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TOP ,t:RET Part II Nicaragua A. Background Al though Project JMATE operations in Nicaragua were of considerably shorter duration than in Guatemala, there were many similarities in the degree to which CIA personnel were involved directly with the nation's Preside~t or his close personal staff on issues which were of direct importance to US foreign policy. This section therefore, focuses on the rela'tions between the Agency and President Luis Somoza Debayle. The internal situation in Nicaragua presented the Depart- ment of State with difficult choices. Somoza was an absolute dictator and, particularly after the 1960 election of John F. Kennedy, State was much concerned that, in appearance tit least, the abrazo for Somoza be formal rather than friendly, lest the US risk loss of support in the GAS and UN from the reputedly "demo- cratic" Central and South American nations. The Agency had no such problems -- it needed a base from which to mount air operations against Castro's Cuba; and the - 100 - TOP iRET