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Contras > U.S. Military and Financial Assistance > Propaganda

In an effort to garner support for aid and funding for the Contras among both members of Congress and the American public, Reagan’s administration felt that it was necessary to “neutralize the post-Vietnam public opposition to U.S. intervention in the Third World”. To achieve this goal, they established the Office of Public Diplomacy for Latin America and the Caribbean (referred to as S/LPD), which would essentially become a domestic propaganda organization. While it was technically and publicly an agency of the State Department, the S/LPD actually reported directly to Reagan and the National Security Council. It was an interagency office that employed members of a number of different departments.

The S/LPD had a number of objectives throughout its operation in the mid 1980s, both domestically and abroad. One report by the Comptroller General of the United States states that S/LPD was established “to engage in a campaign to influence the public and the Congress to support increased funding for the [Reagan] Administration’s Central American policy”. A similar report by the U.S. General Accounting Office (GAO) claims that LPD’s stated goal was “to promote a better understanding of U.S. policy toward Latin America and the Caribbean” and that “its activities have been directed at educating, informing, and influencing foreign and domestic audiences on the administration’s foreign policy objectives in Latin America”. The Comptroller General’s report went on to say that former director of the S/LPD Otto Reich had stated that S/LPD’s goal with respect to Congress was “to gain sufficient bipartisan support in Congress to permit approval of increased assistance, economic and military, to Central America and to preclude crippling restrictions on actions in support of U.S. policy objectives in the region”. In a memorandum for President Reagan, Secretary of State George Schultz wrote that S/LPD’s goals included “[pointing] out flaws in the information the American people are receiving” and building relationships with news networks in order to “dispel misinformation” while simultaneously “aggressively expressing our policy objectives”.

In order to achieve these goals, S/LPD used a number of methods. The Comptroller General’s report states that S/LPD “used its own staff, and let a number of contracts with outside writers, for articles, editorials, and op-ed pieces in support of the Administration’s position” and that these methods were “generally...direct and overt”. A report on the Iran-Contra Affair by multiple Congressional Committees states that “the office arranged speaking engagements, published pamphlets, and sent materials to editorial writers”. This report goes on to say that the office used both government employees and outside contractors, two of whom eventually worked with Oliver North to provide assistance to the Nicaraguan Contras. In addition, S/LPD “briefed Members of Congress” and “generally did not give the critics of the policy any quarter in the debate”. Oliver North wrote that S/LPD was supposed to “release [a] paper on Nicaraguan drug involvement”. An S/LPD staffer wrote that the office planned on releasing papers about Soviet military buildup in Central America, Nicaraguan media manipulation, and “why Nicaraguans flee their country”. In addition, the staffer planned on “[calling] newspaper editorial boards and [giving] them background on the Nicaraguan Freedom Fighters”. Similarly, Ambassador Reich wrote that S/LPD planned on producing a “major” publication “detailing Cuban and Soviet active measures and media manipulation in the Latin American region,” in addition to producing two minor publications regarding Sandinista actions toward minority groups and the “relations between the Sandinistas, international terrorism, Cuba, and the Soviet Union”.

Certain methods and activities taken by S/LPD were deemed illegal, unauthorized, and/or unjustified by a number of government investigative committees. The Comptroller General’s report concluded that S/LPD “arranged for the publication of articles which purportedly had been prepared by, and reflected the views of, persons not associated with the government but which, in fact, had been prepared at the request of government officials and partially or wholly paid for with government funds”. In one instance, a college professor was hired and paid by S/LPD to write an op-ed piece about the Nicaraguan arms buildup. Johnathan Miller, a Deputy Director of S/LPD, wrote about this instance, which was a part of S/LPD’s “White Propaganda” Operation, in a confidential memorandum: “Professor Guilmartin has been a consultant to our office and collaborated with our staff in the writing of this piece...Officially, this office had no role in its preparation”. Also, according to the Comptroller General, S/LPD violated Section 501 because its activities were “beyond the range of acceptable agency public information activities because the articles prepared in whole or part by S/LPD staff as the ostensible position of persons not associated with the government and the media visits arranged by S/LPD were misleading as to their origin and reasonably constituted ‘propaganda’ within the common understanding of that term”. In addition, with relation to the legality of S/LPD contracts, the GAO report claims that “many products were different from those contracted for with no evidence that agreement was reached on changes to contract specifications”. Lastly, Johnathan Miller wrote that “two op-ed pieces...are being prepared by one of our consultants...for the signatures of opposition leaders”. He later wrote: “the work of our operation is ensured by our office’s keeping a low profile”.

The Office of Public Diplomacy was established to promote President Reagan’s foreign policy regarding Nicaragua through the dissemination of propaganda. This included promotion both at home and abroad. S/LPD’s task was to persuade members of Congress and the general public that Reagan’s policies were good and warranted financial support. S/LPD aimed to increase Congressional support for these policies so that economic and military aid could be approved, allowing Reagan to carry out his plans in Central America.