REAGAN WARNS OF DISASTER IF HILL BARS $100 MILLION CONTRA AID

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000504870034-4
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: February 23, 2012
• Sequence Number: 34
• Publication Date: March 4, 1986
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/02/23: CIA-RDP9O-00965ROO0504870034-4
WASHINGTON POST
4 March 1986
Reagan Warns of Disaster if Hill Bars $100 Million Contra Aid
President Reagan, trying to drum
up support for a $100 million aid
package for the Nicaraguan rebels,
met yesterday with three rebel
leaders and warned that the United
States faces a "strategic disaster" of
great magnitude and a "vast migra-
tion" of refugees if Congress turns
down his request.
"Defeat for the contras would
mean a second Cuba on the main-
land of North America," Reagan
said at the White House meeting.
"It would be a major defeat in the
quest for democracy in our hemi-
sphere. And it would mean consol-
idation of a privileged sanctuary for
terrorists and subversives just two
days' driving time from Harlingen,
Tex.," a city near the Mexican bor-
der.
With the leaders of the United
Nicaraguan Opposition at his side,
the president warned that "congres-
sional defeat of this aid proposal
could well deliver Nicaragua per-
manently to the communist bloc."
Meanwhile, Secretary of State
George P. Shultz added a new note
in the administration's campaign for
aid to the contras, warning that the
alternative is "a vision of two, three,
many Nicaraguas-a hemisphere of
burning churches, suppressed
newspapers and crushed opposi-
tion."
State Department officials said
the "burning churches" statement
apparently referred to the burning
of Miskito Indian villages in 1981-
82 by Sandinista forces in an effort
to force the inhabitants out of it con-
tested coastal area.
Despite the intensity of the rhet-
oric from Reagan and Shultz, ad-
ministration political strategists ac-
knowledge that the odds are against
them in their efforts to win the $71)
million in military aid that the pres-
ident said is an essential part of the
package. Prospects are considered
brighter for the $30 million in hu-
manitarian aid.
On Capitol Hill, Senate Assistant
Majority Leader Alan K. Simpson
(R-Wyo.) said there is a "good pros-
pect" for the aid package if Reagan
goes all out for it with a nationally
televised speech, which his aides
have said is likely.
But Rep. Dave McCurdy (D-
Okla.), considered a key swing vote,
announced that he will oppose the
package and said he is "fairly con-
fident" that :31) other congressmen
who supported last year's decision
to grant $27 million in humanitarian
aid will agree with him. He ex-
pressed anger at both the admin-
i,tration and House Democratic
cadets for demanding a quick vote
'fur political reasons, while there
.Ire those of us in the middle who
,ire concerned about policy."
:Another swing voter, Rep.
Charles E. Bennett (U-hla.1. said he
III ,upport the aid request and wa,
c,i?ured by Reagan', pledge not
to u,r C . troops in Nicaragua ac'l
,I, re,ittirrnation of U.5. tre
i nlli[lilt llIt'llt,.
%'ort-, are now expected in h- ?i
houses of Congress during the third
week of March. A senior Where
House official said yesterday that
"this gives us less time than we may
need to build the pressure," partic-
ularly in the House.
McCurdy said he has been work-
ing on a compromise proposal with
Senate leaders that would c.lll fur
renewed diplomatic efforts and i
re,tructuring of contra leader,hip
to broaden and democratize it. ;1nd
Sen. Jim Sasser (D-Tenn.) proposed
putting the aid in escrow for six
months while the United States ne-
gotiates with Nicaragua toward a
peace ,etttement, a position the ad-
ministration has rejected in the
p,l,t.
The president and the rebel lead-
ers insisted that they have actively
,ought a diplomatic solution but
that the Sandinistas aren't interest-
ed.
'We want a real two-track ap-
proach that will seek a political so-
lution," said Alfonzo Robelo, one of
the three rebel leaders who met
with Reagan. "But the Sandinistas
will never look into the political sit-
uation seriously unless they have
the pressure."
Reagan said that a Sandinista vic-
tory over the contras would enable
them to turn their attention to
overthrowing neighboring democ-
racies.
"I think it would place in jeopardy
the survival of each of those small
and fragile democracies now in Cen-
tral America, open up the possibility
of Soviet military bases on Amer-
ica's doorstep, could threaten the
security of the Panama Canal [andj
inaugurate a vast migration north-
ward to the United States of hun-
dreds of thousands of refugees," the
president said. "And those who
would invite this strategic disaster
... will be held fully accountable by
history."
The Nicaraguan government re-
sponded to the White House meet-
ing and Shultz's speech by saying
those actions were "additional
proof' of the administration's "i 0111-
nutment to a military solution in
Central America."
By Lou Cannon and -Joanne (1mang
W,I mgh.n Pmr Start Wre. I .
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/02/23: CIA-RDP9O-00965ROO0504870034-4