Word: sandinistas
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Facing a credibility gap at home and abroad, the Reagan Administration sought to prove that the fire raging in El Salvador is primarily fueled by Soviet-sponsored subversion spread by Cuban surrogates and the Sandinista government of Nicaragua. In that extreme and simple form, their case is as yet unproved, and indeed-by the very nature of these conflicts-may never be. In a lesser form-that there is significant involvement by Cuba and Nicaragua-the case is almost self-evident...
...campaign, to say the least, had its problems. In fact, the inability of the Administration to line up convincing witnesses would have seemed farcical were the matter not so serious. First there was the so-called "smoking Sandinista," grandly touted as a captured Nicaraguan commando who had helped lead the insurrection in El Salvador. But when police let him loose to show the way to one of his purported contacts, he disappeared into San Salvador's Mexican embassy, which said he was only a student and granted him asylum. Then there were two Nicaraguan air force defectors who were...
...slide presentation did provide unmistakable evidence of a military buildup that Nicaragua's leaders have hitherto minimized. Nonetheless, Sandinista leaders were quick to dispute many of the charges. "There is not a single foreign soldier in Nicaragua," insisted Sergio Ramirez, a member of the country's three-man ruling junta. "How could we hide 2,000 Cuban soldiers in a country this size?" Agriculture Minister Jaime Wheelock, who was in the U.S. for his own publicity offensive, called the Hughes briefing, a bit redundantly, a case of "excessive hysteria"; he noted that the airport expansion program was actually...
...Sandinista fears of American intervention were unfortunately given credibility by two stories-clearly based on leaks-that appeared in the U.S. press last week. In a piece by Bob Woodward (of Watergate fame) and Patrick Tyler, the Washington Post said that President Reagan had approved a $19 million CIA plan to create a 500-member paramilitary force of Latin Americans to "disrupt" the Nicaraguan regime. The next day, the New York Times said that the U.S. was providing the money for covert support of individuals and organizations within Nicaragua, in an attempt to bolster that country's moderate elements...
...National Security Council last November, Reagan approved approximately $19 million to recruit, train and supply a small military force, in conjunction with certain right-wing governments in Latin America, including Argentina. Some of the money was earmarked for support of groups inside Nicaragua that are opposed to a Sandinista dictatorship. Both the House and Senate Intelligence committees were informed late last year of the Administration's covert plan to weaken Nicaragua...