U.S. ROLE IN NICARAGUA AROUSES SENATE CONCERN

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00552R000404440123-1
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 27, 2010
• Sequence Number: 123
• Publication Date: April 6, 1983
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/08/27 :CIA-RDP90-005528000404440123-1
,. - ._
._ ~..
G~i ~~~~ WASHINGTON POST
-~~ ~ .. 6 APRIL 1983
CJ ?i~s ~ ? T?
1~~~-~ses Se~~.~e ~~ox~cer
B~? Patrick E. Tvler
and Don Oberdorfer
~tiashln~on Post S;af! tV:lleis
0:~ the first day back from Easter
recess, two influential members of, i
the Senate Intelligence Committee
put the Reagan administration on
notice from the floor of the Senate
that there is widespread concern
first the CIA is circumventing acon-
gressional ban on U.S. involvement
to '?fforts to overthrow the
Nicaraguan government. - ~-
Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan
(D-'.~.F .), vice chairman of the com-
mittee. said that in addition to its
obli_aiions under the congressional
b~~: the United States has a "specific
o:,ic;ation" not Lo riolaie the 144b
Organisation of American States
tress}?. c~?hicb prohibit` amp OAS
courar~? from intervening in ar inter-
f:ri. ~~:it the affairs of another
OA countr~?.
'`L` ~; e are a government of laws at
homE. i; is honed we would be a go~~-
ernr.-lert of laws ir. the hemispherE,''
Iliovnihan said. -
?~hile iv~Ioynihan was speaking,
the OAS permanent council ??as
hearir:s ch2rges b~? Nicaragua
a_ai st the United States. The state-
ment: v:ere made during a debate or,
a proposal b~? Honduras fora nego-
tiated settlement of disputes in the
region through a meeting , of five
Centra! American foreign ministers,
Ir, the Senate, Patrick J. Leahy
(D-~'t.) said he .has given the Ihtel-~
~ligence Committee a classed report
that "bear` materialh?" on whether
the executive branch is comph~ing
~;'itl: "both the letter and the spirit"
o restrictions placed b~? Congress on
secret mperations ir. Nicaragua.
The restriction. known as the
Boland amendment, prohibits the
CIA or Defen,e Department from
prop i;?:nF furd~ or other support. to
cwnterre~ outionar~~ ?roups for the
purpa-- o,? overthrowing the
~~ ice: ~~ ,a:; ~-c~~.?ern.~nent. ?
"If one is to believe the -detailed
accounts seen in the press in recent
days, the administration is actively
supporting, and perhaps even.guid-
ing, a large-scale arti?Sandinista?'!
.guerrilla movement now involved in
open combat, inside Nicaragua,"
Leahy said. t.?" _ -
Senate Majority I.eacleri I~lowa>ed
H. Baker Jr. (R-Tenn.) said.``?t~-ere 3s
a great concern" in the SenatE.about .
li.~. cover, activities ir, the region.
,Baker met with Moynihan after ?the
New Fork Democrat's remarks on
the floor. Baker later said he would
ask for a leadership briefing by the
Intelligence Committee.
Aioynihar. said the committee has
spent a quarter of its titYfe in the
east year on intelligence operations
in Central America. He said Sen.
Barry Goldwater /R-Ariz.), the chair-
man, has asked for a new briefing
from administration officials next
Tuescta~~. One of Goldwater's aides
or, the committee assisted in draft-
ing the Leahy report.
At. the OAS, Honduran Ambas-
sador Robert Martinez Cardonez
called for a meeting of five regional
states, including Nicaragua, to bring
about a stable and long lasting set-
tlement in the area. Martinet said
Lhat. Nicaragua should participatF if
it is serious about seeking peace.
Nicaraguan Ambassador Edgard
Parrales Castillo replied that the
proposal is a L'.S.-initiated "trap" to
outnumber Nicaragua at a regional
meeting. He said the.real problem is,'
an armed conflict "created artific all~~
by the Linited States using Ho .du-
ras" and he cited U.S r
in char ing ' p ~ rel. orts
g ~ that Vi'ashington is "pro-
moting, financing, advising and as-
sisting" counterrevolutionary bands.
The envoy called for bilateral
U.S.-Nicaraguan negotiations to deal
with the conflict. In A~Ianagua, the
Foreign Ministr~? said it is asking
IvIexico. 4enetuela, Panama and
Colombia to use their good offices to
arrange a Lt.S.-Nicaraguan dialogue
and Nicaraguan-Honduran dialogue
t,o settle disputes.
U.S. Ambassador J. ~-illiam Mid-
dendorf II backed the Honduran`call
for a .five-way -Central Arr~rcan
meeting: - ..: f
The L'. ~ '
S. ambassador recslled~~!
that the Sandinista leaders who took
power in Jul~?, 1979, had promised
the OAS to pursue "free and fair
elections" and pluralism at. home,
and non-alignment. abroad.
A'Iiddendorf charged that the San-
dinistas ".betrayed" those promises
and made Nicaragua an "increasingly
totalitarian societ~?." I
Nicaragua's Parrales. referring to ~
reports that. the Reagan adminstra- ~
tiun is preparing w reduce Nicara- ~
gun's L.S.. sugar quota and shift
most of it to Honduras, charged that
this is ''a beautiful re~~ard for trea-
sot:." -
Adminisirat.ion sources said that a
tentative decision has been made t~ ~i
reduce i\icaragua~s ssl,Yar quota, but l~
that,it is not.likeh? to he announced ;i
for several weeks. ii
One- official suggested .that .the ~:'
administration hopes to use the ,
threat of a sugar limitation as a car-
rot as well as a stick. "I'm sure the
yuection would be reconsidered if
Nicaragua wants to stop expDrting
revolution to EI Salvador and its ,
other neighbors," the official said. ~ ~
.Staff tvriter Lou Cannon contrib-
-used to this report.
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/08/27 :CIA-RDP90-005528000404440123-1