Word: prize
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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Until last week's announcement, Arias was not even rumored to be a serious contender for the prize. In Oslo the odds-on favorites among the 93 nominees included President Corazon Aquino of the Philippines, President Raul Alfonsin of Argentina, and the World Health Organization. The five-member committee maintained a stoic silence until the formal declaration, which cited Arias for his "outstanding contribution to the possible return of stability and peace to a region long torn by strife and civil war." Afterward, Committee Chairman Egil Aarvik, 75, made clear the committee's intent. "We hope that the award will...
Still, a clamor is building for a negotiated cease-fire in Nicaragua. Bolstered by the peace prize, Arias renewed his calls last week for indirect talks between the Sandinistas and the contra leaders to be mediated by Miguel Cardinal Obando y Bravo, Nicaragua's Roman Catholic Primate. "There's a new mood in Central America now," Arias told TIME. "I hope President Ortega will revise his position and accept dialogue." Two other signatories to the peace plan, El Salvador's President Jose Napoleon Duarte and Honduras' President Jose Azcona Hoyo, echoed Arias' appeal...
...Washington news of the peace prize seemed only to harden well-established positions. In the Democratic-controlled Senate, a resolution was overwhelmingly passed that congratulated Arias and pledged the Senate's "firm support and full cooperation" in seeing the plan implemented. In the House, effusive congratulations were offered by Speaker Jim Wright, who rallied to Arias' efforts after a regional peace plan that he co-sponsored with Reagan proved stillborn. "Oscar Arias is a man of vision," he said. As for the Administration's bid for new contra aid, House Majority Whip Tony Coelho of California stated flatly, "This kills...
Those who continue to back contra funding criticized the awarding of the ) peace prize as premature. Congressman Jack Kemp of New York, a candidate for the Republican presidential nomination, suggested that the Norwegians "ought to save the peace prize until they see what happens in the future." House Minority Leader Bob Michel complained, "I don't know that the Norwegians got all that much to say about what goes on in Central America." Said Arias: "There will always be people with small spirits...
Arias' fellow signers of the peace plan responded with delight. Arias is only the fourth Latin American in the prize's 86-year history to join the pantheon of peace laureates (the others: Argentina's Carlos Saavedra Lamas in 1936 and Adolfo Perez Esquivel in 1980 and Mexico's Alfonso Garcia Robles in 1982). Ortega telephoned his congratulations, telling Arias, "Your initiative and efforts have brought us closer to peace." Duarte, on a three-day visit to Washington, lauded Arias' achievement several times during a State Department luncheon. "He wanted peace, not for himself," said Duarte. "He was thinking...