Word: nicaragua
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...After weeks of thrashing about, one minute backing the peace process, the next claiming unwavering support for the contras, Washington tilted strongly toward the rebels last week. On vacation in California, President Ronald Reagan issued two pledges of continued support for the contras' war against the Sandinista regime in Nicaragua. He broadcast a morale-boosting message that was beamed to guerrillas in the field over a rebel radio station. Three days later Reagan met with contra leaders in Los Angeles. In Washington, officials criticized the Sandinistas, issuing statements of support for imprisoned Nicaraguans who had embarked on a hunger strike...
...diplomatic maneuvers looked a bit flat-footed, Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega Saavedra seemed to execute several deft pirouettes. He announced that three exiled priests could return to Nicaragua and hinted that the Roman Catholic Church's radio station might be reopened within 90 days. Some Central American officials speculated that Ortega was merely trying to embarrass the Reagan Administration; others argued that with Nicaragua's economy a shambles, Ortega was genuinely bent on procuring peace. Whatever the case, on the public relations front, conceded a U.S. official, "the Sandinistas have certainly done much better than we have...
...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: the Reagan...
...Washington's distress, the Guatemala plan has almost totally eclipsed ) the Reagan Administration's version in public discussions. Three of the contras' six civilian directors embraced the accord last week, saying they would return to Nicaragua if conditions for a cease-fire scheduled for Nov. 7 were met. "We are prepared to give the plan a fair try," said Alfonso Robelo. "We won't put up any hurdles." Contra Military Commander Enrique Bermudez, however, asserted that the rebels would not lay down their weapons on Nov. 7, nor would they accept an amnesty offered by Ortega. During their meeting with...
...Nicaragua, Ortega went to unusual lengths to demonstrate his commitment to the Guatemala agreement. His boldest gesture was to name Miguel Cardinal Obando y Bravo, one of the Sandinistas' harshest critics, to a four-person commission that will oversee Managua's compliance with the plan. While State Department Spokeswoman Phyllis Oakley applauded Obando's appointment, she charged that "the Sandinistas have stacked the council in their favor...