NICARAGUAN URGES U.S. TO REIN IN REBELS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00552R000303570078-0
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: July 26, 2010
• Sequence Number: 78
• Publication Date: January 4, 1985
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/07/26: CIA-RDP90-00552R000303570078-0
N'Et9 YOPK TIMES
4 January 1985
?carzying out a policy of systemati-
By JOEL BRINRLEY cally violating the human rights of
Nicaragua's political opposition urged guar citizens had told rebel leaders
today that Congress renew aid to anti- i about the incidents described in the 11-
Government guerrillas, but also sug- page listing, which said that dozens of
ge,?ted that the United States should do civilians who were disloyal to the Gov-
a better job of controlling the rebels' ernment had disappeared and that
behavior in the field. other unarmed civilians had been
The leader, Arturo Jose Cruz, who jailed, beaten and killed by Govern-
spoke at a news conference here, was ment security officers. The document
asked about allegations that the Amer- also contended that hundreds of civil-
ican-backed rebels had committed ians had died as the result of attacks on
atrocities against unarmed civilians. villages by Sandinista soldiers.
He responded by acknowledging that Need for Aid Questioned
"tragic instances" had occurred.
But he added that the American
"donors of aid also have a responsibil-
ity to demand ratio ial behavior on the
part of the recipients."
Senator Patrick T. Leahy ro
mont Democrat, said last month that
the Senate Select Committee on Intelli- ~
gene wow investigate the alle -
tj - ns o ti hies.
Mr. Cruz, a former Nicaraguan Am-
bassador to the United States, was an
opposition candidate for the presidency
last year. But he withdrew his candida-
cy, saying the Sandinistas were not
permitting truly free elections.
Today he said that an informal coali-
tion of nonmilitary opponents of the t
Sandinista Government met recently,
but he did not describe any clear plan ,
of action resulting from the meeting
except to say that the opponents would
continue fighting "for real democracy
for Nicaragua."
A Willingness to Lobby
He said he would be willing to lobby
in Congress in the coming weeks for the
resumption of aid. Congress suspended
aid to the rebels last spring but is to
reconsider the question next month.
Mr. Cruz said it would be "a terrible
political mistake" not to renew it, un-
less the Soviet Union and Cuba also
ended their aid to the Sandinistas.
When asked about the charges of
atrocities Mr. Cruz said that the Nica-
raguan Democratic Force, the largest
rebel group, had disciplined any mem-
ber found guilty of abusing civilians.
He said that when rebels killed un-
armed civilians, it was often the fault
of the Sandinistas for "lack of care."
"If there is a truck with civilians and
soldiers in it," he said, "it's hard for
the contras to know if it is a military or
a civilian group."
Sandinistas Accused of Abuses
At the news conference, a Nicara-
guan rebel official made public a com-
pilation of dozens of abuses purport-
edly committed against civilians by the
Sandinistas in the last year.
The official, Bosco Matamoros, the
Washington representative for the
Nicaraguan Democratic Force, ac-
cused the Sandinista Government of
nous that, even if we bad a full year at
the present number of pages, La
Prensa could not publish all the ma-
terial that has been censored during
the past three years."
He said that in one recent case, the
Sandinista censors objectedto the pub-
lication of a story abot a 96-year-old
woman who had committed suicide,
charging that the story was "an attack
on the psychic health of the people and,
therefore, an attack against the se-
curity
Pedro Joaquin Chamorro, the former j
editor of the Nicaraguan opposition'
newspaper La Prensa who voluntarily
left the country last month,' said at the
news conference that he is not so sure
the rebels actually need American aid.
"The U.S. cut support to the contras
a long time ago, but they have contin-
ued their struggle, and have increased
it," he said. "It is not proportional to
U.S. aid."
Mr. Chamorro announced two weeks
ago that he had moved to Costa Rica
because he was weary of trying to com-
ply with the Sandinista Government's
newspaper censorship requirements.
Today he said: "The range of news
items, international information, edi-
torials and photographs covered by
censorship is simply unbelievable" and
"has reached a monstrous level." -
He added that the files of stories that
were censored "are already so volumi-
STAT
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/07/26: CIA-RDP90-00552R000303570078-0