MISKITOS CLAIM CIA SUPPORT, BUT THEIR FIGHTING IS NOT EVIDENT

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000100570001-1
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: December 14, 2011
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: February 8, 1987
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/12/14: CIA-RDP90-00965R000100570001-1
BALTIMORE SUN
8 February 1987
Miskitos claim CIA support, but their fighting
gy James Bock
Sun pondent
=_ MOCORON. Honduras - Miskito
Indian rebel leaders say the U.S.
Central Intelligence Agency is giving
them military supplies, but there is
no evidence of heavy guerrilla infil-
tration Into Nicaragua or much fight-
ing with Sandinista troops on the
sparsely populated Mosquito Coast.
Honduran military authorities
there report only "sporadic encoun-
ters" of Contras and Sandinistas.
11 The population of Nicaraguan In-
dip.ns. mainly Miskitos. in United
Nations refugee camps has re-
mained stable at about 16,000 since
August. Another 7.000 live in camps
run by the Friends of the Americas.
a private U.S. agency.
Relief officials, anticipating
stepped-up fighting in Nicaragua.
braced for a rumored surge of up to
10,000 more Miskito refugees late
last year. The influx never came.
Military and relief officials here
acknowledge that the refugee camps
are a recruiting ground for the Miski-
to rebel group. Kisan. They regard
the Council of Elders that dominates
the camps as a thinly veiled exten-
sion of Kisan.
They view the refugee camps as
the combatants' rear guard." said
Col. Eric Sanchez. commander of
the Honduran army's 5th Battalion
near here. "The elders supply people.
If they tell them to fight, they fight.
Neither we nor the U.N. can do any-
thing about it."
A relief official said: 'The organi-
zation is In all the camps. Almost all
the Miskitos are members. active or
non-active, of the organization."
Roger Herman, a Kisan leader.
said the group was getting food, uni-
forms and rifles for 1,500 troops di-
rectly from the CIA. He said nearly
40 Kisan guerrillas were trained in
is not evident
the United States as part of the
Reagan administration's $100 mil-
lion in aid to the Contras.
Mr. Herman maintained that 450
new recruits had joined Kisan in the
past two months and that 400 fight-
ers already were inside Nicaragua.
However, many Miskitos of fight-
~ng age were seen in Mocoron. and
relief officials said they had no re-
ports of cfugcer leaving the camps
in unusually larg.., numbers.
The Mosquito Coast is an unue-
::iopeo area of Honduras and Nica-
ragua divided by the Coco River. It is
inhabited mainly by the fiercely in-
dei,cndent Miskitos who share the
same language and customs. Its
;wa;npy plains are dotted by dirt air-
strips and crossed by rivers, but no
oads link the arc. c Lhc seavlly
populated Pacific Coast of Central
America.
The Miskito influx began in 1982
after the Sandinistas undertook 'o
resettle Indians along the Coco River
farther away from the border. By
late that year 12.000 Miskito refu-
gees were camped at Mocoron. In
1984 Honduras allowed the United
Nations to set up camps for the
Miskitos throughout the Honduran
Mosquito Coast.
The Nicaraguan Mosquito Coast
is regarded as potentially important
in the five-year-old Contra war. The
Sandinistas are less popular there
than perhaps anywhere else in Nica-
ragua. A guerrilla force could tie up
thousands of Sandinista troops in
,the vast swamps and forests. It is
also the most likely place for the reb-
els to try eventually to hold territory
and form a provisional government.
U.S. and Honduran troops have
held frequent maneuvers on the
Mosquito Coast since 1983. U.S. Ar-
my engineers built a 4.900-foot air-
strip at Mocoron last year. It is capa-
ble of receiving C-130 U.S. cargo
planes.
. During a visit, explosions at the
5th Battalion could be heard in Mo-
Coron. five miles away. A Special
Forces team from Fort Bragg, N.C.,
was instructing Honduran troops in
demolitions.
Militating against the Mosquito
Coast's becoming a key battleground
is its distance from Nicaragua's big-
gest cities; the Miskitos' traditional
distrust of Spanish-speaking "Ladi-
nos," whether they be Sandinistas or
Contras, and a history of infighting
within the Miskito leadership.
One source familiar with rebel ac-
tivities said Kisan may be slow to
fight for fear of leaving the Hondu-
ran camps unprotected against
Miskitos still loyal to Steadman Fa-
geth. an ousted guerrilla leader who
now laves in Miami.
Other sources said the "Ladino"
Contras fear that aiding Kisan too
generously might backfire and cre-
ate a dangerous enemy on the Mos-
quito Coast. The Miskitos seek to be
left alone by "Ladinos." no matter
who is in power.
The politically charged atmos-
phere at the Miskito refugee camps
poses problems both for the Hondu-
ran military and international relief
officials.
Honduras does not want to ac-
knowledge that there are Kisan bas-
esan the mosquito Coast. Nicaragua
has accused Honduras in the World
Court of sheltering the Contras, and
evidence of direct support for the
rebels could be damaging.
Honduran soldiers man road-
blocks designed to keep unwanted
visitors from straying near Kisan's
main base.
Colonel Sanchez, who as battal-
ion commander is the most powerful
authority on the Mosquito Coast. fol-
lowcd the Honduras line Jei-,
any official knowicdgt o Ki-ti s
presence.
"There's almost no Kisan left.
The war's over there tin Nicaragual.
not here. It's a one-way trip, he
said.
You can't tell them not to fight
against their government," he added.
"If conditions in Nicaragua are so
bad, it makes sense for them to go
there and create an internal front
(against the Sandinistasl."
The Honduran army allows the
Miskito refugees considerable free-
dom of movement. However, the ar-
my closely guards Salvadoran refu-
gee camps iri southwestern Hondu-
ras. Officials have accused the refu-
gees of aiding leftist guerrillas in El
Salvador.
Relief officials feel the Miskitos
sometimes use their aid for political
purposes. but they say they are obli-
gated to help the refugees.
The most blatant example of the
link between Kisan and the refugees
was the exodus of more than 7,000
Miskitos from Nicaragua last April
after fighting along the Coco River.
The refugee influx was orchestrated
by Kisan and the Council of Elders.
relief officials say.
"There was not one person
wounded or killed that we know of.
Personally. I think it was a strange
war," one relief official said.
The Council of Elders has taught
the Miskitos to demand U.N. help,
relief workers said. They fear that
som` rations end up in Kisan's
hands or are sold to raise money for
the rebels.
STAT
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/12/14: CIA-RDP90-00965R000100570001-1