a035  0305  16 Dec 87
PM-Nicaragua-Military,0311
Daniel Ortega Says Nicaragua Will Maintain Large Military
    NEW YORK (AP) - The president of Nicaragua says his country will
maintain a large army and reserve force regardless of any agreements
to normalize relations with its neighbors and the United States, a
newspaper reported today.
    In an interview, President Daniel Ortega told The New York Times on
Tuesday that such a military buildup would not violate terms of the
latest Central American peace plan.
    Ortega said the buildup was supported by agreements with the Soviet
Union.
    He said his leftist Sandinista government is ''willing to discuss
limits on weapons and men in the armed forces'' if the United States
''stops its aggression'' against Nicaragua.
    The president said Nicaragua will maintain an army of 60,000 to
80,000 men. He said the population of the entire country will be
considered a reserve force. He said it would be used as a defensive
force, comparing it to Switzerland's military.
    ''This will be the policy even if the aggression ends,'' said
Ortega, referring to U.S. support for the Contras fighting his
government.
    Ortega denied several allegations made in Washington last week by
Maj. Roger Miranda Bengoechea, a senior Nicaraguan Defense Ministry
official who sought asylum in the United States two months ago.
    The president denied allegations that he and his brother, Defense
Minister Humberto Ortega, and other top government officials keep
foreign bank accounts. He also denied the major's allegation that the
Nicaraguan government gave approval to the Panamanian military
leader, Gen. Manuel Antonio Noriega, to send weapons to guerrillas in
El Salvador soon.
    He also denied that his country had trained Salvadoran guerrillas in
the use of antiaircraft missiles.
    He said he had warned President Jose Napoleon Duarte of El Salvador
that the guerrillas were looking for missiles, and they might get
them from corrupt Contras selling weapons they get from the United
States.
    
 
AP-NY-12-16-87 0555EST
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