INTERVIEW: THOMAS ENDERS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP88-01070R000100660004-9
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 4
• Document Creation Date: December 20, 2016
• Document Release Date: May 14, 2007
• Sequence Number: 4
• Publication Date: April 14, 1983
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

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RADIO TV REPORTS, INC.
4701 WILLARD AVENUE, CHEVY CHASE, MARYLAND 20815 656-4068
Good Morning America
April 14, 1983 7:11 AM
STATION WJLA-TV
ABC Network
Washington, DC
DAVID HARTMAN: Earlier this week, a group in
Congress challenged President Reagan's policies toward Latin
America.
They voted to limit United States aid to the govern-
ment of El Salvador, and to largely prohibit U.S. aid to the
rebels in Nicaragua. Now this brings us back to some very
fundamental questions about the amount of support and the kind
of support that we should be offering in Latin America.
In a few minutes, we'll talk with a Congressman who
opposes President Reagan's policies. But earlier this morning,
I talked with Tom Enders, Assistant Secretary of State for
Latin America Affairs. He was in Washington with Steve Bell.
The fact-finding commission which is back from
Nicaragua yesterday charged, that, quote -- I'm quoting them --
"The U.S. is deeply involved in covert activities aimed at the
overthrow of the Nicaraguan government, and that this activity
violates the OAS Charter and the Boland Amendment, which
prohibits the spending of U.S. money aimed at overthrowing the
Nicaraguan government."
How do you respond to that kind of charge and,
specifically, those charges?
ASSISTANT SECRETARY THOMAS S. ENDERS: Well, we don't
discuss -- this administration or any previous administration
Material supplied by Radio TV Reports, Inc. may be used for file and reference purposes only. It may not be reproduced. sold or publicly demonstrated or exhibited.
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don't discuss intelligence matters, allegations of covert
activities in public. We do discuss them with the relevant
congressional committees. There's one in the House side and
one in the Senate side, and we are now in the process of
renewed discussion with both those regarding the alleged
activities.
You've heard a statement on the Senate side that the
American law is not being violated, and there will be further
hearings on the House side.
HARTMAN: Mr. Enders, just how concerned are you,
however, this morning to have to sit here and answer these
questions about public questions being asked of this nature?
ENDERS: Well, inevitably, the process is denatured to
the degree that matters of this intelligence kind become
public. I think everybody would prefer that they not become
public, and that's why we have these committees. So we have a
means of cooperation between the administration and the
Congress. We'd like to keep the integrity of that process.
STEVE BELL: In fact, what you have is a congressional
prohibition on spending money to aid the rebels that are trying
to overthrow the government of Nicaragua.
ENDERS: No, I think what we have is a congressional
-- and there was a debate in both the House and the Senate
about it. What we have is a congressional prohibition from
aiding or engaging in activities which would result in -- which
-- for the purpose of overthrowing the Nicaraguan government or
provoking a war with one of its neighbors, Honduras. That's
very clear, and we're respecting the law.
Now the law does not say that you can't engage in
activities or support which would interdict supplies going into
El Salvador to help the insurgents there, or which would result
-- for the purpose of bringing the Nicaraguan government to the
peace table to talk about how we quiet this whole situation
down.
BELL: But in fact we have rebels trying to overthrow
the government of Nicaragua. What is the attitude of the
Reagan Administration toward those rebels?
ENDERS: Well, we think it's inevitable after the kind
of pressures that the Nicaraguan government has put on its own
people, intimidating, or attempting to intimidate the church,
repressing the free press, taking over the unions and the radio
stations, and practically eliminating the private sector. We
think it's inevitable that people take arms against their own
government in this case. And, in fact, it appears that the
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opposition -- armed opposition now as well as silent opposition
is spreading..
BELL: Do we support them?
ENDERS: Well, it's up to them to -- to decide who's
going to be -- up to the Nicaraguans to decide who's going to
govern Nicaragua. That's for them to decide, not for us to
decide.
HARTMAN: Specifically, what's our goal in Nicaragua,
Mr. Enders?
ENDERS: Well, what we'd like to do is to get them to
back out of support for the insurgents in El Salvador because
that's a big part of the problem in El Salvador, and we'd like
to get them to go back to their original commitments to
pluralism of democracy that have been systematically violated.
You know, if Nicaragua were to do both of those
things, we could get all the foreign advisers and military
trainers out of Central America -- ours and the 2,000 Cubans
that are in Nicaraguaa, and all those East Germans and Pales-
tinians. Get them all out so that the whole area would get out
of the East-West conflict.
HARTMAN: Mr. Enders, what do you think will happen in
Central America if our policies are not effective at deterring
what the Administration calls a "Soviet" and/or "Cuban threat"
down there?
ENDERS: Well, you've got one Marxist-Leninist
government now in Nicaragua, and, in fact, if we take action
such that that government can go on helping the insurgents in
El Salvador there will be another one, and then our anxiety
levels will rise because Marxist-Lenisism will spread toward
the Canal 300 miles away from Nicaragua, and toward the
southern Mexican border 300 miles away from Nicaragua.
BELL: The domino theory.
ENDERS: So you get your anxiety levels going up, the
problem won't go away, and we're going to have to deal with it.
HARTMAN: What do you say to our critics -- the
critics of the administration's policy right now in Central
America?
ENDERS: Well, I think of them -- let's sustain the
effort. It's an effort based basically on supporting democracy
and reform. It has relatively little military content, and it
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pushes toward an area-wide negotiation. Now the area-wide
negotiation should be on getting all of the foreign advisers
out, getting the heavy weapons out of the area, and committing
all the governments to democratic systems.
HARTMAN: David Enders, Assistant Secretary of State
for Latin American Affairs. Steve and I talked with him just a
few minutes ago.
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