Soviet aid for Nicaragua - and alleged jabs by US

The Soviet ambassador, to Nicaragua Guerman Shliapnikov, said his country would strengthen economic ties with Nicaragua and install two earth-based satellite communication systems in Managua for telephone, radio, and television.

In a separate report, Newsweek magazine said it had uncovered extensive details of US-backed covert operations aimed at harassing and destabilizing Nicaragua's Sandinista government. It said the Honduras-based operation had originally begun with US efforts to restrict an alleged flow of Cuban arms to El Salvador, but had mushroomed into a plot that threatened to rebound and destabilize Honduras while strengthening the Sandinistas.