El Salvador joins exercises aimed at leaning on Nicaragua

Press, 25 May 1984, Page 6

El Salvador joins exercises aimed at leaning on Nicaragua

NZPA-AP Tegucigalpa, United States, Honduran, and Salvadorean troops began a new set of. manoeuvres yesterday that American officials say are aimed at putting pressure on Nicaragua’s Leftist Government and reassuring Washington’s allies in Central America.

The second phase of the Granadero (Grenadier) exercises, engaging more than 4000 troops, will take place near the borders of Nicaragua and El Salvador, whose Government is fighting a war against Leftist rebels. It is the first time El Salvador has sent troops to participate in military exercises in Honduras. “The exercises have two fundamental purposes — to apply psychological pres-

sure on Nicaragua and to reassure our allies in the area,” said a United States diplomat. “There are some training benefits, but that’s not the main objective.” The Reagan Administration has said that American military exercises in Honduras, which began with the Big Pine I manoeuvres in February last year, are intended to improve the defensive ability of troops of pro-American governments in the region and their ability to work together. Congressional critics have asserted that the series of exercises is evolving into a permanent United States military presence in Honduras.

Since February of last year, American forces have built or expanded seven military airstrips in Honduras. The Reagan Administration said that it planned

to continue exercises in Honduras through 1988, and wanted to build ammunition and fuel depots to supply United States aircraft in the event of a military emergency in Central America. Also since February, a 300-man military Intelligence battalion based in Honduras has been flying reconnaissance missions over El Salvador. Planes with infra-red radar are spotting guerrilla concentrations and movements in the dark and providing information to Salvadorean field commanders, military officers say.

The Reagan Administration has accused Nicaragua of supplying arms to Salvadorean rebels and it says that country poses a threat to Central America’s security because of its ties to Cuba and the Soviet Union.