Word: guatemala
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When Democratic House Speaker Jim Wright first proposed last month that Costa Rican President Oscar Arias Sanchez be invited to address Congress, the White House responded with enthusiasm. Officials reasoned that a visit from Arias, architect of the peace plan signed last month in Guatemala City by five Central American Presidents, would demonstrate the Reagan Administration's interest in talking peace rather than making...
Reagan has made little effort to hide his disdain for the Guatemala peace accord, most recently charging that it "falls short of the safeguards" contained in an earlier proposal put forward by Reagan and Wright. The White House has interpreted Arias' visit as a snub. "How would the Costa Ricans like it if our President were to accept an invitation from their legislature, pretty much bypassing their executive branch?" observed an Administration official. Costa Rican officials based in Washington deny that Arias is intentionally insulting Reagan. In fact, shortly after Wright extended his invitation, the Costa Ricans suggested a meeting...
...five signatories to the Guatemala accord, Honduras is rapidly emerging as the least enthusiastic. Last week Honduran President Jose Azcona Hoyo told visiting Congressman Kemp that he thought the peace accord did not preclude continued U.S. aid to the contras. "Hondurans would really like a regional peace agreement, but they also want to maintain good relations with the U.S., and right now the two seem mutually exclusive," says a Western diplomat in Tegucigalpa. "So they are hanging on to the U.S. trapeze, too frightened to let go and try to catch the Central American trapeze...
...assurances, however, seem to be counting for less and less these days. The signing of the Guatemala accord came about largely because of confused signals transmitted from Washington. Now most Central Americans feel that, one way or another, they must keep the peace momentum going. The increasing determination of U.S. allies to pursue their own interests without reference to Washington suggests that Reagan's friends have begun to see him as a lame duck. That perception comes on top of long-standing nervousness about the U.S. commitment to its allies, a fear fueled by the American example set in recent...
...whether the rebels must first put down their arms threatens to abort the talks. Arias, who has agreed to mediate, will undoubtedly struggle valiantly to pull the talks back on track. But if the plan stalls in El Salvador, it may be the beginning of the end for the Guatemala peace accord...