LATIN DEBATE REFOCUSED

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP91-00561R000100020119-8
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: February 17, 2012
• Sequence Number: 119
• Publication Date: April 9, 1984
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

4 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/02/21 : CIA-RDP91-00561 R000100020119-8
ARTICLE APPEARED
ch PAGE -Z-/
1 Lh' YORK TDhS
9 April 1981:
Latin Debate Refocused
Reports of C.I.A. Role in Nicaragua Mining
Stir New Doubts in Congress on Covert Acts
clearly compensating benefit to Amer- iv1--WvL asauIL j ..dI-cigUa. inese
can interests in Central America. opponents include Representatives Ed-
ward P. Boland of Massachusetts. the
The laying of the mines, in the bar- chairman of the House Select Commit-
hors of key Nicaraguan ports, is said to 'tee on Intelligence, and Lee H. Hamil-
have begun about two months.ago. ton of Indiana, both moderate Demo-
Soviet Tanker Was Damaged ? crests whose views are widely respected
by colleagues. An aide to Represents-
The Soviet Union made a formal pro- ? tive Bill Alexander of Arkansas, the
test to the United States last month chief deputy majority whip, said the
News among some officials in
Analysis the Reagan :Administra-
tion about the extensive
use of covert activities to
advance United States interests in Cen-
tral America.
As details about the mining and the
direct involvement of the C.I.A. have
been disclosed in recent days by both
Administration officials and members
of Congress, the operation has become
the focus of attention in a debate about
the Administration's policies in Central
America.
? The primary concern expressed by
Administration and Congressional op-
ponents of the mining is that it has irri-
tated American allies in Europe and-
risked an incident between the United
States and the Soviet Uninn without a
By PHILIP TAUBMAN
Special to The New York rime
WASHINGTON, April 8 - The min- But critics of the mining, including
ing of Nicaraguan harbors, reportedly some officials at the State Department,
under the direct supervision of the Cen- said it represented a major increase in
tral Intelligence Agency, has rekindled American covert activities against
doubts in Congress and Nicaragua that was undertaken with-
Democrat 61 New or and eputy
chairman of the Senate Intelligence
Committee, said Friday that be
thought Congressional opposition
would eventually, force an end to the
mining.
Senate Voted More Funds
Last week the Senate voted 76 to 19 to
provide S21 million in new funds for the
C.I.A. this year to support Nicaraguan
rebel activities, including the mining.
Fifty-three Republicans and 23 Demo-
craw, including Mr. Moynihan, sup-
ported the measure, which also oon.
tamed $61.75 million in additional mili-
tary aid to El Salvador.
There is widespread opposition to the
S21 million in the House, which voted
twice within
th
l
.
e
ast year to cut on
out adequate consideration by Con-
funds for Nicaraguan rebels.
gress. "Mining harbors comes close to? Leahv said senators should have
an act of war," one Democratic mem- been aware o the mining when
her of the Senate Select Committee on voted on the $21 million appr?gpdation
Intelligence said, "but because it's last,week be use Senator Barry M.
part of a covert operation, normal de- Goldwater, the chairman of the Senate
bate was short-circuited." Intelli8_encee mittee inadvertent
Another Democrat on the commit- referredto cmert o ration in floor
tee, Senator Patrick J. Leahy of Ver- debate? y Sal water,.
mont, said today: "When you substi- ! an Arizona Republican, later had his
tute covert activity for a foreign policy, remar a et m e ongres-
you run into exactly this problem. Coy- sona7Fff rd. N ,C-oIawater could not
ert activities should be used only on a be reached for comment today in
limited scale for very specific pur- WashhAgton or Arizona.
poses:ff Because the mining was part of a
Opposition in House covert operation, other senators said, It
did not receive the attention it warrant-
Leading Democrats in the House, in ed. "Barry did mention it, but that was
part because of concern about the min- a mistake, and we certainly didn't have
ing, are -opposed to providing the C.T.A. a detailed report or discussion," a Re.;
with additional funds to support covert publican Senator said today.
mining has helped galvanize opposition
to increasing the funds.
The last time the United States
openly mined foreign harbors was in
1972, when President Nixon ordered the
mining of all North Vietnamese ports
to prevent the flow of arms and sup-
plies. Critics of the Nicaraguan mining
said that unlike Mr. Nixon's action,
which became the subject of heated de-
bate as soon as it was announced, the
officials, contend that it is an effective mining of Nicaraguan ports was con.
damaged by a mine as it approached
Puerto Sandino on the Pacific coast of
Nicaragua. Last week France offered
to help Nicaragua remove the mines,
and Britain told the Administration
that it disapproved of the mining as in-
terference with international shipping.
Proponents of the mining, including
intelligence and Defense Department
when a Soviet tanker, the Lugansk, was
law because Nicaragua is supporting
aggression by leftist guerrillas in El
Salvador.
in addition, the proponents said, the
risk of provoking American allies or
the Soviet Union is limited by the na-
ture of the mines, which they described
as powerful enough to damage but not
sink foreign ships.
tactic 01 harassment against Nicara- ducted in secret and entered public dis-
gua and is justified under international i cussion only because of unauthorized
Although the critics remain a mi-
nority in the Administration and in the
Republican-controlled Senate, they ap-
pear in combination with House Demo-
crats to have sufficient strength to
force at least a reappraisal of the min..
ing. Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan,
Most Senators Unaware
The Senator said most members of
the Senate were not fully aware of the
C.I.A.'s role in the mining, which in-
volves three Nicaraguan ports, El
Bluff on the Atlantic and Puerto
Sandino and Puerto Corinto on the Pa-
cific.
He said most senators did not know
until a report published today that
Americans working for the C.I.A. on a
ship off the Pacific coast had Seen su-
pervising the mining. This was the first
time since the United States began sup-
porting the Nicaraguan rebels three
years ago that Americans have become
directly involved in military operations
against the Sandinista Government.
Administration officials have said
i that the actual placement of the mines
inside Nicaraguan territorial waters is
handled by an elite group of Latin
American commandos who use small,
high-speed boats to penetrate shipping
lanes close to shore. The Americans,
according to intelligence officials, re
main aboard the headquarters ship
that stays outside Nicaraguan waters.
CcMli lied
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/02/21 : CIA-RDP91-00561 R000100020119-8