LATIN DEBATE REFOCUSED

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00552R000202230032-9
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: December 23, 2010
• Sequence Number: 32
• Publication Date: April 9, 1984
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/12/23: CIA-RDP90-00552R000202230032-9
~?RTIC E A: PE R.ED NED4 YORK TD S
Olc :ACE -/ 9 April 1984
Latin Debate Refocused
Reports of C.LA. Role in Nicaragua Mining
Stir New Doubts in Congress on Covert Acts
Democrat of New York and deputy
chairman of the Senate Intelligence
Committee, said Friday that he
thought Congressional opposition
would eventually, force an end to the
mining.
Senate Voted More Funds
Last week the Senate voted 76 to 19 to
provide $21 million in new funds for the
C.I.A. this year to support Nicaraguan
~Bv PHILIP TAUBMAN rebel activities, including the mining.
Fifty-three Republicans and 23 Demo-
S al to TheNe York Tiroes {: crats, including Mr. -Moynihan, sup-'
ing of Nicaraguan harbors, reportedly
under the direct supervision of the Cen-
tral Intelligence Agency, has rekindled
doubts in Congress and
News among some officials in
Analysis the Reagan :Administra-
tion about the extensive
use of covert activities to
advance United States interests in Cen-
tral America.
As-details about the mining and the
direct involvement of the C.I.A. have
been disclosed in recent days by both
Administration officials and members
of Congress, the operation has become
the focus of attention in a debate about
the Administration's policies in Central
America.
The primary concern expressed by
Administration and Congressional op-
ponents of the mining is that it has irri-
risked an incident between the United
States and the Soviet Union without a
But critics of the mining, including
some officials at the State Department,
said it represented a major increase in
American covert activities against
Nicaragua that was undertaken with-
out adequate consideration by Con-
tained $61.75 million in additional mili-
tary aid to El Salvador.
There is widespread opposition to the
$21 million in the House, which voted
twice within, the last year to cut off
gress. "Mining harbors comes close to Mr. Leahy said senators should have
an act of war," one Democratic mem- been aware o e mining when NeY1
her of the Senate Select Committee on voted on the $21 million app pnation
Intelligence said, "but because it's list week because Senator Barry_M.
part of a covert operation, normal de. Goldwater, the chairman of the Senate
hate was short-circuited." IntelFi eneeommittee, inadvertently
Another Democrat on the commit- `refered eto covert operation in floor
tee, Senator Patrick J. Leahy of Ver- debate. Mr. y satdMr- ~s-T water
mont, said today: "When you substi- an Arizona Republican, later had his
tote covert activity for a foreign policy, emar a et m the Congt?es.
you run into exactly this problem. Cov- Sion eco, M , Idwater cottld not
ert activities should be used only on a 'bi reached for comment toda in
limited scale for very specific per- Washi.ngtonorAiizona.
poses:" Because the mining was part of a
covert operation, other senators said, it
opposition in House did not receive the attention it warrant-
Leading Democrats in the House, in ed. "Barry did mention it, but that was
part because of concern about the min- a mistake, and we certainly didn't have
mg, are opposed to providing the C.I.A. a detailed report or discussion," a Re-
with additional funds to support covert publican Senator said today.
clearly compensating benefit to Ameri- """" 5-
i opponents include Representatives Ed-
can interests in Central America. ! ward P. Boland of Massachusetts. the
The laying of the mines, in the har- chairman of the House Select Commit-
bors of key Nicaraguan ports, is said to tee on Intelligence, and Lee H. Hamil-
have begun about two months.ago. ton of Indiana, both moderate Demo-
Soviet Tanker Was Damaged I crats whose views are widely respected
by colleagues. An aide to Representa-
The Soviet Union made a formal pro- tive Bill Alexander of Arkansas, the
test to the United States last monthchief deputy majority whip, said the
when a Soviet tanker, the Lugansk, was
damaged by a mine -as it approached
Puerto Sandino on the Pacific coast of
Nicaragua. Last week France offered
to help Nicaragua remove the mines,
and Britain told the Administration
that it disapproved of the mining as in-
terference with international shipping.
Proponents of the mining, including
intelligence and Defense Department
to increasing the funds. - -
'The last time the United States
openly mined foreign harbors was in
1972, when President Nixon ordered the
mining of all North Vietnamese ports
to prevent the flow of arms and sup-
plies. Critics of the Nicaraguan mining
said that unlike Mr. Nixon's action,
which became the subject of heated de-
officials, contend that it is an effective mining of Nicaraguan ports was con-
tactic of harassment against Nica-ra? ducted in secret and entered public dis-
gua and is justified under international
'law because Nicaragua is supporting
aggression by leftist guerrillas in El
Salvador.
In addition, the proponents said, the
risk of provoking American allies or
the Soviet Union is limited by the na-
ture of the mines, which they described
as powerful enough to-damage but not
sink foreign ships. i
cession only because of unauthorized
disclosures. .
Although the critics remain a mi-
nority in the Administration and in the
Republican-controlled Senate, they ap-
pear in combination with House Demo-
crats to have sufficient strength to
force at least a reappraisal of the min-
ing. Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan,
Most Senators Unaware
The Senator said most members of
the Senate were not fully aware of the
C.I.A.'s role in the mining, which in-
volves three Nicaraguan ports, El
Bluff on the Atlantic and Puerto
Sandino and Puerto Corinto on the Pa-
cific.
He said most senators did not know
until a report published today that
Americans working for the C.I.A. on a
ship off the Pacific coast had been su-
pervising the mining. This was the first
time since the United States began sup-
porting the Nicaraguan rebels three
years ago that Americans have become
directly involved in military operations
against the Sandinista Government.
Administration officials have said
that the actual placement of the mines
inside Nicaraguan territorial waters is
handled by an elite group of Latin
American commandos who use small,
high-speed boats to penetrate shipping
lanes close to shore. The Americans,
according to intelligence officials, re-
main aboard the headquarters ship
that stays outside Nicaraguan waters. .
STAT
STAT
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/12/23: CIA-RDP90-00552R000202230032-9