Word: nicaragua
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Many types of mines have been placed by those who are opposing the Sandinista regime in Nicaragua, some relatively sophisticated and others seemingly handmade. According to U.S. intelligence officials, the 30 to 40 used under the supervision of the CIA have caused the most damage. They are smooth cylinders up to 10 ft. long and 21 in. wide, filled with 300 Ibs. of C-4 plastic explosive. Weighted by another 300 Ibs. of material, they are transported by a mother ship operating 30 miles offshore, carried closer inland by speedboats and dropped to the bottom of shipping channels...
...unlikely to cause serious damage to ships. But those familiar with the operation say that "they will crack a seam in the ship, shake things up and knock people around." That is enough to cut off most shipping. "A mine raising spume 50 yds. away," says one official of Nicaragua's Sandinista government, "is enough to make a captain turn around and head to the next port on his list...
Officials of the Nicaraguan military say that small unsophisticated mines have been placed in the harbors and in Lake Nicaragua, perhaps by contras operating independently of the CIA. Some are magnetic, others have acoustic triggers, and some merely float near the surface and explode on contact. "These mines are scattered indiscriminately at the entrances of ports," says one Nicaraguan officer. Unlike the large cylindrical mines, these "homemade" devices are not commercially produced. But then" manufacture indicates a relatively high level of technical sophistication. Some are disguised with a rubberized cap that makes them look like rocks...
More pressure on Nicaragua, and more potential for controversy...
...campaign of military pressure on Nicaragua continued to expand last week, and so did its potential for controversy. At week's end a contingent of U.S. combat troops returned to Panama from a one-day battle exercise in Honduras, foreshadowing much larger displays of American strength that are soon to begin along Nicaragua's northern border. As part of a coordinated offensive, some 6,000 CIA-backed contras were marching from their Honduran base camps into the Nicaraguan interior. Simultaneously a 200-man contra column moved from the south to occupy a strategic hamlet on Nicaragua...