'NICARAGUAN GUERRILLAS CLAIM GREATER STRENGTH

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000504020007-7
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: January 20, 2012
• Sequence Number: 7
• Publication Date: September 3, 1985
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

STnT
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/01/20: CIA-RDP90-00965R000504020007-7
ARTI(YE At"ED
ON FM AA - I __
WASHINGTON POST
3 September 1985
Nicaraguan Guerrillas
Claim Greater Strength
V
Larger Units Target Population Centers
By Robert J. McCartney
Washington Post Foreign Service
TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras-
Antigovernment guerrillas, awash
in fresh supplies, have begun fight-
ing in larger units in an effort to
penetrate Nicaragua's population
centers and to intensify attacks on
Sandinista troops and economic tar-
gets, rebel leaders say.
The guerrillas, who are known in
Nicaragua as counterrevolution-
aries or contras, have received spe-
cial training to take cover from ar-
tillery and helicopters that the gov-
ernment increasingly is deploying
against them. The rebels say they
plan to use shoulder-fired antiair-
craft missiles against the helicop-
ters, and to obtain an undisclosed
type of weapon to "neutralize" San-
dinista artillery.
The rebels sent the bulk of their-
forces, estimated at between 7,000
and 10,000, from base camps in
Honduras into Nicaragua in June
and July in an effort to stage a sus-
tained offensive for the first time
this year. The infiltration was made
possible by the rebels' success in
opening a pipeline of ammunition
and weapons funded by private con-
tributors, according to contra lead-
ers and other sources familiar with
their operations.
The rebels' goal is to carry the
war away from the isolated moun-
tains, where they have been strong-
est in the past, and into more pop-
ulous regions where they can de-
monstrate their strength fQr both
Nicaraguan and international public
opinion. A string of military suc-
cesses would encourage the U.S.
Congress to look favorably on re-
suming military aid to the contras,
as the Reagan administration is ex-
pected to propose this autumn, con-
tras said.
Leaders of the Nicaraguan Dem-
ocratic Force, which is the largest
contra group and is known by its
Spanish initials FDN, were in a
buoyant, almost cocky mood follow-
ing two successful attacks in early
August.
"This war is becoming a bit more
tough. We have the supplies to con-
tinue fighting at this'level," military
commander Enrique Bermudez
said.
But U.S. and Honduran military
analysts cautioned that it is too ear-
ly to tell whether the rebels would
achieve significant advances. The
dramatic attacks last month on the
Pan-American Highway and on the
town of Cuapa in central Nicaragua
have not been repeated, these
sources noted.
"They're doing much better. The
problem is that they're outgunned
and outmanned," a U.S. observer
said.
These analysts also said that an
important test of the Nicaraguan
Democratic Force's success would
be whether it is able to build pop-
ular support inside Nicaragua. The
Sandinista government has relo-
cated thousands of peasants forcibly
from northern mountains along the
Honduran border where the force
has had its strongholds. This is con-
sidered one reason the contras are
now pushing into new regions to
seek to expand their base of sup-
port.
"The real question is whether the
FDN will be able to use military
strength for political ends. If they
can't break down the Sandinista
political structure, then they'll stay
in the mountains and just be an ir-
ritant," said a source who isin close
touch with the force.
In addition, the contras would
benefit from a network of sympa-
thizers who could help'smuggle sup-
plies. Contra leaders said their
guerrillas buy food and some other
supplies from the civilian popula-
tion, but they said their principal
"weak spot" was their reliance on
air drops for arms, ammunition,
boots, uniforms and medicine.
"Our biggest problem is resup-
ply," Bermudez said. The contras
are hoping to obtain new aircraft in
coming wgeks or months to make
the supply flights, which originate
in Honduras.
Guerrillas have resumed travel-
ing in "task forces" of between 200
and 300 combatants as they did last
year, their leaders said. The FDN
broke down many of its units into
groups of as few as 20 early this
year when scarce supplies and San-
dinista artillery attacks had forced
them onto the defensive, they said.
The guerrillas also say they are us-
ing their numerous and high-quality
field radios to coordinate attacks
among several task forces. ?.
In the attack on a stretch of the
Pan-American 'Highway in Esteli
province, 2,000 guerrillas from four
task forces coordinated an assault
at three separate points, rebel lead-
ers said. They used dynamite to
blow holes in two bridges and a
causeway, and killed at least 29
Sandinista troops in an ambush dur-
ing their withdrawal. The attack
was the most damaging yet in Es-
teli, a relatively heavily populated
province and one of the force's main
targets.
"We were operating before in
small units. With new training and
supplies, we already are operating
in larger and better coordinated
groups. This attack [on the high-
way] marked a new era," said Ar-
istides Sanchez, one of the four
members of the force's civilian-mil-
itary junta.
Interviews with the leaders of
the Nicaraguan Democratic Force
were granted on the condition that
the location be described only as
"somewhere in Central America."
Force leaders now sa thyme + "lost
a year" in their struggle gle because of
last year's cutoff of CIA funding by
the U.S. Congress. Contra attacks
diminished notably in the first half
of t is year, and guerrillas report-
.edly were heading into battles with
fewer than 100 rounds of rifle am-
munition apiece.
h"
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/01/20: CIA-RDP90-00965R000504020007-7
 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/01/20: CIA-RDP90-00965R000504020007-7
By late spring, however, the
force had started to receive boat-
loads of ammunition and arms in
Honduras' Caribbean ports. It took
until then for rebel leaders to-raise
funds and become acquainted with
international arms markets, accord-
ing to several sources.
Now the FDN is said to have ap-
proximately 50 million rounds of
ammunition. One source said,
"They're running out of space to
store it." Guerrillas were reported
to have at least 200 or 300 rounds
apiece at the beginning of their pa-
trols.
The force also obtained additional
automatic rifles and other infantry
weapons, such as mortars and rock-
et-propelled grenade launchers.
Contra leaders said they had
enough materiel to equip 10,000
new guerrillas and are recruiting
actively.
As the Sandinistas have stepped
up use of Soviet-supplied artillery
and M18 and M124 (Hind) helicop-
ters, the contras have sought arms
to counter these weapons. The
FDN has shoulder-fired, SA7
ground-to-air missiles, and Sanchez
said they had another type of anti-
aircraft weapon that he declined to
identify. Neither weapon has yet
been used, however, for reasons
that remain unclear.
Contras have been instructed to
respond to artillery or air attack by
splitting into small groups of three
or four guerrillas and seeking cov-
er, the leaders said. Bermudez
scoffed at Sandinista claims that the
helicopters had caused numerous
casualties, saying, "We have not
lost a single man dead or wounded
from the Hinds."
The new emphasis on striking
economic targets such as highways
and fuel depots appeared to be a
potentially significant shift in contra
tactics. The rebels have said they
do not wage war on the economy,
although they have attacked eco-
nomic targets such as grain silos,
ports and bridges in the past. One
of the contras' main targets also has
been state farms or state-organized
cooperatives, although the rebels
argue that the presence of Sandi-
nista militias on these farms makes
them military objectives.
The Nicaraguan Democratic
Force publicly has disavowed eco-
nomic sabotage in part to avoid
comparisons between its tactics and
those of El Salvador's left-wing
guerrilla movement. The Salvador-
an guerrillas, at the opposite ideo-
logical pole, regularly attack eco-
nomic targets such as electric pow-
er lines, saying the nation's econ-
omy helps to finance the govern-
ment's war effort.
The Sandinistas' use of helicop
ters automatically has made legit-
imate military targets of all fuel
depots and the oil refinery in Ma-
nagua, rebel leaders said, because
fuel is being used in the aircraft for
military purposes. Likewise, they
said, highways are targets when the
Sandinistas use them to transport
troops in military vehicles.
"By using this type of equipment,
the Sandinistas have opened the
doors for us to stage whatever type
of attack is necessary to protect our
people," Sanchez said. But he
stressed that the contras' principal
targets were Sandinista troops.
Reports from Nicaragua on Fri-
day said the contras had knocked
out electric power in three commu-
nities in the north.. Rebel spokes-man Frank Arana said he had not
received confirmation of such an
attack.
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/01/20: CIA-RDP90-00965R000504020007-7