Reagan Urges Support for Contra Forces

President Reagan Saturday urged Americans to “learn the lesson of Grenada” and support the rebels seeking to overthrow the Marxist-led Sandinista government of Nicaragua.

In his weekly radio address, delivered from the presidential retreat at Camp David, Md., Reagan spoke of his triumphal visit Thursday to Grenada, the Caribbean island where U.S. troops landed more than two years ago to oust a leftist government supported by Cuba.

“The Communists didn’t succeed in Grenada, yet a similar chain of events have been happening in Nicaragua,” the President said. “We hear the same old lies, while the Nicaraguan people see their freedom being stolen away. The Communists have suppressed free speech and free press. Nicaragua’s Communist dictators have launched a systematic attack against the church, its priests and bishops.”

Arming Everyone

As in Grenada, Reagan said, Soviet arms and “everyone from the Soviets, Cubans, East Germans, to the PLO (Palestine Liberation Organization) and (Moammar) Kadafi’s Libyans are turning Nicaragua into a staging area for subversion and aggression against their and our neighbors.” The Administration has announced its intention to seek $100 million in aid for the counterrevolutionary forces fighting the Sandinista regime. Congress last year approved $30 million for these guerrillas, known as contras, and specifically excluded weapons, but the new request is expected to include $70 million in unrestricted aid that could be used for military equipment.

“There’s hope for the Nicaraguan people because freedom fighters are now struggling against the Communist dictatorship,” Reagan said.

“We should learn the lesson of Grenada,” Reagan continued, quoting one of the Caribbean prime ministers who met with him during his Thursday visit as saying “you are on the right course in Central America.”