SUPPORTERS OF SALVADOR GUERRILLAS BEGIN RALLY

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000302330079-8
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: October 10, 2012
• Sequence Number: 79
• Publication Date: May 27, 1985
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/10/10: CIA-RDP90-00965R000302330079-8
ARTICLE AP EARED
I:'5H1NG70N 11MES
27 May 1986
Supporters said the Sandinistas have. not hesitated
"to bring; the weapons to the people" an
of Salvador indirect reference to the recent influx of
Soviet bloc weapons.
The Reagan administration regards
Nicaragua:s arms buildup as provocative
guerrillas,, and far beyond defensive requirements.
The Soviet Union in recent months has;
delivered a number of advanced helicup-
ter gunships, according to the adminis-
(ration. ..:-.......~,~..,.
be
rally Topics scheduled for discussion:
during the convention include "Congfus
By Bill Gertz WA51 11NCi l ON I IMF sional Pressure;' "Government :md
Right-Wing I larassment of the Solidarity;
American sympathizers of the Marx- Movement;' and "Vietnam-Era Lessons":
ist guerrillas seeking to overthrow the A number of groups sympathetic to
government of El Salvador are pressing the Salvadoran guerrillas participated'im
a three-day campaign here to rally sup- the convention, among them the Free.
port against U.S. activities in Central South Africa Movement, SANE, an anti=
America. !nuclear energy group, and proponentspf
The U.S. Committee in Solidarity with; !various disarmament movements.
the People of EI Salvador, or CISI'I:S: CISPES publications have called thy
which openly supports the Marxist goer; 'Marxist guerrillas "legitimate represen,,
villas, opened the first national cunvcn 'tatives?of the Salvadoran people:'
tion Saturday at American University;
with about 300 participants chanting, The group claims to have 10,000 wp-
"F-M-1. N porters nationwide, many of them,
I'he initials stand for the Farabundo students, but experts believe its support
Marti National Liberation Front, politi;:al, has waned in recent months, due to'the
arm of the guerrilla movement. success of Salvadoran President Jose
Danny Lewis, a CISPES spokesm an, Napoleon Duarte in gathering popular
said 150 CISI'ES chapters from as afar support both in El Salvador and in the
away as California are meeting to formu- United States.
latea national strategy.'I'hc Saturday ses-
sion was open to all interested people and
was followed by two secret sessions yes-
terday and today, where an estimated 45
to 65 program proposals are being
debated. The group was also scheduled
to choose its national leaders.
"It's our first national convention, thu
subject of which is 'Working to Stop U.S.
Intervention in Central America; -" Mr.'
Lewis said.
Among the speakers at Saturday's ses-
sion were l.c-uis Mendez, a counselor,
from the Nicaraguan Embassy in Wash-'
inglon, and Salvador Sanabria, a repre
sentative of the N'MI,N. 1. 1
Julie Meyer, a regional coordinator fur
CISPES, urged participants to defy the
recent U.S. embargo against Nicaragua
by continuing "to drink their coffee and
cat their bananas"
on the war in EI Salvador, Miss Mey_er'?
told the gathering, "We will win the other,
front of the U.S. war,"apparently a refer
owe to CISPES' propaganda activities on
behalf of the FMI.N.
Mr. Mendez called the CIA "the most,
sophisticated terrorist apparatus" and
sailNicaragua s military buildup was
"different" because it has the supnort,of
"the people."
"We also have a I'ew rifles and some,
STAT
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/10/10: CIA-RDP90-00965R000302330079-8