Reagan Hits Professor’s Nicaragua Story

President Reagan accused a UCLA history professor Tuesday of writing “propaganda” on behalf of Nicaragua and asked that “God help” the professor’s students.

Reagan, who made the accusation at a question-and-answer session with reporters, did not name the professor whom he used as an example of Nicaraguan “disinformation.”

However, White House press aides later identified him as E. Bradford Burns, a history professor at UCLA who is a former dean of the university and an author on Latin-American affairs.

Speaking from his office on campus, Burns reacted to the President’s attack on him with “amazement,” but said he was pleased if it brings attention to the issue of U.S. policy toward Nicaragua.

“I would hope that in the U.S. people have a right to express their opinions,” he said. “I’ve expressed mine. I hope I have a right to do it without being attacked.”

The magazine containing Burns’ article, Nicaragua Perspectives, is put out semiannually by the Nicaraguan Information Center in Berkeley, a center for disseminating academic and journalistic articles about U.S. policy in Central America, spokesman Philip Martinez said.

Martinez said the center receives money from subscriptions and from donors solicited from standard direct-mail lists. Asked if it got money from the Nicaraguan government, he said, “Not a single dime or penny.”

At his question-and-answer session with reporters Tuesday, Reagan was asked to amplify on his recent charges that the Marxist-led government of Nicaragua was engaging in a “disinformation” campaign.

The President responded with an example.

“The other day I had handed to me a slick-paper publication, a magazine--$3.75 an issue--and this magazine is published by the Nicaraguan Information Foundation. And it is filled with propaganda . . . against the Contras and against us and in favor of them, and one . . . prominent university professor had written a lead article in this particular issue. And if that is what he tells his students, God help them, because it was pure propaganda.”

In the article, Burns said he tried to point out, “We never have had a detailed program from the Contras (who want to overthrow the government) to know how they would govern Nicaragua. . . . They are obviously anti-Marxist . . . and pro-U.S. But those are general and meaningless labels. . . . It’s hard to know what we are buying with our money. . . . They are against the government of Nicaragua. But is that enough?”

As for the President appealing to God on behalf of his students, Burns said, “If they need prayers, I’m glad someone is praying for them.”