Word: guatemala
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Their stated mission was to educate, not to interfere. But the State Department advisers who traveled to Central America last week had more in mind than a polite review of the peace accord that five Central American nations, including Nicaragua, signed in Guatemala City in early August. U.S. officials admitted that their goal was to slow progress on the peace plan, which, as far as the Reagan Administration is concerned, should never have been adopted in the first place. Said a U.S. diplomat: "It's like trying to put the brakes on a runaway train heading downhill...
...Department officials, Reagan had intended to present the Sandinistas with a proposal that they could only reject, then ask Congress for new contra funding before the current aid expires on Sept. 30. But the scheme went awry. Three days later, when the Presidents of El Salvador, Costa Rica, Honduras, Guatemala and Nicaragua met in Guatemala City to discuss a homegrown peace proposal, the Central American leaders allied with the U.S. felt compelled to sign their version. "What were we supposed to do?" asks a Honduran official. "Be the only ones not for peace?" One major difference between the two pacts...
...votes new aid to the contras, Nicaraguan Vice President Sergio Ramirez Mercado said, then Managua will not institute reforms and the Guatemala plan will collapse. Nonetheless, there is genuine hope among the Central American leaders that their accord will succeed. Under the plan, Nicaragua's contras and leftist rebel groups in El Salvador and Guatemala would be deprived of new arms, and the contras would be ejected from their bases in Honduras. Not surprisingly, the contras remain deeply suspicious. "There's just no way we're going to put down our arms and surrender," says Contra Leader Pedro Joaquin Chamorro...
Duarte's best hope now is that the Guatemala peace initiative will force the Salvadoran rebels to lay down their arms. Under the accord, outside aid to all guerrilla groups must cease, which means that clandestine arms shipments to the guerrillas from Cuba and Nicaragua would stop. Says a State Department official: "It's a definite plus for the Salvadoran government...
...President Daniel Ortega joined Duarte in affixing his signature to the accord two weeks ago. Last week Duarte proposed that the rebels sit down with his government on Sept. 15 to discuss a cease-fire and amnesty. The rebels agreed to talk but not under the aegis of the Guatemala Plan...