Word: ortega
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...with its itinerary of foreign policy hot spots: Moscow, Manila and Managua. Lately the congressional congestion in Managua and vicinity has become particularly acute. No sooner had Robert Dole and four other Republican Senators checked out of the Nicaraguan capital last week, after some verbal sparring with President Daniel Ortega Saavedra, than Democratic Senator Tom Harkin checked in for a high-level chat. Meanwhile, Representative Jack Kemp and a delegation of 65 conservatives were traveling through Honduras, El Salvador and Costa Rica...
...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 Reagan, the contra leaders proposed that the President secure renewed funding from Congress, then place the military portion of that aid in an escrow account. The money would become available only if Managua broke the cease-fire. Though the Administration refused to commit itself...
...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...
...Ortega faces skepticism not only abroad but also at home. In a rare display of divisiveness among the nine members of the Sandinista directorate, Interior Minister Tomas Borge seemed to try to undercut Ortega's public relations offensive last week. After Ortega announced that the priests could return, Borge declared that the 30-day jail sentences imposed on two opposition leaders last month were "not commutable." Their crime: staging a protest rally in Managua without a permit. Sandinista officials privately acknowledged that police use of electric prods and attack dogs to break up the rally had been heavy-handed...
...Ortega's determination at least to act like a peacemaker seems to stem primarily from economic concerns. The war, which consumes more than half of Nicaragua's annual budget, is taking an enormous toll on the economy. The most immediate concern is oil. This year the Soviet Union and its East-bloc satellites are expected to supply 490,000 tons, or 64% of the total need, compared with 95% in 1986. Oddly, the crisis has neither lowered the monthly gas ration of 20 gal. for each vehicle nor inspired the state to ease the controls that hold the official price...