were involved," one official recalled.-
The administration was aware,
these officials added, that Argentina,
Venezuela and other South American
nations were trying to assemble a
force for deployment in Central
America.
The U.S. plan approved by Mr.
Reagan may eventually cost more
than the nearly $20 million projected
as the price of forming and support-
ing a paramilitary force, administra-
tion officials said.
In a press briefing Tuesday, Adm.
Bobby R. Inman, the deputy director
of central intelligence, was asked
about reports in The Washington
Post that the United States had ap-
proved $19 million to support covert
action in Nicaragua.
He replied, "I would suggest to you
that $19 or $29 million isn't going to
buy you much of any kind these days,
and certainly not against that kind of
military force."
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