PRESIDENT DOWNPLAYS HARBOR MINES

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00552R000505390097-5
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 9, 2010
• Sequence Number: 97
• Publication Date: May 30, 1984
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/08/09: CIA-RDP90-00552R000505390097-5
ARTICLE APPEARED
ON PAGE F_
PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER
30 May 1984
President
downplays
harbor mines
By Owen Ullmann
b.uU.r %whinpon auroau
WASHINGTON - President Rea-
gan, speaking during an interview
with an Irish television executive,
shrugged off the mining of Nicara-
gua's harbors as "much ado about
nothing" and said critics of his Cen-
tral American policies were sorely
misinformed about the embattled re-
gion.
. "Those were homemade mines that
couldn't sink a ship," Reagan said.
"They were planted in those harbors
where they were planted by the Nica-
raguan rebels. And I think that there
was much ado about nothing."
ReagaWs_belittlinR of the mining
contrasts with an international furor
that rag less than two months ago
over congressional disclosures that
the CI was direct y nvo v in t e
o on gainst Nicaragua's ttst
ggov.ernmenongress has con-
demned U.s. participation and is
threatening to block a Reagan ad-
ministration request for additional
aid for Nicaraguan insurgents trying
to overthrow the Sandinista govern-
ment.
The President, never mentionin
CI lvement said the minino v e ' r a t of a been design ed to in-
bs-
terdict a tood" of war materiel
ing funneled through Nicaraguan
ports by the vet Union and Cuba
to su t: t le tist guerrillas in net -
ring -El Salvador and to spread
revolution throughout tin Ameri-
The interview was conducted Mon-
dqy And released yesterday, in ad-
vance of a threeday visit this week-
end to Ireland, where he is expected
to encounter sizable protests over
his. Central American policies. Rea-
gan critics in Ireland, where interest
in the region is high because of ties
through missionary work, argue that
the administration is on the side of
repressive regimes in Central Ameri-
ca.
Asked about charges that his ad-
ministration "has not supported jus-
tice sufficiently" in Central America,
Reagan said the protesters were
"misinformed," victims of Soviet and
Cuban propaganda.
"I'm sure they're probably sincere
and well-intentioned. But I don't
think that they know the situation,"
the,president said.
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/08/09: CIA-RDP90-00552R000505390097-5