U.S. CUTS CIA TIES TO GUATEMALA

President Clinton last night severed covertCIA ties to Guatemala's military intelligence services, immediately after learning that several hundred thousand U.S. dollars had continued to flow to that government without his knowledge. White House officials said Secretary of State Warren Christopher did not know about theCIA programswhen he said on a talk show Sunday that no U.S. money was going to Guatemala. TIME Washington national security correspondent Douglas Waller explains that the CIA, which was ordered in 1992 to drop its covert action in the country, legally maintained several low-profile "liaison" programs that trained Guatemalan officers in intelligence-gathering and counternarcotics. Waller adds: "We have been maintaining an intelligence relationship with a government whose army has the worst human rights record in the region. And there's no reason to, now that the Cold War's over."