NICARAGUAN REBEL CHIEF GIVES UP FIGHT

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000403490007-8
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: February 27, 2012
• Sequence Number: 7
• Publication Date: May 17, 1986
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/02/28: CIA-RDP90-00965R000403490007-8
T!CLEAPP NEW YORK TIMES
ON PAC-T _A 17 May 19 8 6
Nicaraguan Rebel Chief Gives
Up F' . t
By STEPHEN KINZER
Special to The New York Times
PITAL, Costa Rica, May 16 - Eden
Pastora Gomez, the leader of an anti-
Sandinista guerrilla force, announced
today that he was laying down his
weapons and permanently abandoning
his war against the Nicaraguan Gov-
ernment.
Pastora, who won fame as a
known as Commander Zero, described
himself as "shot down by the C.I.A.,
out not a ea "
"They deni us aid," he said of the
metgence Amencv.
inaa to his aides. r. Pastora's
force, which has operateci man n
southeastern Nicaragua. was cu o
from C.I.A. support because has
,refused to unite other rebel
onetiet to an mencan- ac
aeon. ca ne the United caraguan p-
s on.
Rivalry Threatens Coalition
The other rebel leaders began talks
in Miami this week in an effort to work
out their differences, which are so deep
that some rebel officials think one key
leader may quit the coalition.
Mr. Pastora has said he will not unite
with the opposition group because
some of its leaders were loyal to the de-
posed Government of President Anas-
tasio Somoza Debayle. Earlier this
week, six of his eight senior command-
ers deserted him and joined the United
Nicaraguan Opposition.
"There is no reason for one more
Nicaraguan to die because there is no
possibility of military victory," the
graying 49-year-old rebel said after
wading with 60 of his men across the
San Juan River roughly 30 miles north-
east of the village of Pital. The river,
now shallow because of the dry season,
forms the border between Costa Rica
and Nicaragua.
Mr. Pastora said more than 1,000
more of his men would soon be entering
Costa Rica, though there is some doubt
that his force is that large.
Campaign in a Rain Forest
The part of the Costa Rica-Nicara-
gua border where Mr. Pastora met re-
porters today is a thick tropical rain
forest bisected by the San Juan River.
Mr. Pastora and his men have made
this terrain their home for nearly four
years, seeking without success to un-
dermine the Sandinista Government to
which he once belonged.
Until Congress ordered the backin
_
ha in the a t
helped the other re s most of whom
are members of the largest insurgent
group, the Honduran-based cara-
van Democrat c Force. year,
Congress au orize million in non-
military aid to the rebels, known as
contras. President Reagan's has been
unsuccessful so far in persuading law-
makers to approve $100 million in mili-
tary and economic aid.
Mr. Pastora was met by a crowd of
journalists who had traveled from the
Costa Rican capital, San Jose, 155
miles southwest of the site, in a cara-
van organized by his Revolutionary
Democratic Alliance.
Mr. Pastora was also met by the
Deputy Minister of Public Security,
Col. Rogelio Castro Pinto. Colonel
Pinto said Mr. Pastors and. his men
would be held in custody in San Jose for
a limited time while the Government
decides how to deal with their requests
for political asylum.
Mr. Pastora said he would now use
political means to oppose the Sandin-
ista Government, which he describes
as "of the extreme left." But he said he
doubted that the Sandinistas would
allow any political party he headed to
function inside Nicaragua.
is insurgency five years ago, Amer-
Pastora as an im rtant asset to the
rebecause. cco n to omats
received clandestine financial aid from
the G.I.A. from 1952 to 1~i but was cut
off after he refused to su rt Amer-
ican- c ans to t v ow
re roups an gan to c t c ze e
agency in public.
any officials in the region believe
that Mr. Pastora's withdrawal from
the war will strengthen the United
Nicaraguan Opposition.
Diplomats in Managua, however,
speculated that while Mr. Pastoyl'O re-
tirement from the war would hei/ufiifv
the rebel movement, it could harm the
movement's public image by removing
from its ranks a popular figui Pith
impeccable anti-Somoza credeyisils.
Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/02/28: CIA-RDP90-00965R000403490007-8