Cuban general reportedly on duty in Nicaragua
June 20, 1983
New York
Cuba's top military combat commander was reported to have been secretly assigned to duty in Nicaragua and to have been working there for a month. In its Sunday edition, the New York Times identified the commander as Gen. Arnaldo Ochoa Sanchez, a key figure in Cuban military buildups in Angola and Ethiopia in the late 1970s. The Times quoted a CIA report disclosed by an administration official.
The report was based primarily on Central American military sources who say Ochoa is organizing a large-scale Cuban move into Nicaragua. Administration officials had no independent confirmation that Ochoa had been assigned to Nicaragua.