DECLASSIFIED. cannot be ignored that the Government has been too hard pressed for cash to be generous with the armed forces and, at times, there have actually been delays in meeting normal salary payments punctually. The opposition does include most wealthy Costa Ricans. Hence, the possibility exists that some of the assistant commanders in key positions may possibly have sold out to the opposition.
However, this is only a possibility as no proof exists that the opposition has been able to infiltrate the armed forces in any way.
It should be pointed out that the ONLY military organization outside of the Presidential Guard in which there is not a preponderance of personal followers of the Calderón Guardia brothers is the Cuartel de Artilleria. If a break were ever to occur between President PICADO on the one hand and the CALDERON partisans of the National Republican Party on the other the military situation in terms of military manpower would be preponderantly in favor of the CALDERONS. On the other hand, sight can not be lost of the fact that the available arms and equipment are more or less evenly distributed between the Bella Vista and Artilleria, in which case those kept on hand in the Casa Presidencial and the Mobile Unit although considerably less than those in the cuarteles, might well offset the unfavor.
able balance of manpower available to the President, especially since combat efficiency of the Costa Rican armed forces is notoriously low.
The above report is based on information obtained separately by the two persons signing below and represents a jc 15 opinion in which both concur.
ALEX COHEN JAMES HUGHES, Lt. Colonel, Inf.
Military Attaché CONFIDENTIAL