U.S. Accuses Nicaragua of ‘Disinformation’

Reagan Administration officials accused the Marxist government of Nicaragua on Wednesday of mounting a sophisticated “disinformation” campaign to undermine President Reagan’s proposed aid package for rebel forces in that country.

Although these officials claimed to have a document that reveals the sinister nature of Nicaragua’s plans, they refused to make it public, explaining that it would endanger critical intelligence sources.

But congressmen who were shown the document in a White House meeting with Reagan and other top officials said it would be more accurate to call the Nicaraguan effort a public relations move.

“If disinformation is too hot a word, just call it public relations,” California Rep. Robert K. Dornan (R-Garden Grove) said.

Dornan added that the Sandinista government already has begun to coordinate tactics designed to defeat the aid package, including a sit-in of congressional offices by sympathetic religious leaders on the eve of the vote.

The Administration’s charge of disinformation--an emotionally charged term generally used to indicate outright lies in the pursuit of a political ideology--was greeted with skepticism in many quarters because of the lack of supporting evidence.

But one official who briefed reporters defended the accusation: “We’re not talking about brochures that say, ‘Come visit Nicaragua.’ What you have here is a Communist government, allied with the Soviet Union, aided by Americans (in order) to change a vote. . . . I’m not suggesting it is a federal crime--I’m suggesting it is worth knowing about.”

Word ‘Lethal’ Shunned

In preparing their own public relations campaign in support of Reagan’s request for $100 million in aid to the rebels, Administration officials asked that key congressmen not use the word “lethal” when referring to the $70-million military portion of the package.

“To call this lethal (aid) plays into their hands, that there’s something extra-nasty about this,” said Dornan, who argued that the same description is not applied to military aid for other allies such as Israel.

Key congressmen who met with Reagan on Wednesday were told to expect a replay this spring of maneuvers used last year to defeat a similar military aid package submitted by Reagan. At that time, congressmen and journalists were invited to Nicaragua for special tours, and Nicaraguan officials lobbied against the proposal on Capitol Hill.

Only days after the Sandinista government was victorious, Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega traveled to Moscow and openly embraced Soviet leaders--a gesture that proved highly embarrassing for Congress members who opposed the aid to the rebels, known as contras. As a result, enough of them changed their position to give Reagan a belated victory with a $27-million humanitarian aid package.

Administration officials told the congressmen that they expect religious leaders and other “well-meaning people” to play a prominent role on behalf of the Sandinistas.

The document the Administration possesses does not name any of the Americans connected with the Nicaraguan campaign, Dornan said.