attacked the port of Corinto, resulting in an intense exchange of fire, which became a virtual naval battle, with forces of the Sandinist Navy. On 31 March, the explosion of another mine seriously damaged the engine room and electrical system of a Japanese ship, the Taushiro Mat-u, which had been loading bananas at the wharf of the port of Corinto. 114. This morning we read a cable containing a communique’ issued to the press at San Jose, Costa Rica, to the effect that a mercenary organization sponsored by the CIA for its covert operations-and it bears clarification that often mercenaries do not necessarily have to be of nationalities different from that of the country against which they are operating; indeed, many Nicaraguans have been recruited and paid by the CIA-had mined a 50-kilometre length of Lake Nicaragua, from the Sapoa River to the town of Colon. Lake Nicaragua is where the United States had always intended to build an inter-oceanic canal through Nicaragua to enable communication between the Atlantic and Pacific. That indeed was the occasion for the first United States intervention, in 1854, which I mentioned previously. 115. In the north-east of Nicaragua, in the depart- ment of Zelaya, heavy fighting is now taking place between CIA ,mercenary forces and Sandinist forces. Those mercenaries, after their forays, withdraw to Honduran territory and, re-equipped, return for action. 116. In the next few days we expect another invasion from Honduran territory of the north-central sector of Nicaragua, which is the strategic sector over which they have been trying to gain control through the various invasions they have launched. 117. In connection with the acts of aggression committed, the dangers of those actions, the mining of the ports and the sophisticated hardware used, I wish to read from the press conference held by the 
**Analysis**
The text appears to be discussing a conflict between the Sandinist Navy and a mercenary organization sponsored by the CIA, which has been mining Lake Nicaragua and engaging in battles in various sectors of Nicaragua. The text also mentions the historical context of the United States' interest in building an inter-oceanic canal through Nicaragua. This suggests that the conflict is closely tied to issues of national security and territorial control.

**Category**
Transport and communication, International trade