Office of the Historian

236. Memorandum for the Record1

NFAC–3434–79
Washington, June 28, 1979

SUBJECT

  • SCC Meeting on Nicaragua, 28 June 1979, White House Situation Room

PARTICIPANTS

  • Walter Mondale, David Aaron, White House; Warren Christopher, Viron Vaky, State Department; Frank Carlucci, [name not declassified] CIA; Charles Duncan, David McGiffert, Defense Department, Robert Pastor, NSC; John Pustay, JCS

1. DDCI Carlucci briefed those present on the current military and diplomatic picture in Nicaragua, responding to several questions from Vice President Mondale.

2. Assistant Secretary Vaky related recent demarches by the US to Panama’s Torrijos, Nicaragua’s Somoza, Venezuela’s Perez,2 and the FSLN’s provisional junta. Torrijos recommended the US work with the junta in order to broaden its base, an idea that Ambassadors Bowdler in Panama and Pezzullo in Nicaragua, as well as Vaky, believed merited exploration.

3. Mr. Aaron led lengthy discussion on the advisability and means of propositioning Nicaraguan General Gutierrez to take over and reform the National Guard following Somoza’s departure. Deputy Secretary Christopher advocated leaving Gutierrez in Japan for the present to avoid tainting him or discrediting US efforts on the diplomatic front.

4. Mondale was concerned that the group’s deliberations were too theoretical and would lead to an unrealistic and hopeless US effort to construct a moderate alternative provisional government, while undermining US bona fides with the FSLN’s junta, which stood the best chance of prevailing. He saw wisdom in working through Panama, Venezuela, and others to moderate the junta. Considerable discussion ensued on ramifications of this approach.

5. Aaron expressed concern about the prospect that the Guard will collapse when Somoza departs. This led to discussion of Gutierrez [Page 600] again and Somoza’s hopes for military aid from Central American Defense Council nations. Aaron read the cable from Pezzullo on his first meeting with Somoza in which Somoza said he was prepared to leave on the condition the Guard would be supported.3

6. The meeting concluded with a brief and inconclusive discussion of the advisability of dispatching a signals intelligence collection ship to the area.

  1. Source: Central Intelligence Agency, Office of the Director of Central Intelligence, Job 81B00112R: Subject Files, Box 16, Folder 36: (SCC) Nicaragua. Secret. Drafted on June 29. [name not declassified] sent a copy of the memorandum to Turner under a June 29 covering memorandum, [text not declassified]. The meeting took place in the White House Situation Room.↩
  2. In telegram 5865 from Caracas, June 28, Luers reported that he had met with Perez to discuss the situation in Nicaragua. Perez was “not displeased by the mechanism we planned but doubted it would work.” (National Archives, RG 59, Central Foreign Policy File, P840140–1679)↩
  3. See Document 235.↩