REAGAN TO ACCUSE SOVIET OF SENDING ARMS TO MANAGUA

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000100680015-4
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: December 20, 2011
• Sequence Number: 15
• Publication Date: June 8, 1986
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

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slfied in Part -Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/12/20 :CIA-RDP90-009658000100680015-4
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REAGAN TO ACCUSE
SOVIET OF SENDING
ARMS TO MANAGUA
By GERALD M. BOYD
-Spedal w The New Yart 77ros
WASHINGTON, June 7 - White
House officials said today that presi_
dent Reagan, it` a campaign to try, to
win Congressional approval of new'aid
for Nicaraguan rebels, would charge
this week that the Soviet Union has re-
sumeddirect arms shipments to Mane.
gce?
The officials said UNted States intei-
li~ence sources ad information show-
ing that a Soviet fret ter delivered a
large ca e o m 'ta supp lea to
IV_i'caraaua m early Ma
Attempts to reach the spokesman at
Ne Nicaraguan Embassy N Washing-
ton were unavailing. The spokesman
was in Nicaragua, according to the per_
son who answered the phone, and no
one else could respond.
SpecWatipt oa Propose
The White House officials speculated
that Ne reported shipment of hardwa; e
was intended to help Managua n:oi:at a
new drive against Ne United States-
backed guerrillas seeking to overthrew
the Sandinista Government.
Mr. Reagan is hoping to win ap-
proval by the House of Representatives
[or 6100 million in aid to the rebels,
known as contras. He is expected to
lobby heavily over the next two weeks,
before the scheduled House ??ota ,~ tpe
package. The President is seek:;~g :i70
million in military, eid and shot:; >;0
I million for nonmilitary purposes.
The White House officials said the
Soviet arms shipment they described
j was one of several key developments
since March, when the House rejected
Mr. Reagan's aid request, that would
strengthen Ne White House case this
time.
Increased Repression Charged
They said Mr. Reagan is expected to
assert that the Nicaraguan Govern-
ment increased repression in recent
months, including a new crackdown on
the political opposition, and that Nica_
ragua has actively sought to thwart re-
gional efforts to negotiate a peace.
The new Administration assertion
about Soviet arms was made by a sen-
ior White House official and lacer re-
pealed by another Reagan aide who
said he had seen intelligence reports
supporting the assertion. The officials
said they were unable to provide docu-
mentary evidence because of sensi_
tivity over how the information was ob-
tained.
NE~~~' YORK TIMES
8 June 1986
Administration officials have been
reluctant to discuss Soviet arms deliv-
eries to Nicaragua since they were em-
barrassed by assertions in November
1984 that Moscow might be supplying
MIG21 fighter planes to Managua. The
assertions came after a United States
surveillance satellite passing over a
Soviet port observed 12 crates of the
kind that usually contain MIG's next to
a Soviet freighter, the Bakur'Iani.
United States intelligence analysts
later concluded that there had prob-
ablynot been any fighter planes aboard
the Bakuriani when it was unloaded at
the Nicaraguan port of Corinto, al-
though some White House officials sug-
Bested that the planes might have been
stowed below deck and not unloaded
because of the sharp protests by Wash.;
ington to Moscow.
According to the officials, the new
arms shipment was the first time in
more than 18 months Nat the Soviet
Union supplied military egWpment di-
rectly to Nicaragua. The Administra-
tion has previously said Soviet deliv-
eries normally go first to the Cuban
port of Martel and are oft-loaded before
going do to Nicaragua.
The officials said the latest ship-;
ment, from Ne Soviet Black Sea port otl
Nikolayev, arrived in Nicaragua in.
early May. They would not identify thei
type of arms, but said this information;
might be divulged later this week,
presumably by Mr. Reagan.
"The significance of this is that Ne
Sandinistas want to wipe out the con-
tras during 1986, and they want to have
all the equipment they need to be able
to wipe them out," said one senior
White House official. "Because they
are so determined to make a big push,
they have decided to be less cautious,
perhaps."
Report on SoWet Personnel
In April 1985, before the House and
Senate were scheduled to vote on a re-
quest [or S19 million in aid to the rebels,
Mr. Reagan contended that Soviet
"military personnel" had been spotted
in the battle zones in northern Nicara-
gua near the Honduran border.
Discussing the reported arms ship-
ment today, the officials speculated
that the Sandinistas probably received
the shipment believing it would have no
bearing on the United States Congres-
sional debate over the rebel aid, since
the Russians have consistently sup
plied Managua with arms.
"They never think we are going to.
know about these things," added an-
other White House official.
A third official recalled the visit to
the Soviet Union last year by President
Daniel Ortega Saavedra of Nicaragua.
The visit, which came just before a
Congressional vote, caused some legis-
lators to change their minds on a re-
quest for aid to the rebels, and the re-
quest was approved. ,
Another Pre-Vote Report
This March, just as Congress was
considering the new aid request, they
Administration asserted that the San-
dinistas had launched a major invasion
into neighboring Honduras to destroy
contra bases. The siz4~and nature of the
invasion has?been disputed by Nicara-
guan and some Honduran sources.
The officials said that since the
House rejected the latest aid request by
a 222-to-210 vote in March, the Sandin-
istas had increased internal repres-
sion, using. a new tactic of charging
political opponents of the Government
with criminal offenses.
The officials said the Nicaraguan
Government had also intensified ef-
forts to confiscate private businesses,
forcing thousands of small shops to ei-
ther shut down or come under state
control in the past three months. The
officials also said the Sandinistas had
carried out an unprovoked attack on
Miskito Indian villages in March that
forced about 11,000 villtagers to flee
into Honduras.
in other developments since March,
the officials said foreign military ad-
visers, who, according to United States
estimates, number about 3,500 to 5,000
Cubans and 250 Russians, are taking on
more support roles such as manning
radar, conducting reconnaissance
flights and flying helicxrpters.
Publicizing Reports
The officials said Ne White House is
considering the best meNod for Mr.
Reagan to publicize these develop-
ments.
The officials asserted that Ne con-
tras, since March, had been able to
nearly double their troop strengN in-
side Nicaragua to about 10,000 to 12,000.
"It has been a good monN for them,"
said one White House official. "They
have decided to use what they have leh
to mount a major campaign. But the
problem is that the supplies are al-
ready dwindling in certain categories,
and without new aid there is no way
they can continue such a campaign
past sometime in July."
Other White House aides said Nica-
ragua's participation in the peace talks
by the so-called Contadora nations -
Mexico, Venezuela, Colombia and
Panama -should also help the United
States case because of the delay in
reaching an agreement.The Adminis-
tration has asserted that Nicaragua's
neighbors have become united in dis-
may at Nicaragua's policies during Ne
talks and that the two sides are further
apart now than ever.
Declassified in Part -Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/12/20 :CIA-RDP90-009658000100680015-4