2 SENATORS SAY DUARTE FAVORS NICARAGUA TALKS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00552R000100890029-4
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: July 20, 2010
• Sequence Number: 29
• Publication Date: April 21, 1984
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/07/20: CIA-RDP90-00552R000100890029-4
Arh YO K T.D-CS
21 April 19
L
Both Senators are members of Con
gressional committees that deal with
e nat
r~ y Central American matters. They
Duarte called for continued United States sup-
avoS forces of l Salvador and Honduras. as
.r, well as a flow of arms to rebels fighting
Nicaragua I al'-
KS il'On Wednesday United States Army
By B. DR UMMON'D AYRES Jr.
Special w The New York Time;
ANDREWS AIR FORCE BASE,
Md., April 20 - Two United States
Senators said today that Jose Napoleon
Duane, who is running for the presi-
dency of El Salvador, told them he
would seek negotiations with Nicara-
gua if he was elected.
Reagan Administration officials
have accused Nicaragua of seeking the
overthrow of the Salvadoran Govern-
ment through its support of rebels in!
that country. Much of the support is be-
lieved to be in the form of clandestine
shipments of ammunition.
t
Lo,asiana and Lawton Chiles of Fior-
ida, both Democ-ats, .said that when
they visited Nicaragua after seeing
-W:-.Duarte, officials there were non--
committal. when told about Mr.
Duarte's negotiating offer.
But the Nicaraguans had "nothing
disparaging to say about Duarte,"
Senator Chiles said. "although they ex-
pressed concern that the right in EI Sal-
valor would permit him to do that."
Mr. Chiles said Mr. Duarte did not
specify precisely what he would dis-
cuss in any negotiations with Nicara-
gua. The Senator added, however, that ff
at this point specifics were not as im-
portarit as the fact that negotiations in
general were being proposed.
We want to be ready to test the
Nicaraguans," Senator Chiles said.
"It's a great opportunity."
The Senators said they had talked at
length with Mr. Duarte during their
six-day visit to the region and were en.
couraged about El Salvador's future.
Mr. Duarte, the Christian Demo.
cratic Parry candidate, is running
against Roberto d'Aubuisson of the far.
right Nationalist Republican Alliance
in a runoff May 6.
"Our message is one of hope and op-
timism," Senator Johnston said. "The
United States simply cannot walk away
from Central Ameri ca. Our policy is
beginning to pay off."
helicopter in which the two Senators
were passengers was hit by fire near
the Honduran border. Salavdoran
rebels said the aircraft and a second
UH-1H helicopter was on a reconais-
sance mission. United States diplomats
in El Salvador denied the accusation.
"We've been through the valley of
the shadow and come out unscathed,"
Senator Johnston said this afternoon,
moments after landing here. "A lot of
people are dying down there and we're
lucky not to be among them."
Senators Back Duarte
Senator Chiles said he had gone to
Central America "very pessimistic"
but had returned "very optimistic..'
Besides El Salvador, the Senators'
visited Honduras, Panama and Nicara-
gua. Both expressed the hope that Mr.
Duarte would win the Salvadoran eleo.
The Senators, J. Bennett Johnston of "We believe he can control the army. I
tile death squads and the guerrillas -
withour help," Senator Johnston said.
Both Senator Johnston and Senator
Chiles have been supporters of Reagan
con-
tinue wr a policy, including covert
ent intelligence
Agency or a so-caRed Cotrtra er-
n as w o are tm the Sandinista
Crovernment in icara
e tras are a very strop card
for the U.S. to av nator onnston
sat .
. Chiles said the incident on
Wednes av in which the Senators' heli-
copter was hit near the El Salvador-
Honduras border had "heightened our
awareness that there's a war down'
there and people get shot at everyday."
No one was hurt in the incident,
which occurred when the two Senators
arrived to visit a Honduran refugee
camp, and the aircraft, after putting
down briefly for a quick inspection by
its American crew, took off again.
Asked whether the incident took
place over El Salvador or Honduras,
Senator Childs replied, "It was rebel
territory, wherever the heck we were."
STAT
STAT
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/07/20: CIA-RDP90-00552R000100890029-4