Cuban general reportedly on duty in Nicaragua

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.