Word: miranda
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...latest Sandinista stumble began last weekend, after Managua learned that the U.S. press would carry the damning charges of a recent Nicaraguan defector, Major Roger Miranda Bengoechea, who had occupied a top post in the Defense Ministry. Hoping to pre-empt Miranda's charges of a planned military buildup, Humberto Ortega delivered a powerful speech reaffirming Sandinista plans to arm up to 600,000 Nicaraguans and obtain Soviet MiG-21 jet fighters by 1995. Unflinchingly defiant toward the U.S., Humberto thundered, "We do not need to hide our relations with the socialist camp in defense matters...
...Miranda charged that in early October Humberto Ortega, the head of the Soviet military mission in Nicaragua (identified as a "General Zaitsev") and his Cuban counterpart discussed a five-year military plan extending through 1995. Among Miranda's documents is an agreement outlining the plan, which specifies that Nicaragua will receive twelve MiGs, an additional squadron of Mi-24 combat choppers, and medium-range surface-to-air missiles. Miranda notes that the Sandinistas could use the MiGs to intercept supply flights to the U.S.-backed contras. The Reagan Administration has repeatedly warned that the delivery of MiGs to Nicaragua would...
...Some of Miranda's information was painstakingly detailed. Charging corruption within the Sandinista directorate, he claimed that Humberto Ortega, under other names, maintains a bank account, No. 58946, in a Swiss branch of the National Bank of Paris. As of last October, Miranda claimed, the account totaled $1,495,596, all of it diverted between 1981 and 1986 from Defense Ministry coffers...
...Miranda also detailed instances of alleged double-dealing by Noriega. He charged that the Panamanian general regularly informs Nicaragua's Chief of Army Intelligence Major Ricardo Wheelock of military movements involving the U.S. Southern Command in Panama, which is the U.S. military headquarters for Latin America. Miranda charged that last August, as relations between the Reagan Administration and Noriega soured, the Panamanian told Wheelock that he wanted to send arms through Nicaragua to the Salvadoran rebels. Miranda claimed that top Sandinistas approved the scheme, but he does not know if the shipment took place...
...days before the incident, Denby had requested permission to fly over Nicaragua to reach Costa Rica. The Sandinistas charged that Denby was on an espionage mission for the contras. But it appeared that if it came down to comparing the propaganda value of a Denby with that of a Miranda, the U.S. would have to be judged the clear winner...