RIVALRY THREATENING TO SPLIT CONTRAS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000403790032-7
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: February 9, 2012
• Sequence Number: 32
• Publication Date: May 16, 1986
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/02/09 :CIA-RDP90-009658000403790032-7
NEW YORK TIMES
16 May 1986
Rivalry Threatening to Split Contras
M'TICI.E
~~ -
/ By JAMES LeM' E
Special to The New York Time
MIAMI, May 15 -After three days
,/ of talks, Nicaraguan rebel leaders re-
main so deeply divided on how to re-
structure their guerrilla movement
that one key leader is ready to resign,
according to several rebel officials
here.
The State Department is sufficiently
alarmed by the internal dispute that it
has threatened hard-liners within the
rebel movement that if they do not
make concessions, aid to the guerrillas
will be cut oft within a few weeks, ac-
cording tofour rebel and Congressional
sources.
When asked to comment, a State De-
partment official would confirm only
that Assistant Secretary of State Elliott
Abrams told rebel leaders that "it is
necessary to resolve internal differ-
ences or else aid will be threatened."
Several rebel officials here say thatea
solution can be forced only by more
pressure from the Administration.
A Threat to Cut OH Ald
The furious showdown between com-
peting rebel leaders appears to be the
inevitable culmination of Administra-
tion efforts to transform the politically
conservative guerrilla army, which en-
joys little or no international standing,
into a popular movement capable of
threatening the Sandinista leadership
in Nicaragua.
The outcome has major implications
because several members of Congress
have said they will not vote for further
American assistance to the rebels it
they do not form abroad-based move-
ment.
tru le for wer rebel otti-
cials who w on i
the Centre. ante Qence AQencv to
w
cratic Force ace ess militant rebel of
flcla s w o. with the leader of the NicA_
ra uan Democratic F r
ers o t e new American-ba
raxuan Ovtxtsition.
'He's Had It'
According to several well-placed
rebel and Congressional sources, Ar-
turoCruz, who is seen as the least hard-
line of the rebel leaders, has said he
will resign i[ the old rebel military
structure is not brought fully under the
authority of the United Nicaraguan Op-
position. Rebel military leaders have
fiercely resisted such a change.
"He's had it," said a rebel official
who knows Mr. Cruz well. "If he does-
n't get agreements on making the mili-
tary side subservient to the civilian
leaders, he's going to resign."
Mr. Cruz refused to comment on his
intentions. If he resigns, several rebel
sources here say, another top rebel offi-
cial, Alfonso Robelo, will also probably
resign. That would leave Adolfo Cale-
ro, head of the Nicaraguan Democratic
Force, as the sole remaining rebel
leader, an outcome that appears likely
to torpedo further aid from Congress.
"If Cruz walks, they might as well
kiss support to the rebels goodbye,"
said Representative Dave McCurdy,
an Oklahoma Democrat who 1s seen as
the leader of swing votes in the House
on the issue of aid to the rebels. "It
would clearly be a sign that the rebels
refuse to become more democratic and
provide a reasonable alternative to the
Sandinistas."
Around-tbaClock Talb
In a shitting series of meetings in
hotels, high-rise apartment towers that
overlook the bay, and secluded homes
on Key Biscayne, rebel leaders are
locked in around-the-clock talks with
their lieutenants and their internal op-
to re e
en's spec a envoy, Philip C. Habib.
_ ew own s tore ea ers on
frtajor reorttaNzat on o
ovement in eats the Stat
Da men __ persua r.
-~AiaGdlf~GtL But Mr. Cruz and Mr.
Robelo have charged that the organiza-
tionhas remained politically powerless
because Mr. Calero has maintained
control of the Nicaraguan Democratic
Force army and a separate bureau-
cracy that serves it.
Resistance Expected to ConHnus
Mr. Cruz is now demanding that the
United Nicaraguan Opposition be the
only political organization to represent
the rebels, according to rebel sources,
and that all decisions betaken by a ma-
jority vote of the top three leaders.
That would allow him and Mr. Robelo
to outvote Mr. Calero.
Mr. Calero has resisted both meas-
ures, the same rebel sources say, and is
expected to continue resisting them in
talks that could extend into next week.
Despite repeated telephone calls this
afternoon, Mr. Calero could not be
reached for comment.
In a number of confrontations over
the last few months, Mr. Calero has
refused to make any concession to Mr.
Cruz, according to rebel and Congres-
sional sources. He has maintained
overall control of the war in Nicaragua,
has sidestepped efforts to close his
group's office in Washington in order to
allow the United Nicaraguan Opposi-
tion to open an office, and has used pri-
vate funds to carry out his own political
activities, the sources say.
This week, according to two rebel
sources, Mr. Calero suggested that
members of the old Liberal Party,
which served the Nicaraguan dictator
Mastasio Somoza Debayle, be in-
cluded in the new rebel organization.
Mr. Calero was said to have argued
that this would be a move at greater
representation. Mr. Cruz and Mr.
Robelo reportedly took the move as an
attempt to increase the standing of con-
servatives in the organization.
Conduct to Interview Questioned
In a sign of the tensions between the
top leaders, Mr. Cruz and Mr. Robelo
demanded that the senior rebel mili-
tarycommander, Col. Enrique Bermu-
dez, explain a recent television inter-
view in which he dismissed the impor-
tance of a new code of conduct written
by the United Nicaraguan Opposition
for rebel soldiers, rebel sources here
say.
Mr. Bermudez tried to avoid explain-
ing his conduct during a brief meeting
on Monday, saying he was very busy
and had to return to Honduras, the
rebel sources say. He then reportedly
attempted to dismiss the matter in a
manner that Mr. Cruz and Mr. Robelo
found unconvincing.
Mr. Bermudez, a close ally of Mr.
Calera, is reported to be angry that Mr.
Cruz and Mr. Robelo managed to per-
suade agroup of rebel commanders in
southern Nicaragua to join forces with
them last week. In effect, this gave Mr.
Cruz and Mr. Robelo, for the first time,
their own base of military support. Mr.
Bermudez had hoped the southern
rebel commanders would join the Hon-
duran-based army that he commands,
rebel officials here say.
At present, only three outcomes of
the rebel leaders' dispute appear like-
ly. They are that Mr. Calero would give
in to Mr. Cruz; Mr. Cruz would modify
his position and remain, or Mr. Cruz
would carry out his threat and resign.
Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/02/09 :CIA-RDP90-009658000403790032-7