WEINBERGER, SHULTZ URGE HELP FOR FREEDOM FIGHTERS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000504570008-6
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: February 24, 2012
• Sequence Number: 8
• Publication Date: February 20, 1986
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/02/27: CIA-RDP90-00965R000504570008-6
ARTICLE APPc D
ON PAGE
WASHINGTON TIMES
20 February 1986
Weinberger, Shultz urge
help for freedom fighters
By James Morrison
And Lucy Keyser
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
Defense Secretary Caspar Wein-
berger, warning that the Marxist
rulers of Nicaragua are "moving
quickly, with Soviet bloc and Cuban
help, to consolidate their totalitarian
power;" urged Congress yesterday to
approve a resumption of military aid
to the anti-communist guerrillas.
"Should they achieve this [consoli-
dation]," he warned, "we could con-
front a second Cuba in this hemi-
sphere, this time on the Central
America mainland:"
Mr. Weinberger told the House
Foreign Affairs Committee that
military aid to the rebels could allow
them to deal with a large Sandinista
offensive.
Congress suspended military aid
to the guerrillas, known as the Con-
tras, in 1984 but has approved $27
million :in humanitarian aid.
Secretary of State George Shultz
also was on Capitol Hill yesterday
with a call to Congress to "support,
not abandon, the democratic resis-
tance within Nicaragua:'
"The most immediate danger to
democracy in Central America is
the assault on it from Communist
Nicaraglua, aided by Cuba and the
Soviet I.Jnion," he told the Senate
Budget Committee.
Said Mr. Weinberger: "With ap-
propriate, predictable amounts of
aid, they could bring about a drastic
change in behavior on the part of the
Nicaraguan government."
"But should the Contras be
funded by further cuts in the domes-
tic program?" asked Rep. Ted Weiss,
New York Democrat.
"There are supplementals in the
president's budget which go towards
the Contras:' Mr. Weinberger said.
"There's no need for further domes-
tic cuts."
"So we put $100 million in, what
do we see in the next six months or
a year?" asked Rep. Sam Gejdenson,
Connecticut Democrat. "Don't they
[Soviets and Cubans] just ante up
every time we ante up? Don't you
think they'll just keep sending in
more guns?"
"They will if there is no visible
penalty for doing that," Mr. Wein-
berger said. "A strong, well-led force
that receives aid can make a very
large difference."
"To prevent another Soviet
bea'c7ead is worth it:' said Rep.
Henry J. Hyde, Illinois Republican.
Mr. Shultz and Mr. Weinberger
also urged Congress not to cut off aid
to the Philippines, as the Senate con-
demned the disputed re-election of
Ferdinand Marcos.
"I would counsel care and at least
a little patience. We have sent them
a very strong signal," Mr. Shultz told
the Senate Budget Committee. "We
want to stay connected with the Phil-
ippines. We don't want to walk away
from it."
Mr. Weinberger said a cutoff of
military aid to the Philippines would
only help the communist insurgency
waged by the New People's Army.
"In the end, the only real benefi-
ciary of a delayed or diminished
military aid program would be the
New People's Army, and that is an
outcome which we cannot support,"
Mr. Weinberger said.
Senate Budget Committee mem-
ber Jim Sasser, Tennessee Demo-
crat, who introduced a bill Tuesday
to halt U.S. aid to the Philippines, told
Mr. Shultz, "If we don't pull the plug
on President Marcos, the Philippine
people are going to pull the plug on
the United States and its military
bases"
Mr. Sasser's bill would affect mili-
tary and economic aid to the Phil-
ippines, a key U.S. ally in the Pacific
and the home of the two largest
American military bases outside the
United States.
His legislation would halt up to
$180 million of more than $240 mil-
lion in U.S. aid this year. The rest of
the money has already been obli-
gated to the Philippines.
Mr. Shultz noted that President
Reagan has already condemned the
Feb. 7 Philippine presidential elec-
tion for widespread fraud and vio-
lence and has sent special envoy
Philip Habib to the Philippines to
talk "to all parties."
e are to a process or assess-
ing the situation," Mr. Shultz said. "I
think we have to remember that this
is, essentially, first a Philippine
problem, and we want to see first
how the Philippines are going to han-
dle it.
"But you're right. We have a big
stake there. We have a stake in free-
dom. We have a stake in democracy.
Let's put that first, over and above
the bases."
The Senate approved a non-
binding resolution, 85-9, declaring
that the Philippine election was
"marked by such widespread fraud
that [it] cannot be considered a fair
reflection of the will of the people of
the Philippines:"
Sponsored by Majority Leader
Robert Dole of Kansas and Minority
Leader Robert Byrd of West Vir-
ginia, the resolution said the Phil-
ippine balloting "was plagued by
widespread fraud at all levels:'
"America's interests are best
served in the Philippines by a gov-
ernment that has a popular man-
date," the resolution added.
Mr. Shultz is seeking nearly $234
million for the Philippines for the
1987 fiscal year, a decrease from
current aid and the product of a bud-
get in which "every attempt was
made to economize."
In the first public hearing on his
proposed spending package, the
Senate Budget Committee warned
Mr. Shultz that his proposals might
face the ax under the Gramm-
Rudman deficit-reduction plan,
which dictates that the federal defi-
cit be cut to $144 billion in fiscal '87.
Mr. Shultz is seeking a $2.1 billion
increase in a proposed $22.6 billion
State Department budget. The pro-
posal includes $1.4 billion as the first
installment in a five-year, $4.4 billion
plan to protect diplomatic missions
from terrorism and to build new em-
bassies in high-risk countries.
"You're going to be fortunate if
there is a freeze and not a 12 percent
cut" in the State Department budget
proposal, Committee Chairman Pe-
ter Domenici of New Mexico told
Mr. Shultz.
Although they warned him of im-
pending budget cuts, committee
members generally supported his
proposals, especially his diplomatic
security plan.
"Embassy security is a responsi-
bility of this country. This fellow is
with you:' New York Democrat Dan-
iel Patrick Moynihan said.
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/02/27: CIA-RDP90-00965R000504570008-6