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Ronald Reagan Presidential Library
Digital Library Collections
This is a PDF of a folder from our textual collections.
Collection: Roberts, John G.: Files
Folder Title: JGR/Contra Aid (3 of 5)
Box: 12
To see more digitized collections visit:
https://reaganlibrary.gov/archives/digital-library
To see all Ronald Reagan Presidential Library inventories visit:
https://reaganlibrary.gov/document-collection
Contact a reference archivist at: [email protected]
Citation Guidelines: https://reaganlibrary.gov/citing
National Archives Catalogue: https://catalog.archives.gov/
THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON
March 12, 1986
MEMORANDUM FOR BEN ELLIOTT
DEPUTY ASSISTANT TO THE PRESIDENT AND
DIRECTOR OF SPEECHWRITING
FROM:
JOHN G. ROBERTS
ASSOCIATE COUNSEL TO THE PRESIDENT
SUBJECT:
Presidential Remarks: Drop By
Briefing on Contra Aid
Counsel's Office has reviewed the above-referenced draft
remarks. I believe the Churchill quotation in the first
paragraph on page six is inaccurate. My understanding is that
what Churchill said was "Give us the tools, and we will finish
the job." Further, he did not say it in the 1930's, but in a
February 9, 1941, radio broadcast. Finally, the analogy strikes
me as the wrong one to draw, since England did not "finish the
job" on its own, as I gather we hope the contras will.
In the second paragraph on page six, "I need real telegrams and
phone calls and letters" should be deleted. The requirements of
the anti-lobbying legislation and appropriations riders are
imprecise, but an explicit call for "telegrams and phone calls
and letters" may go too far, even in Presidential remarks.
CC: David L. Chew
ID #.
CU
WHITE HOUSE
CORRESPONDENCE TRACKING WORKSHEET
o - OUTGOING
H - INTERNAL
I - INCOMING
Date Correspondence
Received (YY/MM/DD)
/
/
Name of Correspondent:
David Chew
MI Mail Report
User Codes: (A)
(B)
(C)
Subject:
Remarks: Dropby Briefing on Contra Aid
ROUTE TO:
ACTION
DISPOSITION
Tracking
Type
Completion
Action
Date
of
Date
Office/Agency
(Staff Name)
Code
YY/MM/DD
Response
Code
YY/MM/DD
CUHOLL
ORIGINATOR 86,03,11
/ /
Referral Note:
CUAT 18
R
86/03/11
86103112
Referral Note:
10:00 am.
/ /
11
I
I
Referral Note:
/ /
/ /
-
-
Referral Note:
/ /
I /
-
Referral Note:
ACTION CODES:
DISPOSITION CODES:
A Appropriate Action
1. Info Copy Only/No Action Necessary
A- Answered
C Completed
C - Comment/Recommendation
R - Direct Reply w/Copy
B Non-Special Referral
S Suspended
D Draft Response
S For Signature
F Furnish Fact Sheet
X Interim Reply
to be used as Enclosure
FOR OUTGOING CORRESPONDENCE:
Type of Response = Initials of Signer
Code = "A"
Completion Date = Date of Outgoing
Comments:
Keep this worksheet attached to the original incoming letter.
Send all routing updates to Central Reference (Room 75, OEOB).
Always return completed correspondence record to Central Files.
Refer questions about the correspondence tracking system to Central Reference, ext. 2590.
5/81
Document No.
WHITE HOUSE STAFFING MEMORANDUM
DATE: 3/11/86
ACTION/CONCURRENCE/COMMENT DUE BY: 10:00 a.m. 3/12/86
SUBJECT: REMARKS: DROPBY BRIEFING ON CONTRA AID
(3/11/86 11:30 a.m. draft)
ACTION FYI
ACTION FYI
VICE PRESIDENT
>
LACY
REGAN
POINDEXTER
MILLER
RYAN
R
BALL
SPEAKES
>
BUCHANAN
SPRINKEL
CHAVEZ
SVAHN
CHEW
P
SS THOMAS
>
DANIELS
TUTTLE
ELLIOTT
FIELDING
HENKEL
HICKS
KINGON
REMARKS:
Please give your comments/edits directly to Ben Elliott,
with an info copy to my office by 10:00 a.m. tomorrow.
Thanks.
RESPONSE:
David L. Chew
Staff Secretary
Ext. 2702
(Noonan/BE)
March 11, 1986
11:30 a.m.
1805 PRESIDENTIAL 11
REMARKS: DROPBY BRIEFING ON CONTRA AID
FRIDAY, MARCH 14, 1986
Thank you very much.
Welcome to all of you -- Republicans, Democrats, and
Independents. This is a bipartisan group and that's good because
I want to discuss a question that needs a bipartisan solution.
One of the reasons we've asked you here is that we know
you're influential back home. You're community leaders and your
word and views are respected. We're hoping to win your support
on the question of Central America, because we know that will
help us win the support of Congress.
I know you came in here knowing a lot about what's going on
in Nicaragua, and our previous speakers here have never been
known for being shy about presenting the facts. What I want to
do is simply address some of the questions people have about the
freedom fighters, the so-called Contras. A lot of people who
support the Contras never call them Contras, by the way, because
"Contra" is short for counter-revolutionary -- and
"counter-revolutionary" used to mean pro-Somoza. It was a
Sandinista insult. But the way I see it, Somoza's been gone a
long time, the revolution that toppled him has long since been
revealed as a Communist coup, and the Contra's are against it.
So I guess they're counter-revolutionary and God bless 'em and I
guess that makes 'em Contras and that makes me a Contra too. I
bet you're glad I cleared all that up for you.
Page 2
They're fighting for freedom. And all of this has to do
with my first point. I'll call it Slander Number One: The
charge that the Contras are former members of Somoza's National
Guard who are fighting to restore a dictatorship. Well, the
truth is all three leaders of the Contras -- Adolfo Calero,
Alfonso Robelo, and Arturo Cruz -- fought Somoza. Calero and
Cruz were jailed by him. These men aren't fighting the
Sandinistas because they're Somocistas -- they're fighting the
Sandinistas because they're patriots. They're fighting for the
only truly revolutionary idea of the latter part of the
20th century: democracy.
As for the Contra troops -- well, the average age of the
freedom fighters is about 20. So a lot of these soldiers were 12
when Somoza fell. And they're supposed to have been his troops!
Slander Number Two: The U.S. is only picking on the
Sandinistas because well, because we're cultural Imperialists,
and who are we anyway to judge their form of government? You
mostly hear this sort of thing from the Blame America Firsters.
Now it happens to be famously true that our feelings toward
democracy are much like Churchill's when he pointed out that
"Democracy is the most imperfect form of government except for
all the others."
But we are not supporting democracy for -- well, shall I
call it 'merely idealistic' reasons. We are trying to build and
strengthen democracy in Central America because democracy brings
peace and communism brings war. So you see we're motivated by
some very practical considerations.
Page 3
Democracies bring peace because democratic governments serve
at the will of the people -- and it's very hard to convince
people, mothers and fathers, to send their sons off to war.
Communist governments, on the other hand, exert almost total
control over the people of their society -- from the state-run
media that gives them nothing but propaganda to the secret police
that drag their sons away in the night. It's not hard for them
to wage war. And their whole reason for being is to make war --
to spread the revolution, to strike, ultimately, at the very
heart of the West.
That's what the Sandinistas mean to do. They're players in
a drama whose aim is to spread communism throughout this
Hemisphere. They can't do it peacefully because almost nobody
wants the product they're pushing, so they have to do it
violently. Overt, covert, guerilla warfare, terrorist campaigns,
disinformation -- they'll do what they have to. But they're not
operating independently -- they're just part of the New Mob, part
of the 20th century's answer to Murder Incorporated.
Slander Number Three: The Contras will never stop the
Sandinistas.
Well -- talk about your self-fulfilling prophecies! Yes, if
we give the Contras no help, if we send them out there to fight
with carbines that last saw action in the Korean War, if we give
them nothing but a pat on the back and a roll of bandages --
then, sure, they'll lose. And the people who refused to help
them will sit back and say: See? We always said they were
losers!
Page 4
The truth is there are about 20,000 freedom fighters who are
desperately waiting for everything from shoes to ammunition --
and when they get them they'll move and when they move they'll
win.
I think we should ask ourselves one question: Why is it the
Communists have had to engage in the forcible relocation of
almost 10 percent of the Nicaraguan population? This has
included the burning of peasants' homes, the destruction of
farms, the placing of the Miskito Indians in concentration camps.
Why have they done this? To prevent the general population from
giving aid and assistance to the freedom fighters. The Contras
are popular with the people -- because the people, like the
revolution they once supported, have been betrayed by the
Sandinistas. This is not well known but the Sandinistas
themselves have admitted that in the first 5 months of 1985 alone
they forcibly relocated 180,000 peasants. That's tearing people
off their farms and out of their houses for the sin of either
supporting the Contras or showing signs of being sympathetic to
them.
I think this tells us a lot, that the Sandinistas are afraid
of their own people.
Slander Number Four -- the U.S. never gave the Sandinistas a
chance, and that's why they turned out so bad.
There's some truth in this -- we didn't give them a chance,
we gave them about a million chances. I won't repeat the whole
sad history here, but I do want to address the issue of talking
to the Sandinistas at the peace table. We've tried to do it --
Page 5
we've encouraged the Contadora process -- we've tried to resolve
this question through negotiations. The Sandinistas have not
been interested in talking seriously and sincerely. All of a
sudden now their apologists come out and say, oh it's time to
give new talks a chance. Well that sounds just fine and peaceful
and non-harmful. But what the Sandinistas' apologists don't seem
to know is that if we delay aid for a few months while we're
talking, the Sandinistas will take that time and use it to finish
off the Contras. That's the Communists' strategy -- to kill them
off. And when the execution is complete, they'll end the talks.
I ask you one question: Did you ever, ever in your reading
of history hear of a Communist regime that negotiated itself into
a democracy? I'm sorry but this is like a skunk negotiating
itself into a rose, it doesn't happen a lot. If just one of you
can cite an example of a Communist regime that negotiated itself
out of existence I will eat my hat. And I do not say that
lightly, chapeau is not my favorite flavor.
Nothing is as urgent as the question of Nicaragua. There is
no question that has faced this Administration -- there is no
question, I think, that has faced our times -- that is more
crucial to our future than what happens in Central America.
And this is the time to help. You've heard the saying,
"Timing is everything." In this case it's true. If we help now,
we can literally turn the situation around and change the future.
If we fail now, I think we guarantee untold problems for the
people of Central America and for our own children.
Page 6
When I was a young man back in the 1930's a war was
simmering in Europe. And England was imperiled, and its great
leader looked across the sea for hope. Churchill said, "Give us
the tools and we'll do the job." And we gave them the tools --
and they did it.
Today Adolfo Calero, Alfonso Robelo, and Arturo Cruz look to
us for hope -- and we must help them. History will know what we
did; and it will know what we didn't do; and history will judge.
I have made my position clear. I need your help as much as the
Contras need our help. They need real guns -- I need real
telegrams and phone calls and letters. I need for the Congress
to know that you want to help the freedom fighters. If they know
you care, we will win. If they know you don't care then we've
lost.
It's that simple. It's up to you. Please help. Thank you.
God bless you.
ID #
CU
WHITE HOUSE
CORRESPONDENCE TRACKING WORKSHEET
o - OUTGOING
H - INTERNAL
I - INCOMING
Date Correspondence
Received (YY/MM/DD)
/
/
Name of Correspondent:
Dave Chew
MI Mail Report
User Codes: (A)
(B)
(C)
Subject: Prescdential address necaragua
ROUTE TO:
ACTION
DISPOSITION
Tracking
Type
Completion
Action
Date
of
Date
Office/Agency
(Staff Name)
Code
YY/MM/DD
Response
Code
YY/MM/DD
CUHOCL
ORIGINATOR 86,03,13
/ /
Referral Note:
Cuat 18
R
86 / 03 /13
s 86,03,13
Referral Note:
5pm
/ /
/ /
-
Referral Note:
/ /
/ /
I
Referral Note:
/ /
/ /
Referral Note:
ACTION CODES:
DISPOSITION CODES:
A Appropriate Action
1. - Info Copy Only/No Action Necessary
A Answered
C Completed
C Comment/Recommendation
R Direct Reply w/Copy
B. * Non-Special Referral
S Suspended
D Draft Response
S For Signature
F Furnish Fact Sheet
X Interim Reply
to be used as Enclosure
FOR OUTGOING CORRESPONDENCE:
Type of Response = Initials of Signer
Code
If
"A"
Completion Date = Date of Outgoing
Comments:
Keep this worksheet attached to the original incoming letter.
Send all routing updates to Central Reference (Room 75, OEOB).
Always return completed correspondence record to Central Files.
Refer questions about the correspondence tracking system to Central Reference, ext. 2590.
Document No.
WHITE HOUSE STAFFING MEMORANDUM
DATE: - 3/12/86
ACTION/CONCURRENCE/COMMENT DUE BY:
-----
SUBJECT: PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS: NICARAGUA (3/12 - 4:00 p.m.)
ACTION FYI
ACTION FYI
VICE PRESIDENT
LACY
REGAN
POINDEXTER
MILLER
RYAN
BALL
SPEAKES
BUCHANAN
SPRINKEL
CHAVEZ
SVAHN
CHEW
P
SS THOMAS
DANIELS
TUTTLE
ELLIOTT
FIELDING
HENKEL
HICKS
KINGON
REMARKS:
The attached has been forwarded to the President.
RESPONSE:
David L. Chew
Staff Secretary
Ext. 2702
(Dolan/PMR)
March 12, 1986
4:00 p.m.
PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS: NICARAGUA
SUNDAY, MARCH 16, 1986
Tonight I want to ask your help on a grave matter, one that
concerns my most solemn duty as President: the national security
of the United States, the safety of the American people, the
right of your children to live in a land secure from foreign
attack and subversion.
As President, I must tell you that at this moment the Soviet
Union is establishing a subversive base camp on the mainland of
North America. With the help of Soviet allies like Castro of
Cuba and Col. Qadhafi of Libya, the small Central American nation
of Nicaragua -- whose borders (show map) are only two days
driving time from our own -- is being transformed into a
beachhead of aggression against the United States.
The United States Congress has before it legislation that
can help stop this threat in time. The legislation is an aid
package of a hundred million dollars for the more than 20,000
freedom fighters struggling to bring democracy to Nicaragua and
cut off communist intervention in Central America at its source.
I am asking your help tonight in getting Congress to vote 'yes'
on this legislation, asking your help so that we may act now,
while this problem can still be dealt with by a modest assistance
package for the freedom fighters -- and not the expenditure of
billions of dollars and the lives of thousands of American boys,
who may have to fight if we do not act now. Act to restore
freedom and peace to Central America; act to protect our southern
borders.
Page 2
Let me assure you, there are not only grounds for hope but
outright optimism that the real danger we face in Central America
can be turned around. Because, you see, what we are observing
now in Nicaragua is really the final act in a drama that has been
unfolding for some time, a drama in which, at first, everything
was going against the forces of freedom and human rights. But
now that tide has turned and turned dramatically in the other
direction. More on this in a few moments.
First, however, we need to be clear about Soviet intentions
and those of their allies, the communist dictators of Nicaragua
called Sandinistas. The Soviets and the Sandinistas do not just
intend to build a totalitarian dictatorship in Nicaragua -- they
seek to destabilize all of Central and South America and
ultimately the United States itself. This State Department map,
for example, shows where communist arms provided by or channeled
through Nicaragua have recently been found. As you can see, with
only three exceptions, every nation in South America is included.
And it's to this end that the Soviets have supplied the
Sandinistas with more than $500 million in weapons -- and with
soldiers and so-called advisors who are Cuban, Bulgarian, East
German, North Korean, Libyan
and Soviet. Most recently, the
Soviets have supplied the Sandinistas with a highly sophisticated
helicopter gunship (the same one, by the way, that the Red Army
is using to crush freedom half a world away in Afghanistan).
These gunships now in the skies over Nicaragua are being piloted
not by Central Americans, but by Cubans, East Germans, and
Soviets.
Page 3
And if maps, statistics and facts like these aren't
convincing enough, we have the words of the Sandinistas and the
Soviets themselves. One of the highest-level Sandinista leaders
was recently asked by an American magazine whether their
communist revolution will -- and I quote -- "be exported to
El Salvador, then Guatemala, then Honduras, then Mexico?" He
responded, "That is one historical prophecy of Ronald Reagan's
that is absolutely true."
The Soviets themselves have been no less candid. A few
years ago, Soviet Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko noted that
Central America was, quote, "boiling over and ripe for
revolution." But this is nothing compared to the remarks of
Soviet General Ogarkov, then the head of the Soviet Red Army. In
remarks to the leaders of Grenada, when Grenada was still in
communist hands, General Ogarkov talked of Cuba and Grenada, and
how the war the Nicaraguans were waging against El Salvador was
part of an overall plan of Soviet conquest.
"Two decades ago, there was only Cuba in Latin America,"
General Ogarkov told the Grenadian leaders, "today there are
Nicargua, Grenada and a serious battle is going on in
El Salvador."
So, we are clear on the intentions of the Sandinistas; let
us be equally clear about the nature of their regime itself --
its utter ruthlessness, its nightmarish brutality, its penchant
for insane violence. To begin with, the Sandinistas have revoked
the civil liberties of the Nicaraguan people, depriving them
completely of any legal right to speak, to publish, to assemble
or to worship. Independent newspapers have been shut down --
Page 4
today only one survives, under heavy censorship and constant
threat. There is no longer any independent labor movement in
Nicaragua nor any right to strike. An attempt not long ago by
the dockworkers of Corinto to hold an independent union meeting
was broken up and its leaders beaten. As AFL-CIO leader Lane
Kirkland has said, "Nicaragua's headlong rush into the
totalitarian camp cannot be denied by any who has eyes to see." "
Like totalitarian governments everywhere, the Sandinistas
have launched assaults against every independent ethnic,
religious or fraternal group. Jewish synagogues have been
desecrated and firebombed -- indeed, the entire Nicaraguan Jewish
community has been forced to flee the country. Protestant Bible
meetings have been broken up by raids, by mob violence, by
machine guns. The Catholic Church has been singled out --
priests and nuns have been expelled from the country, Catholics
beaten in the streets after attending mass, the Catholic press
and a Catholic radio station shut down. The Catholic primate of
Nicaragua, Miguel Cardinal Obando, has put the matter
forthrightly. "I want to state clearly that this government is
totalitarian
We are dealing with an enemy of the church.' "
Then there is the genocidal war the Sandinistas have waged
against another ethnic group they distrust; I speak here of the
tragedy of the Miskito Indians. At least 20,000 of these
helpless people have been forcibly resettled, three to four
thousand are missing and many have been tortured and killed. I
have seen some of the affidavits about the atrocities committed
by the Sandinistas against these poor Indians; they are stomach
turning accounts of brutality and inhumanity.
Page 5
Against Nicaraguans of all kinds, there are many verified
accounts of Sandinista atrocities, atrocities that make up a
pattern of conduct that is condoned, even encouraged by the
Sandinista government. Nicolas Perez, for example, was a taxi
driver who dared to boo a Sandinista leader at a union meeting.
After the meeting, he was detained by security forces and a few
days later his family heard on television he had been shot while
trying to escape. In fact, when the Perez family got Nicolas's
body back, it showed he had not been shot at all -- just tortured
to death, with deep cuts in his back and neck and burns on his
face.
In a town called Kininahaus, a little girl called Maritz
Herrera attended a prayer meeting which Sandinista troops ordered
disbanded -- then attacked by machine guns and grenades. Maritza
was shot twice. She survived -- but her brother and six others
who, like her, had committed the crime of praying, were not so
lucky.
Ten-year-old Martha Murillo saw the Sandinistas attack her
village, killing her brothers and sisters and mother -- then they
shot little Martha in the leg. After this raid, Martha and her
uncle buried the dead and left for the border. As they were
crossing the river, the Sandinistas attacked again, cutting off
her uncle's head and throwing his body into the water. Then they
stabbed Martha with a bayonet and left her for dead.
Pastor Baltodano gave a Sandinista patrol his name as a
routine matter. Then he found out he was on their hit list.
"You don't know what we do to pastors -- we are communists and
don't believe in God," they told him. Pastor Baltodano was tied
Page 6
to a tree, struck in the forehead with a rifle butt, stabbed in
the neck with a bayonet -- finally his ears were cut off, and he
too was left for dead. "See if your God will save you," the
Sandinistas said to him. Well, God did have other plans for
Pastor Baltodano and for little Martha Murillo. Both lived to
tell the world their stories -- to tell them, among other places,
right here in the White House.
I could go on about the nightmare of totalitarian rule in
Nicaragua -- the black lists, the mob violence, the press gangs
forcing young Nicaraguans into the army -- young Nicaraguans who
don't want to be forced by their communist government to fight
the freedom fighters we are trying to help.
Yet, as if all this brutality at home and intervention in
the rest of Central America is not enough, the Sandinista
dictators are also transforming their nation into a safe house, a
haven, a control post for international terrorists.
The Sandinistas now not only sponsor terror in El Salvador,
Costa Rica, and Honduras -- terror that led last summer to the
murder of four U.S. Marines in a cafe in San Saluado -- they
provide an American sanctuary for international terrorists.
Prime Minister Craxi of Italy has charged Nicaragua with
harboring some of Italy's worst terrorists, the Red Brigades.
Other elements of the world's most vicious terrorist groups --
West Germany's Baader-Meinhoff Gang; the Basque E.T.A.; the
P.L.O.; the Tupamaros; and the I.R.A. -- have found in Nicaragua
a safe haven.
Still worse, the Sandinistas have involved themselves in the
international drug trade. The chief investigator for the Human
Page 7
Rights Commission of Nicaragua had to flee the country after
discovering that the Sandinista dictators, including Tomas Borge,
the Interior Minister, were deeply involved in the drug trade. I
know every American parent concerned about the drug problem will
be outraged to learn that U.S. undercover agents with the Drug
Enforcement Agency found themselves landing in Nicaragua -- their
aircraft was then loaded with millions of dollars in illegal
drugs by Sandinista soldiers under the direction of the top
assistant to Borge. The man's name is Federico Vaughn and this
picture (show picture), secretly taken, shows him loading the
aircraft with the illegal drugs.
No, there is no wrongdoing to which the Sandinistas will not
stoop -- this is an outlaw regime, a criminal regime, a regime
evil to its core.
If we return for a moment to our map, it becomes clear why
having this regime in the Central American region poses a peril
to our own vital security interests.
As you can see, many of the countries in Central America are
closer to Washington than parts of Texas or California. Through
this vital area in the Western hemisphere comes half our Nation's
exports and imports, two-thirds of our shipping trade,
three-quarters of our oil imports and as much as 90 percent of
some strategic minerals vital to our Nation's defense.
As the London Times once noted, Central America is the
strategic rear of our alliance with the European democracies; a
fact always understood by our foreign enemies. In the first six
months of World War II, for example, when Hitler sent only a
handful of submarines into this area, the U-boats sank more
Page 8
shipping than the entire German fleet in the North Atlantic.
Today this area is even more crucial to our security and the
Soviet Union already has there what other foes of Western
democracy never had -- a base of operations. Today, in Cuba,
there is a large submarine base used by Soviet nuclear
submarines, several major airfields used by Cuban and Soviet
nuclear-capable aircraft as well as some 14,000 Soviet military
advisors and even a 2,800 man combat brigade of the Soviet
Red Army.
Cuba's efforts to export revolution into Latin America were
largely thwarted until the late 70's -- when it began to work
hard to install communist governments in Grenada and Jamaica.
Both these efforts ultimately failed, but we now know that the
main focus of Soviet-Cuban efforts was in Nicaragua all along --
and these efforts succeeded. To put it briefly: In 1979, the
people of Nicaragua overthrew a corrupt military dictatorship and
the Sandinistas took over. At first the Sandinistas promised
free elections and respect for human rights.
We now know those Sandinista promises were sheer deceit.
In 1979, two months after the revolution, the Nicaraguan
leadership met in secret to outline their principles and
objectives. In what came to be known as the "72-hour document,"
the communists described themselves as the "vanguard" of a
revolution that would sweep "Central America, Latin America," and
finally the "world." Their main enemy, they declared: the
United States.
But they didn't make this document public. They followed
the advice of Fidel Castro, who told them to put on a facade of
Page 9
democracy. While Castro considered the democratic elements, in
his words, "bourgeois garbage," he told his Nicaraguan friends:
keep them in your coalition -- in minor posts -- as window
dressing to deceive the West. "That way," Castro said, "the
Americans will pay for it and you can have your revolution."
And we did pay for it. More American aid flowed to
Nicaragua in the previous 30 than in the 2 years under the
Sandinistas. Only when the mask fell, and the face of communist
totalitarianism became visible to the world, did the aid stop.
Faced with this communist threat, I went to the Congress
early in our Administration and over strong opposition managed to
get commitments to help the nations surrounding Nicaragua fight
off the danger posed them by the Sandinistas. Some of you may
remember the incredibly inspiring scene we saw a few years back
when the people of El Salvador braved the threats and gunfire of
communist guerrillas -- guerrillas controlled, supplied and
trained from Nicaragua -- and marched to the polls to vote
decisively for democracy. For the communists it was a
humiliating defeat.
There was another factor in Central America the communists
never counted on, a factor that now promises to give true freedom
another chance. That factor is the contras, the freedom fighters
of Nicaragua.
You see, when the Sandinistas betrayed the democratic ideals
of the Nicaraguan revolution, many who had fought against the old
dictatorship quite literally took to the hills of their country
and, like the French Resistance that fought the Nazis in World
War II, these pro-democratic Nicaraguans have been fighting the
Page 10
Soviet Bloc communists and their Sandinista collaborators ever
since.
In many ways this has been the worst setback of all for
communist hopes in Central America. By forcing the Sandinista
dictators to deal with a democratic insurgency in their own front
yard, the resistance has pinned down thousands of Sandinista
troops and countless military assets -- resources that would
otherwise be devoted to acts of terror and economic disruption in
El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala and Costa Rica.
With their blood and their courage, the freedom fighters of
Nicaragua have bought the people of other Central America nations
precious time. So too, we Americans owe the freedom fighters in
Nicaragua a debt of gratitude, for in helping to thwart the
aggressive designs of the Sandinistas and their Soviet-bloc
operatives, the resistance has contributed directly to the safety
of the United States and the American people.
Since its inception in 1982, the Nicaraguan resistance has
grown in strength. Today it numbers some 20,000 -- about four
times the size of the Sandinista forces when they took power.
Unfortunately, 2 years ago some Members of Congress succeeded in
preventing us from helping the resistance with what it needs
most -- arms and ammunition. Now the freedom fighters' supplies
are running short, and the resistance can no longer arm and train
the thousands of volunteers who seek to join their forces.
Three decades ago, freedom fighters in another nation sought
our help. And as Soviet tanks clattered through the streets of
Budapest, Hungary, and brave men died, here were the words of
those freedom fighters' last desperate radio message: "Civilized
Page 11
people of the world, in the name of liberty and solidarity, we
are asking you to help. Our ship is sinking. The light
vanishes. The shadows grow darker from hour to hour. Listen to
our cry
extend to us brotherly hands. People of the world,
save us." We could not answer that plea. But today in
Nicaragua, no such obstacles confront us; we can extend brotherly
hands to keep the freedom fighters' light from going out.
We must not, we cannot, desert them.
Now I know many of you may actually be puzzled about why,
with so much right on their side, there should be any hesitation
about providing the freedom fighters with help. Well, let me
assure you, those opposed to this aid do not intentionally seek
the end result of their advice: communist victories in Nicaragua
and throughout Central America. These people are not soft on
communism; they are blind to the danger of communism, to the
danger it poses, especially in Central America.
The record bears this out. In recent years, many of these
honest but mistaken voices opposed our successful efforts to
strengthen democracy in El Salvador. In Grenada, even before the
facts were in, they took to the airwaves to denounce our rescue
of American medical students and the liberation of that nation.
A few years back these voices were assuring us that communist
victories in Vietnam and Cambodia would not result in a
bloodbath. The hundreds of thousands of boat people fleeing
communist Vietnam and the millions murdered in Cambodia
demonstrated again how wrong these critics are about the
communists.
Page 12
This vote coming up in Congress is a chance to put all this
naivete about communism behind us, to reject what has been called
the post-Vietnam syndrome and start taking seriously communist
attempts to dominate other countries and threaten our own
national security. And that is why I believe this cause needs
the support of every American -- Republican, Democrat and
Independent. For many years on Capitol Hill, there was a
bipartisan consensus, united in standing up for freedom and
opposing communist expansionism. That bipartisan coalition has
been regaining strength during the past few years but, believe
me, on this vote it faces its severest, most important test.
It is my duty as President to tell you: unless you and I
together can persuade some in the Congress to stop temporizing
over this threat -- we will shortly be facing perhaps the most
serious national security crisis since Pearl Harbor. Have no
illusions: the communists seek to use Nicaragua to set Central
America ablaze, establish a Warsaw Pact military presence on our
own, unguarded Southern borders and send millions of refugees
streaming across our borders and flooding our southern cities and
States.
You know, recently one of our most distinguished Americans,
Clare Boothe Luce, had this to say about the coming vote.
"In considering this crisis," Mrs. Luce said, "my mind goes
back to a similar moment in our history -- back to the first
years after Cuba had fallen to Fidel. One day during those
years, I had lunch at the White House with a man I had known
since he was a boy -- John F. Kennedy. "Mr. President,' I said,
'no matter how exalted or great a man may be, history will give
Page 13
him no more than one sentence. George Washington -- he founded
our country. Abraham Lincoln -- he freed the slaves. Winston
Churchill -- he saved Europe.'
'And what, Clare,' John Kennedy said, 'do you believe my
sentence will be?'
'Mr. President,' she answered, 'your sentence will be that
you stopped the communists -- or that you did not.
John Kennedy, Mrs. Luce said, never had the chance to decide
that sentence. Now, it is the leaders of our own time who must
do so. My fellow Americans, I have only 3 years left in which to
serve my country. I will not leave my successor -- I will not
leave our children -- to face the grave dangers that with a
minimum of foresight and courage could have been averted. You
know where I stand. The Soviets and the Sandinistas will not be
permitted to crush freedom in Central America and threaten our
own borders. Not while this President serves. Not on my watch.
But what of the 99th Congress? As Mrs. Luce ended by saying,
"Only this is certain. Through all time to come, this, the 99th
Congress of the United States, will be remembered as that body of
men and women that either stopped the communists before it was
too late -- or did not."
So, my fellow Americans, there can be no mistake about this
vote: It is up or down for Central America. It is win or lose
for freedom. It is yes or no to America's national security.
So tonight I ask you to do what you have done so often in
the past and respond to my call for help. Get in touch with your
Congressmen and Senators and tell them to vote yes; tell them to
Page 14
help the freedom fighters, now, while the crisis can still be
prevented.
In doing so, you will not just be helping them, you will be
helping yourselves, your children, and all the peoples of the
world. You will be demonstrating that America is still a beacon
of hope, still a light unto the nations. Yes, a great
opportunity awaits you and me, an opportunity to show that hope
still burns bright in this land and over our continent, casting a
glow across the centuries, still guiding millions -- to a future
of peace and freedom.
Thank you, and God bless you.
THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON
March 14, 1986
MEMORANDUM FOR PATRICK J. BUCHANAN
ASSISTANT TO THE PRESIDENT
AND DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS
FROM:
ASSOCIATE COUNSEL 77R THE PRESIDENT
JOHN G. ROBERTS
SUBJECT:
Aid to the Nicaraguan Freedom Fighters
Counsel's Office has reviewed the above-referenced draft
address. As pointed out in my memorandum of March 13 for Ben
Elliott on a prior draft, the Department of Justice cannot
substantiate a direct link between Tomas Borge and drug
trafficking. Care should therefore be taken to ensure adequate
substantiation from a source other than the Department of
Justice for the second sentence in the last paragraph on page 6.
With respect to the third sentence in the same paragraph,
Justice advises that it is inaccurate to refer to "U.S.
undercover agents." The individual involved -- only one --
should be described as a confidential informant working with the
DEA.
CC: David L. Chew
THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON
March 13, 1986
MEMORANDUM FOR BEN ELLIOTT
DEPUTY ASSISTANT TO THE PRESIDENT AND
DIRECTOR OF SPEECHWRITING
FROM:
JOHN G. ROBERTS 022
ASSOCIATE COUNSEL TO THE PRESIDENT
SUBJECT:
Presidential Address: Nicaragua
Counsel's Office has reviewed the above-referenced draft
address. The Department of Justice advises that it cannot
substantiate a direct link between Tomas Borge and drug
trafficking. The Department also recommends that any statements
about such trafficking and the Nicaraguan government refer to
involvement in trafficking by some government officials, rather
than by the government itself. Thus, unless there is a valid
source for the carryover sentence between pages 6 and 7 other
than the Department of Justice, "the Sandinista dictators,
including Tomas Borge, the Interior Minister," should be deleted
and "some Sandinista officials" or something similar inserted in
its place.
With respect to the first full sentence on page 7, the pertinent
information was developed not by "U.S. undercover agents" but by
a confidential informant working with the DEA. I would change
"U.S. undercover agents" to "a confidential informant working,"
change "themselves" in the next line to "himself" and "their" to
"the." If the reference to Borge earlier in the paragraph is
deleted, "to Borge" at the end of this sentence should be
changed to "to Nicaraguan Interior Minister Tomas Borge."
Justice advises that the plane in question actually landed at a
Nicaraguan military air base. Mentioning this would strengthen
the point of the paragraph. In line 5 on page 7, I would
substitute "at a Nicaraguan military air base" for "in
Nicaragua."
Justice has advised that it has no objection to the last
sentence of the paragraph, or to showing the photograph of
Vaughn.
CC: David L. Chew
THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON
March 14, 1986
MEMORANDUM FOR KATHY RATTE JAFFKE
DIRECTOR
CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENCE
FROM:
RICHARD A. HAUSER Original signed by RAH
DEPUTY COUNSEL TO THE PRESIDENT
SUBJECT:
Alleged Cocaine Trafficking by
FDN and ARDE Individuals
You have asked for our views on who should sign the draft
response on the above-referenced subject provided by the
Department of Justice. It is my view that since the response
concerns pending investigations at DEA, Justice should send it
directly.
RAH/JGR: jmk
cc: RAHauser
JGRoberts
subject
chron.
THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON
March 14, 1986
MEMORANDUM FOR RICHARD A. HAUSER
FROM:
JOHN G. ROBERTS 822R
SUBJECT:
Alleged Cocaine Trafficking by
FDN and ARDE Individuals
I have been asked to prepare a response for your signature to an
inquiry from Legislative Affairs concerning a Department of
Justice response to a letter from Congressman Sam Gejdenson to
the President. Gejdenson's letter concerned allegations that
the Contras are involved in drug trafficking; the DEA response
notes that there are no active investigations involving the
Contras but there have been "several unsubstantiated allega-
tions." Legislative Affairs wants to know who should send the
response.
It seems clear to me that a direct response from Justice is
preferable, since the whole substance of the reply concerns DEA
investigations.
ID #. 365658 CU
WHITE HOUSE
HE00601
CORRESPONDENCE TRACKING WORKSHEET
o - OUTGOING
H - INTERNAL
I - INCOMING
Date Correspondence
Received (YY/MM/DD)
/
/
SR
Name
of Correspondent: Kathy Ratte Jaffke
MI Mail Report
User Codes: (A)
(B)
(C)
Subject: alleged cocaine Trubsecking by FDN and
ARDE Individuals
ROUTE TO:
ACTION
DISPOSITION
Tracking
Type
Completion
Action
Date
of
Date
Office/Agency
(Staff Name)
Code
YY/MM/DD
Response
Code
YY/MM/DD
CUITOL
ORIGINATOR 86,03,10
/
/
Referral Note:
cuat 18
D
for 86103111 RAH TR signature
S 86103121
ET
Referral Note:
/
/
/ /
Referral Note:
/
/
/
/
Referral Note:
/ /
/
/
Referral Note:
ACTION CODES:
DISPOSITION CODES:
A - Appropriate Action
I Info Copy Only/No Action Necessary
A Answered
C Completed
C - Comment/Recommendation
R Direct Reply w/Copy
B Non-Special Referral
S Suspended
D Draft Response
S For Signature
F Furnish Fact Sheet
X Interim Reply
to be used as Enclosure
will
FOR OUTGOING CORRESPONDENCE:
Type of Response = Initials of Signer
Code
#
"A"
Completion Date = Date of Outgoing
Comments:
Keep this worksheet attached to the original incoming letter.
Send all routing updates to Central Reference (Room 75, OEOB).
Always return completed correspondence record to Central Files.
Refer questions about the correspondence tracking system to Central Reference, ext. 2590.
5/81
THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON
365658cu
March 7, 1986
MEMORANDUM FOR:
DIANNA HOLLAND
FROM:
KATHY RATTE JAFFKE his
SUBJECT:
Alleged Cocaine Trafficking
by FDN and ARDE Individuals
The Department of Justice has provided us with the attached
draft; however, I do not think this response should come from
Legislative Affairs.
I am requesting guidance from the Counsel's Office as to
whether your office would provide the follow-up or Justice
should be asked to respond.
Thank you for your assistance.
CC: Records Management - FYI
U.S. Department of Justice
Office of the Deputy Attorney General
Executive Secretariat
1
3/5/86
fally,
attached is a proponed
drafta an requested.
Thanks
Heal
U.S. Department of Justice
Drug Enforcement Administration
Honorable Sam Gejdenson
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, D.C. 20515
Dear Congressman Gejdenson:
I am replying to your inquiry regarding alleged cocaine trafficking
by members of the Nicaraguan Democratic Force (FDN) and the
Revolutionary Democratic Alliance (ARDE) as reported in The
Washington Post on December 27, 1985.
I have caused a review of Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)
files to determine whether there are any active drug investigations
involving members of the above groups. The specific names mentioned
in the newspaper article, as well as the names of other individuals
and groups known to be associated with the Contras, were checked
in DEA files.
This review disclosed that there are no active investigations
involving the Contras. There are several unsubstantiated allega-
tions concerning involvement in drug trafficking by members of the
Contras movement.
Honorable Sam Gejdenson
Please be assured that the Drug Enforcement Administration has placed
the highest priority upon investigating any such allegations.
Thank you for your interest in this matter.
With best wishes,
Sincerely,
M. B. Oglesby, Jr.
Assistant to the President
-2-
THE WHITE HOUSE OFFICE
REFERRAL
JANUARY 27, 1986
TO: DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
ACTION REQUESTED:
APPROPRIATE ACTION
DESCRIPTION OF INCOMING:
ID:
365658
MEDIA: LETTER, DATED JANUARY 8, 1986
TO:
PRESIDENT REAGAN
FROM:
THE HONORABLE SAM GEJDENSON
U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
WASHINGTON DC 20515
SUBJECT: REQUESTS THAT THE ADMINISTRATION INVESTIGATE
THE WASHINGTON POST REPORT OF COCAINE
TRAFFICKING BY MEMBERS OF THE NICARAGUAN
DEMOCRATIC FORCE AND THE REVOLUTIONARY
DEMOCRATIC ALLIANCE.
PROMPT ACTION IS ESSENTIAL - IF REQUIRED ACTION HAS NOT BEEN
TAKEN WITHIN 9 WORKING DAYS OF RECEIPT, PLEASE TELEPHONE THE
UNDERSIGNED AT 456-7486.
RETURN CORRESPONDENCE, WORKSHEET AND COPY OF RESPONSE
(OR DRAFT) TO:
AGENCY LIAISON, ROOM 91, THE WHITE HOUSE
SALLY KELLEY
DIRECTOR OF AGENCY LIAISON
PRESIDENTIAL CORRESPONDENCE
ID# 365658
THE WHITE HOUSE
CORRESPONDENCE TRACKING WORKSHEET
INCOMING
DATE RECEIVED: JANUARY 13, 1986
NAME OF CORRESPONDENT: THE HONORABLE SAM GEJDENSON
SUBJECT: REQUESTS INVESTIGATION OF ALLEGED DRUG
TRAFFICKING BY MEMBERS OF THE NICARAGUAN
DEMOCRATIC FORCE AND THE REVOLUTIONARY
DEMOCRATIC ALLIANCE
ACTION
DISPOSITION
ROUTE TO:
ACT
DATE
TYPE C COMPLETED
OFFICE/AGENCY
(STAFF NAME)
CODE YY/MM/DD RESP D YY/MM/DD
M.B. OGLESBY
ORG 86/01/13 mo A86/01/21 c,
9005
REFERRAL NOTE:
A
or
86/01/23
e 86/03/05TR
BALL REFERRAL NOTE:
reply
LACOLE
A 86/03/07
REFERRAL NOTE:
/ /
/ /
REFERRAL NOTE:
/ /
/ /
REFERRAL NOTE:
COMMENTS:
ADDITIONAL CORRESPONDENTS:
MEDIA:L INDIVIDUAL CODES: 1230
MAIL
USER CODES: (A)
(B)
(C)
*ACTION CODES:
*DISPOSITION
*OUTGOING
*
*
*
*CORRESPONDENCE:
*
*A-APPROPRIATE ACTION
*A-ANSWERED
*TYPE RESP=INITIALS
*
*C-COMMENT/RECOM
*B-NON-SPEC-REFERRAL
*
OF SIGNER
*
*D-DRAFT RESPONSE
*C-COMPLETED
*
CODE = A
*
*F-FURNISH FACT SHEET
*S-SUSPENDED
*COMPLETED = DATE OF
*
*I-INFO COPY/NO ACT NEC*
*
OUTGOING
*
*R-DIRECT REPLY W/COPY *
*
*
*S-FOR-SIGNATURE
*
*
*
*X-INTERIM REPLY
*
*
*
REFER QUESTIONS AND ROUTING UPDATES TO CENTRAL REFERENCE
(ROOM 75,0EOB) EXT-2590
KEEP THIS WORKSHEET ATTACHED TO THE ORIGINAL INCOMING
LETTER AT ALL TIMES AND SEND COMPLETED RECORD TO RECORDS
MANAGEMENT.
January 21, 1986
Dear Sam:
The President has asked me to thank you for
your January 8 letter regarding reports of
cocaine trafficking by members of the
Nicaraguan Democratic Force and the
Revolutionary Democratic Alliance.
Your serious concerns in this matter are
appreciated, and you may be assured that
your request for an investigation has been
brought to the attention of the appropriate
Administration officials for consideration
and further response.
With best wishes,
Sincerely,
M. B. Oglesby, Jr.
Assistant to the President
The Honorable Sam Gejdenson
House of Representatives
Washington, D.C. 20515
MBO:KRJ:MDB:mdb
CC: w/copy of inc to Phillip Brady, Legis Affairs,
Dept of Justice - for DRAFT response
WH RECORDS MANAGEMENT HAS RETAINED ORIGINAL INCOMING
365658
CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES
SAM GEJDENSON
COMMITTEES:
20 DISTRICT
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
CONNECTICUT
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20515
FOREIGN AFFAIRS
INTERIOR
January 8, 1986
The President of the United States
The White House
Washington, D.C. 20500
Dear Mr. President:
I am troubled by news reports of cocaine trafficking by
members of the Nicaraguan Democratic Force (FDN) and the Revolutionary
Democratic Alliance (ARDE). These news accounts indicate that such
smuggling operations have included "refueling planes at clandestine
airstrips and helping transport cocaine to other Costa Rican points
for shipment to the United States". .
In view of the seriousness of the drug problem in this country,
I respectfully request that your Administration fully investigate
the evidence presented in the Associated Press story (Washington Post,
December 27, 1985) with the same vigor and determination that it has
applied to investigations of drug trafficking by others in the region.
As I am sure you would agree, the smuggling of drugs into this
country, by whatever source, is cause for considerable concern. This
type of activity, for whatever gain, should not go unchecked. As such,
I trust that you will marshall all the considerable resources at your
disposal, including the Drug Enforcement Agency, the Treasury Department,
the Central Intelligence Agency and the State Department, to investigate
and put an end to any drug trafficking that the Nicaraguan resistance
may be engaged in.
Sincerely
Sam Member SAM GEJDENSON of Congress Grop
WASHINGTON OFFICE:
NORWICH OFFICE:
MIDDLETOWN OFFICE:
1404 LONGWORTH BUILDING
P.O. Box 2000
94 COURT STREET
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20515
NORWICH. CONNECTICUT 06360
MIDDLETOWN, CONNECTICUT 06457
(202) 225-2076
(203) 886-0139
(203) 346-1123