Word: central
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...months the Presidents of five Central American countries had been signaling new hopes for peace in their embattled region. The focus for that optimism was a proposal they planned to discuss at a June 25 regional summit meeting in Guatemala City. But last week, following a flutter of U.S. diplomacy in the region, the peace initiative appeared to collapse. Salvadoran President Jose Napoleon Duarte, Washington's closest ally in Central America, demanded a postponement of the meeting. Meanwhile, President Reagan held a hastily arranged, one-hour session at the White House with the author of the peace plan, Costa Rican...
Even before the White House statement, charges had been flying throughout Central America that the U.S. was once again working to stymie the convoluted regional peace process. Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega Saavedra, whose Sandinista government is fighting off the attacks of U.S.-supported contra rebels, accused the U.S. of a "direct attempt to kill any possibility of a negotiated settlement in the region." Ortega once again charged the U.S. with foiling peaceful negotiations in order to "isolate Nicaragua and launch a direct invasion against our country." The Nicaraguan President declared that he would not agree to a summit postponement...
...officials, on the other hand, argued that the problem with the June 25 meeting was a lack of advance preparation that could be solved with only a few weeks' delay. But that claim rang hollow. Conceded one U.S. diplomat: "We panic at the thought of a Central American agreement with the Sandinistas...
First aired in February, the Arias proposal echoes many of the items included in the so-called Contadora process, a four-year, Latin American effort to negotiate a Central American settlement that still sputters on without appreciable result. Both plans call for a region-wide cease-fire and an end to outside military assistance to all guerrilla groups, including the rebels in El Salvador and the contras. Both schemes propose a general amnesty for insurgents, followed by a peaceful political dialogue between opposition forces and incumbent governments. The Arias plan also follows Contadora in calling for pluralistic democracy...
...more important innovation in the Arias scheme is that it calls for a cease-fire to precede the intended reconciliation in each Central American country. As far as Nicaragua is concerned, that amounts to recognition of a long-standing Sandinista refusal to talk seriously with the contras while they continue fighting...