HONDURAS - AND THE DEATH OF MAJOR ZUNIGA

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000707010005-5
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: December 13, 2011
• Sequence Number: 5
• Publication Date: December 18, 1985
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

i Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/12/13: CIA-RDP90-00965R000707010005-5
SIT?r1rA .~REO CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR
ON PAGE 18 December 1985
LETTM
I11aWww - and the death of Major umga.
A Nov 19 story by Dennis Tohnan,
"Killing of Honduran Army officer linked
to testimony in US," stated that "there is
widespread suspicion that the death of
Maj. Ricardo Zuniga Morazan in Hondu-
ras in September is tied to information he
gave Senate intelligence committees [sic],
conwmanen, and ranking congressional
staffers year and in 1984."
Major Zuniga never appeared, for-
mally or informally, before the Select
Committee on Intelligence nor did he, as
far as we can determine based- on our
records and" conversations with the staff,
ever meet with members of the staff.
We are, of course, aware of reports
from Honduras last year concerning al-
leged death-squad activity in that coun-
try-as well as recent stories that Major
Zuniga'b death was linked in some way to
this issue.
These is, however, absolutely no basis
for the claim that the death of Major
Zuniga was related in any way to informa-
tion he is supposed to have provided to
our committee or its staff.
We note, furthermore, that your re-
porter apparently did not attempt to clar-
ify this matter with the committee before
writing these remarks.
Dan Dowbwgw Select Conrnitt. on
Chwnnen Inti1 a.,ce
Pabick Leahy Unibd stabs Semis
via Chdmyn W
[Editor's note: The Monitor reaffirms that
Ricardo Zuniga did meet with staff mem-
bers of both the House and Senate Intelli-
gence Committees. One of the sources for
Dennis Volman's story was present at a
meeting between Mr. Zuniga and a staff
member of the Senate Intelligence Com-
mittee. Other sources for the story heard
about the meeting from Zuniga himself.
It is true that Zuniga's meetings with
both House and Senate staff members
were informal; he did not submit sworn
testimony. One of the references in the
story refers to Zuniga's "testimony" and
is therefore inaccurate and flowed from an
editing error which the Monitor regrets.
As the story made- clear, Zuniga also
spoke to many other people in Washing-
ton including congressmen, ranking con-
gressional staffers, and journalists. The
substance of what Zuniga said did get
back to Honduran authorities, causing
him some difficulties; however; the Moni-
tor has no reason to believe that the Sen-
ate Intelligence Committee was responsi-
ble for the leak rather than any of the
other people with whom Zuniga spoke.]
Meeskhw With Zuniga
I would like to supplement Dennis
Volman's excellent article on the testi-
mony of the recently murdered Maj. Ri-
cardo Zuniga. .- I-
I organized and arranged for most of
the meetings that Major Zuniga held in
Washington in spring 1984 and January
1985.
The major point missing in the story is
also the reason Major Zuniga overcame
serious personal reservations and decided
to speak with people in Congress. He had
received what he regarded as reliable in-
formation that there was a concerted ef-
fort by United States intelligence agencies
to force 21 officers of the Honduran Army
out of the chain of command and five of
these, including himself, completely out of
the Army.
It was his understanding that these of-
ficers had been singled out for their oppo-
sition to aspects of United States policy
and the byproducts of US policy. Specifi-
cally, he was very concerned about the
human rights situation. He said that in
1981 the United States had helped set up a
special operations battalion, Battalion
306. Battalion 306, according to Zuniga,
was led by Maj. Alexander Hernandez,
who at the direction of Gen. Gustavo
Alvarez Martinez carried out kidnappings
of citizens.
Throughout our conversations, Zuniga
demonstrated strong concern about the
nature and policies of the Nicaraguan gov-
ernment. As a result, he had strong sym-
pathies for the Nicaraguan exile forces,
particular)ans:, Despitc
this, he was very troubled, as a Honduran
military officer, by the involvement of
FDN forces in the murder of Honduran
citizens, and by the fact that the
Honduran military was itself involved in
these activities.
The solution, he and other young offi-
cers believed, was to pressure the United
States, the FDN, and their own senior of-
ficers to purge from the FDN the individ-
uals directly responsible for the human
rights violations.
I do not know whether major Zuniga's
murder was motivated by political consid-
erations. I do know that his- decision to
seek help in the US Congress was moti.
vated by a desire to protect the sover-
ergnty of the Honduran armed forces from
interference by US officials, and because
of his anger at the involvement of the
Honduran Army in human rights viola-
tions similar to those that have occurred
in El Salvador and Guatemala. He told
me that "Hondurans do not kill each
other over politics. "
But Nicaraguans do, and from 1981
until early 1984 (at least) Nicaraguans
were used by a couple of Honduran mili-
tary commanders to carry out "military
intelligence" operations that left perhaps
100 Hondurans dead. No action has been
taken to bring those responsible to justice.
Brun P. Cameron Fanner Lepbiatln DUaclar
Americans for ast;tAdd" 0 r; hlnor
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/12/13: CIA-RDP90-00965R000707010005-5