And to think only several decades ago, Ronald Reagan's CIA was busy mining its harbors trying to overthrow its leftist leaders.

Reminder:

Setback for Contras : CIA Mining of Harbors 'a Fiasco'
March 05, 1985|DOYLE McMANUS and ROBERT C. TOTH | Times Staff Writers

WASHINGTON — When President Reagan's foreign policy advisers urged him to order the CIA to mine Nicaragua's harbors late in 1983, their reasoning was simple: No civilian cargo vessel would dare run such a gantlet, and the cutoff of imported weapons, fuel and other supplies would deal a grievous blow to the Sandinista government.

"We never dreamed that merchant captains would keep sailing in," one of the operation's planners confessed later. "The whole thing was a fiasco."

The mining ploy was intended as a critical boost to the CIA-backed rebels who were launching a major offensive--an offensive some hoped would spark a full-scale uprising against the leftist Sandinistas. Instead, when the mines blew up, so did the Reagan Administration's whole strategy--with consequences that still hobble U.S. policy in Central America.

The "firecracker" mines sowed by CIA-hired commandos working from speedboats were too small to do serious damage to ships, but the outrage they sparked forced Congress to confront squarely the mounting American role in the conflict.

http://articles.latimes.com/1985-03-05/news/mn-12633_1_harbor-mining

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Congratulations, and respect for Nicaragua's brilliant success this far, and best wishes for its progress forward.