SALVADOR TO GET NEW ENVOY, ARMY MEDICS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00552R000505050002-6
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 24, 2010
• Sequence Number: 2
• Publication Date: June 3, 1983
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

STAT
3
A.RTIC?r '
SINC i OIL' _ IM c
Ds ?.rte WP
3 June 1983
srgrSalvador to get ne
'By Bi!l Kling
e no Peter r.trnonc
Wh3P1NGTQ. TMAES SLa
president Reagan, amid denials
that U.S. involvement is escalating,
yesterday named new ambassa-..
V eilV(1
Army medics
Odor to El Salvador .and.announced
zhat.a bartalion4etze Army m.=dial-
?sttii:t-will be di.spatcnedxoSanSalva-
zior 3o trzat -civilian end -military.
3aombet casualties,and:ro Train Sal->
`vadoran ?medical.Tersonnel. .
The . war ?Pnnvmnced ? b' Secretary of i
_.SZate George P.Shultz at-a State
Department news conference in
which he praised Thomas 0..
Enders, who is -expected to be
replaced as assistant secretary of
state for inter-American affairs by
Langhorne -'Tony' Motley, ambas-
sador to Brazil.
Soon after. Pickering's
appointment mvas announced,
criticism came from some conser-
vative circles on Capitol Hill. whert,
.lone source said: "lf the!' u'znt is
-lose the w a_.-he'rtbe guy-'
Cited -was ickerirtg's-?lack-.-of
experience in Latin America. aiong
with his involvement in earlier
administrations in disarmament
and nuclear-test ban negotiations
resulting in treaties opposed b~_
manconservatve groups. Ther
was no e
indication last night on
whether confirmation of Pick-
ering's appointmen,,will be fought
in the Sen*e Foreign Relations
Comrninee~ronahe Senate floor.
,x tmcames"tbe nominee?
L'#othee El St iia4w'h ztb some-
thing of a.cioud _M1er-his-nead$s_?
result of -an', PPereDt Soviet
attempt to discredit-hi= with the
Nigerian goveratne. Times
As The Washington
reported in a series on Soviet forg-
?eries on May Z. Pickering was
.alleged ma bogus memo from a U.S.
3aformationAgency employee to be
:aware of.esupposed CIA assassina-
-zion- mperation against
'Obafemi
Awolowo,._head of the Nigerian
-+apposition"Daity Part3'. and'M.R.0.
-.~tbiola;-.a aea ding; s news .and
polilzcal ;guresn Nigeria:
? State =)eparanentofficials have
linked this memo to the Soviet disin-
formation campaign but the Nige-
srian government has formally
declined to.accept the U.S. explana-
tion and has appointed a special tri-
bunal to investigate the matter.
The Pickering appointment
came as reports of new Reagan
admi.nistrati.onactiviry concerning
El Salvador were made public
through the day at the White House.
State Department and Pentagon.
An administration official told
The Washington Times that the
recent change in guerrilla tactics to
assassination and execution of both
American and #1 Salvadoran gov-
ernment soldiers is aimed directly
at unsettling the U.S. public.
"They are extremely well
acquainted with American public
opinion." the source said. "We think
they are thing very hard to drain
the Vietnam analogy.'
The U.S. Army also said that
more than 100 Green Berets sta-
tioned at For Bragg will travel to
Honduras this month and start a
counterinsurgency training pro-
gram there for about 2,500 Saiva-
.doran soldiers.
Maj. John Meyers, an Army
spokesman at the'Pentagon, said a
1,100-man Salvadoran rapid-
reaction battalion will start
training in mid-June.
The battalion will be followed by
four Salvadoran light infantry units
of about 350 men each. Meyers said
the Fort Bragg troops also will train
a Honduran battalion of
undetermined sue.
At the daily Wtute House news
briefing, Deputy Press Secretary
Larry Speakes said. the El Salvador
transfer of the medical unit, which
numbers 20 to 25 doctors, nurses
and technicians, "in no way con-
flicts with our self-imposed com-
mitment to hold the number of
(U.S.) military trainers (in El Salva-
dor) to 55" The current number is
52. he said.
Reagan, as he was leaving the
White House to spend several days
at Camp David, told reporters the
medical unit was being assigned to
El Salvador because, "There is a
real need for medical care down
there"
Asked about `those who will say
that this is a stepping up of our
involvement' in El Salvador, Rea-
gar, responded, "Well,'if they say it,
they will be as wrong as they've
been on so many other things.
"I heart some time ago about
their problems there;' -the presi-
dent said. "This is for civilian as
well as ... military casualties.
There is a great need for it. and I am
doing this in consultation with the
Congress"
Speakes later said That the medi-
cal unit. about of third of which are
physicians. will leave for El Salva-
dor "shortly" and will work "under
the policy direction of the U.S.
Embassy" in San Salvador for about
six months. Unit members are not
expected to leave the city and Will
not go to combat zones. he said, as
they "help alleviate a bad situation
which is getting worse."
-The medical situation in the
country is critical;' Speakes said,
noting that Salvadoran hospital
facilities are overcrowded and that
the country has a shortage of med.i-
cal equipment and trained person-
nel. Speakes said the administra-
tion, also is considering an
emergency package of medical and
health services for El Salvador.
using funds of the Agency for Inter-
national Development.
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/08/24: CIA-RDP90-00552R000505050002-6
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/08/24: CIA-RDP90-00552R000505050002-6