CONTRAS IN PACT GIVING CIVILIANS GREATER POWER

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000403790030-9
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: February 9, 2012
• Sequence Number: 30
• Publication Date: May 29, 1986
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/02/09: CIA-RDP90-00965R000403790030-9
MTICLF AP
ON PAGE
Contras in Pact
Giving Civilians
Greater Power
BY JAMES it IMOYNE
aaW0The w.raar',..
MIAMI. May 2$ _ After almost three
weeks of hard bargaining here, the
larders of the main Nicaraguan rebel
Organisation were reported today to
be" mad accord under which
ehmaa officials will be given greater
Rebel awtcse in Miami and Wash.
ingtm say the apeement appears
likely to r'asN a limill posse atrngg~
that threatened to split the rebel first,
which is named the United Nicaraguan
Oppoeltion.
The rebai, known as costsk are
seeking the oarthrvw of the Nipm
gain Goviornia wt. which took power in
dos IM glow that toppled the
dlcoa0ar Anastasio Somem Debsyfe.
Dersrate Strsa811MM
The rebel sources cautioned that the
the effect of the accord would depend
on the willingness of rebel officials to
put aside their differences and carry
out Its terms.
"17tis was a tough fight that
strengthens the democrats in the
United Nicaraguan Opposition," said
Robert Letkep, a Senior Fellow at the
Carnegie
oPeace ~wM madtors the rebels.
"But we have to see .now if the agree.
ment is applied."
The accord appears designed to
strengthen the hand of Arturo Cruz and
Alfonso Robelo within the rebel move-
ment while diminishing the power of
Adolfo Calero, the head of the Nicara.
guan Democratic Force, the main
rebel army. The three are co-leaders of
the United States-backed United Nica-
raguan Opposition.
The changes may strengthen the
Reagan Administration's case in Con.
gress for renewed financing for the
guemllas. Cminaaa cur nff m,Hraa
aid to the rebels in 1554 after the Cen.
tral Intelligence Agency was found to
have been involved in the mining of
Nicaraguan harbors.
NEW YORK TIMES
?9 May 1986
The rebels received more than $100
million In American aid, the last
pacakage of which was a $27 million in
so-called nonlethal assistance.
The Administration has worked for
the rleebbels are controlled cl~tfy b that
trme Ideological conservatives
Miliu whin were loyand
al
Several rebel sources said the Ad.
come totian agpressed
raamapt urging Mtro.
Call in
slons. Particular to make oopceo-
The accord appear, to be
a kind of
contract Intended to give civilian offi-
cials greater control over key Polltycal
appointments and the disclpffi or
dismissal of military nom
In a~tian, new civilian officiala VIA
oversee and row finances, political vest. Mil have the pow ~ nvestlg ons and will
and
left human rights abuses and the poll
m is.
use of funds, rebel sources said. None
of the three leaders would comment on
the accord today.
cadets at Odds
But according to rebel sources, Mr.
Calero feels he was pressed too much
compromise to keep to
Mr. Crux from
carrying out a threat to resign it major
changes were not made,
Mr. Cruz and Mr. Robelo have been
at odds with Mr. Calero for the last
Year, charging that he has sou
monopolize power. ght to
The three also have
e political dtfter-
a? Mr. Cruz and Mr. Robelo
former Sandinista officials are
who repre.
sent the Social Democratic wing of the
rebef cons a
tider They are willing to
Sandinfi"s !tamed,settlement with
the
?-= use rvlcara?
Pon ts to the NI ragbrought some
i Mr. Caletp is seen as a strongly Ideo.
conservative who has found people.
al fee among exiled Nicaraguan bust-
nessmen and military officials who
pported the Somoza regime and who
believe the Sandinistas must be over.
thrown militarily.
Under the accord, some key deci.
such as the dismissal of military
pt>tntmen~ Important political ap.
vote will now be by a majority
among the three leaders rather
than by u moue agreement as in the
past, rebel sources said.
Other decisions, such as the making
of new Political alliances, the appoint.
ment of military commanders and set-
ting of the budget, will still be by con-
sensus, the sources said. On issues
where consensus is not possible an out.
side committee will have the final say,
they said.
In the past, all major decisions were
by consensus, a Procedure that in prac-
tice led to Mr. Calero vetoing changes
The new ne by Mr. Robelo and Mr. Cruz.
Procedure appears to
strengthen Mr. Cruz and Mr. Robelo
while Preserving considerable power
for Mr. Calero.
The accord appears to leave most of
the military command structure of the
Nicaraguan Democratic Force intact.
7Tere have been repeated charges that
the rebels have failed to expand rapidly
an
ide popular support in part
because d find w
Several
former N tie onalkey commanders are
served the Somoza Guardsmen who
Governwent.
Southern From Planned
Rebel souuces said it was
to shift key military coat not P0nible
the middle of a war. I menders in nstead they hoped to Improve the' 'said'
military and political atandio byla-
strong Kilian oversight of
their operations.
In addition, more funds and supplies
win be devoted to creating a southern
mCosta aRRicatrm in n bordert~ near
sources said.
said.
Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/02/09: CIA-RDP90-00965R000403790030-9