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Council of the Americas 5/2/89 [OA 6263] [2]
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Council of the Americas 5/2/89 [OA 6263] [2]
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Council of the Americas 5/2/89 [OA 6263] [2]
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26
18
7
7
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1ST STORY of Level 1 printed in FULL format.
The Associated Press
The materials in the AP file were compiled by The Associated Press. These
materials may not be republished without the express written consent of The
Associated Press.
April 26, 1989, Wednesday, PM cycle
SECTION: Washington Dateline
LENGTH: 469 words
HEADLINE: U.S., Anti-Sandinistas Say Election Being Rigged
BYLINE: By GEORGE GEDDA, Associated Press Writer
DATELINE: WASHINGTON
KEYWORD: Nicaraguan Opposition
BODY:
The State Department is joining a delegation of Nicaraguan opposition leaders
in accusing Sandinista authorities of trying to rig national elections set for
next February.
The opposition leaders, ranging from an anti-Sandinista communist to
U.S.-backed Contra rebels, said Tuesday that Nicaraguan officials are attempting
to ensure victory by stacking the all-powerful Supreme Electoral Council in
their favor and by denying the opposition equal access to media outlets.
The State Department leveled similar charges and appealed to the Sandinistas
to meet opposition demands for a more equitable process.
At issue is legislation approved by recently by the Sandinista-dominated
legislature setting forth ground rules for the elections.
Tuesday was the deadline, established at a Central American summit meeting
last February in E1 Salvador, for setting in motion an electoral process that
will culminate in national elections 10 months from now.
Nicaraguan Embassy spokeswoman Cecilia Lopez said the new laws were approved
with the participation of the political parties represented in the legislature
and are in compliance with the terms of the Central American summit.
In a telephone interview, she said the law allows opposition parties more air
time for campaign purposes than they would have received under their original
request.
In addition, she said, the Sandinistas, consistent with another pledge made
at the summit, have released about 1,700 National Guardsmen who served the
rightist regime which was ousted by the Sandinistas a decade ago.
Twelve opposition leaders outlined their criticisms at a news conference
after discussing the issue with United Nations and Organization of American
States officials.
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The Associated Press, April 26, 1989
The delegates included Eli Altamirano of the Nicaraguan Communist Party and
three members of the U.S.-supported Contra rebels.
At the State Department, spokeswoman Margaret Tutwiler said the
administration shares the criticisms of the opposition leaders.
The electoral law approved last week "is not the result of good faith
bargaining between the government of Nicaragua and the internal opposition
groups, and was unilaterally imposed after being passed by the
Sandinista-dominated legislature," she said.
She said the law includes a provision requiring that the election council
which the Sandinistas control receive one-half of any foreign political
contributions.
The law, she said, ignores proposals made by the internal opposition for
absentee balloting and procedures for ensuring unlimited access for
international election observers.
A new law governing press conduct, she added, includes penalties for
disseminating information which the Interior Ministry determines to be a
violation of national integrity and allows officials to order closures of up to
four days.
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2ND STORY of Level 1 printed in FULL format.
Copyright (c) 1989 The Washington Post
April 26, 1989, Wednesday, Final Edition
SECTION: FIRST SECTION; PAGE A23
LENGTH: 643 words
HEADLINE: Nicaragua's Electoral Reform Faulted;
U.S. Warns That Military Aid to Contras Can Be Resumed
BYLINE: John M. Goshko, Washington Post Staff Writer
BODY:
The Bush administration, in a pointed reminder that its agreement not to seek
new military aid for the Nicaraguan contras is linked to free elections in that
country next February, charged yesterday that reforms made by the Marxist-led
Sandinista government are insufficient to prevent rigged balloting.
State Department spokesman Margaret Tutwiler began her daily press briefing
with a statement that described the electoral laws enacted by the Sandinistas
last week as "troubling" and "not the result of good-faith bargaining" with its
domestic opposition. She concluded with a warning that dialogue and compromise
are necessary to "create conditions of trust in which free elections can go
forward."
Administration officials said the statement was meant to remind Nicaraguan
President Daniel Ortega that President Bush can ask Congress next year to resume
funding of the contra guerrilla war against the Sandinistas if the elections are
a sham.
The officials, noting that Ortega is touring Western Europe seeking economic
aid from the European Community, said the statement also was intended to draw
the attention of West European leaders to what the United States contends is
lagging progress toward democracy in Nicaragua.
The officials said privately they felt Ortega was given what one called "an
uncritically warm reception" by French President Francois Mitterrand. Ortega
also will be meeting for the first time with such U.S. allies as British Prime
Minister Margaret Thatcher and West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl, and, as one
U.S. official said, "We want to remind them that they shouldn't accept his
avowals of commitment to democracy at face value."
The bipartisan accord reached last month by Secretary of State James A. Baker
III and congressional leaders calls for Bush not to seek arms for the contras
until after the February elections. In the meantime, Baker has said, the United
States will use moral suasion and various "carrots and sticks" to prod the
Sandinistas toward fair elections.
Administration officials said Tutwiler's statement was in line with this
approach and was timed to coincide with Ortega's promise to have satisfactory
electoral reforms in place by yesterday. He set that deadline at a Feb. 14
meeting in E1 Salvador with the presidents of the four neighboring countries
that joined with Nicaragua in the 1987 Central America peace plan.
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(c) 1989 The Washington Post, April 26, 1989
The new laws adopted by Nicaragua's Sandinista-dominated legislature have
been attacked by opposition political parties as enabling the government to
manipulate voter registration and balloting and retain unfair control over
television and other media.
"Both the substance of these laws and the manner in which they have been put
into effect is troubling," Tutwiler said. "The electoral law was not the
result of good-faith bargaining and was unilaterally imposed. It is still
not too late for dialogue and for the necessary compromises by all sides, which
alone can create conditions of trust in which free elections can go forward."
Similar charges were repeated at a news conference here yesterday by a
delegation of 12 Nicaraguan opposition figures representing the contras and
political parties ranging from the far right to the Nicaraguan Communist Party.
In addition, a group of House members -- including several Democrats who have
been key swing voters in past battles over contra military aid - sent a
telegram to Ortega urging him to address charges that the new laws are "biased
and unfair."
Paul Reichler, a Washington attorney who represents the Sandinista government
here, said, "The State Department is hardly a disinterested party." He charged
that Tutwiler's statement contained inaccuracies and distorted
characterizations of Nicaraguan laws, which he asserted are comparable to the
electoral laws used by many Latin American democracies.
TYPE: FOREIGN NEWS
SUBJECT: NICARAGUA; POLITICS; GOVERNMENT AID TO FOREIGN NATIONS
ORGANIZATION: CONTRAS
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6TH STORY of Level 1 printed in FULL format.
Copyright (c) 1989 The New York Times Company;
The New York Times
March 20, 1989, Monday, Late City Final Edition
SECTION: Section A; Page 1, Column 3; Foreign Desk
LENGTH: 1127 words
HEADLINE: GUN BATTLES FLARE AS SALVADORANS VOTE FOR A LEADER
BYLINE: By LINDSEY GRUSON, Special to the New York Times
DATELINE: SAN SALVADOR, March 19
BODY:
As firefights broke out across much of the country between the military and
the anti-Government guerrillas, Salvadorans voted today for a successor to
President Jose Napoleon Duarte.
The right-wing Republican Nationalist Alliance, known from its initials as
Arena, announced at a news conference late tonight that its candidate, Alfredo
Cristiani, a wealthy coffee grower, had won more than 50 percent of the votes
and would not have to face a runoff election. However, official results in the
seven-candidate race were not expected until Monday.
In the election -day violence, three journalists were killed and one was
seriously wounded in three separate shootings. Military officials said five
guerrillas and two soldiers died in fighting in nine provincial towns, and eight
civilians were wounded.
Problems for U.S. Policy
Early projections put Fidel Chavez Mena of the ruling Christian Democrats in
second place, far behind. That would mark a sharp rejection of President Duarte,
whose term ends June 1.
The Christian Democratic headquarters was virtually deserted tonight and the
party provided no results.
A first-round victory for Mr. Cristiani and Arena, which has strong
anti-American strains, would mark a failure of American efforts to build the
Christian Democrats as a centrist bulwark against the political extremes. It
could leave the American Congress very reluctant to send more financial aid to
the country.
The voting and the violence came after a week in which much of the country
lived in near siege conditions. The guerrillas, who called for a boycott of the
vote, imposed a transportation ban that paralyzed traffic for four days and
stepped up sabotage, cutting power and water to about 80 percent of homes.
Explosions reverberated across the capital this morning as the army sent
helicopters to support troops battling rebels on the slopes of Guazapa volcano,
a guerrilla stronghold to the north.
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(c) 1989 The New York Times, March 20, 1989
'With these problems it's better to stay home,'' said 23-year-old Carlos
Ortiz as he sat in his house. As he spoke, a rebel unit retreated from an attack
on a military post three blocks away. A commander of the rebels, Ana Guadelupe
Martinez, said in a radio interview that the guerrillas attacked 20 towns today.
She said army posts were the targets, not polling stations.
The capital and other Government-controlled areas reported minor incidents.
But there was fierce fighting in the east and southeast, rebel strongholds. The
turnout in those areas was far lower. Caught between official calls to take part
and a rebel boycott, voters often cast ballots reluctantly.
Turnout appeared light through much of the morning as people in this
predominantly Roman Catholic country went to church to celebrate Palm Sunday.
Others stayed home and listened to their radios, trying to gauge whether it was
safe to vote.
Lines at Some Polls
By midday, lines stretched around the block at some polling stations in the
capital while others were barely busy.
Many poll workers said it appeared that the overall turnout would be
moderate, about the same as in the last presidential elections, in 1984.
''I'm afraid, but I'm voting because I'm afraid there will be trouble if I
don't,' said Jorge Alvarenga as he voted in Tenancingo, 40 miles northeast of
the capital. The town was bombed and deserted in 1983 but was resettled two
years ago.
A bomb exploded to the southwest as he stuffed his paper ballot through a
wooden slot into a clear plastic garbage bag, which allows anyone standing
nearby to see the vote. The square near the polling station was festooned with
rebel slogans. 'Everyone Prepare for the Grand Popular Uprising -F.M.L.N.,
said one sign, referring to the guerrilla coalition, the Farabundo Marti
National Liberation Front.
No Voting in 19 Towns
Several poll workers who resigned because OF thinly veiled rebel death
threats were replaced before the vote. Officials said all but 19 of the
country's 262 municipalities held balloting. Those that did not were in
guerrilla strongholds in the north where officials deemed it too dangerous. Five
national elections have failed to end the nine-year-old civil war, which has
cost 70,000 lives and displaced one in four Salvadorans. Much of the killing has
been attributed to right-wing death squads linked to the Arena party.
Poll watchers said it did not appear that there was a pattern to the
irregularities or that they were made in a attempt to rig the election. It was
not immediately clear if they were widespread enough to affect the outcome.
After visiting two polling stations early in the morning, the United States
Ambassador, William G. Walker, compared the vote to a ''civic fiesta.
The election was monitored by 120 foreign observers, including a group of
legislators and others from the United States led by Representative Tony
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(c) 1989 The New York Times, March 20, 1989
Coelho of California, the House Majority Whip, whose visit was supervised by the
United States Embassy.
The deaths of the three newsmen, including a Dutch cameraman working for Ikon
Television, raised the number of journalists killed while covering the civil war
to 25, according to Americas Watch, a New York-based human rights group. The
cameraman, Cornelio Lagrouw, was hit in the chest when caught in a crossfire
during a battle between the rebels and the army in San Francisco Javier,
southeast of the capital in the province of Usulutan.
Colleagues said that they loaded his body into their van, which was clearly
marked with flags and tape saying "TV," but that the van was then repeatedly
strafed, although not hit, by a helicopter gunship. ''The military appears to be
targeting journalists in some cases and deliberately harassing them in others,
said Douglas Farah, president of the Salvadoran Foreign Press Association, who
works for The Washington Post. ''We strongly condemn these actions and this
attitude.
But Defense Minister Carlos Vides Casanova defended the army. He said that it
was not clear who shot the Dutch cameraman and that the helicopter pilot did not
identify the news vehicle.
Two other journalists were killed by security forces. A Salvadoran soundman
for a local television station, Mauricio Pineda de Leon, was killed at a police
roadblock near San Miguel, 85 miles east of here, his driver said.
A freelance Salvadoran photographer, Roberto Navas, was killed and a second,
Luis Galdamez, was wounded at a roadblock near an air force base on the
outskirts of the capital Saturday night. Both worked for Reuters.
Mr. Galdamez told friends that the two were returning from work on a
motorcyle when they were stopped at the checkpoint and their credentials were
checked. Moments after they were waved through, he added, the soldiers began
shooting at them
GRAPHIC: photos of a government soldier near Salvadoran capital (AP) (pg. A1);
voters in Santiago de Maria (NYT/Candace Freeland); map of E1 Salvador (pg.
A10)
SUBJECT: ELECTION RESULTS; ELECTIONS; UNITED STATES INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS;
SALVADOR, EL-INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS-US; NEWS AND NEWS MEDIA; CIVIL WAR AND
GUERRILLA WARFARE
ORGANIZATION: ARENA PARTY ( EL SALVADOR)
NAME: GRUSON, LINDSEY; CHAVEZ MENA, FIDEL; CRISTIANI, ALFREDO
GEOGRAPHIC: SALVADOR, EL
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7TH STORY of Level 1 printed in FULL format.
Copyright (c) 1989 The New York Times Company;
The New York Times
March 20, 1989, Monday, Late City Final Edition
SECTION: Section A; Page 10, Column 1; Foreign Desk
LENGTH: 578 words
HEADLINE: In One Town, Election Fear And Charges
BYLINE: By MARK A. UHLIG, Special to the New York Times
DATELINE: SAN RAFAEL ORIENTE, El Salvador, March 19
BODY:
The presidential elections today divided the rural towns of this lush,
volcanic country into two sharply opposed camps.
In the many towns controlled by Government troops, the day was a festival of
civic pride, celebrated with bright banners and lines of voters who walked as
many as two hours to cast ballots. In parts of the country sympathetic to the
guerrillas, it was a call to defiance as citizens avoided even the appearance of
cooperation with the voting.
But in many towns where authority is bitterly contested, as in this small
cotton-growing village in the southeast, the voting gave way to intimidation,
fear and confusion as townspeople struggled with competing demands. And the
absence of clear electoral supervision threatened the legitimacy of thousands of
ballots.
Under threats of death From the leftist rebels, most election officials
in at least 11 towns, including San Rafael Oriente, resigned on Friday, leaving
stacks of election materials unclaimed.
Parties Fill Vacuum
In several towns, heavily armed military units brought in new election
workers by helicopter to open the polling stations. But in many others the
vacuum in authority was filled by convoys of political party workers who set up
voting on their own, certifying ballots and policing voting areas in what some
officials described as a brazen attempt to commandeer the vote.
I will ask the Central Electoral Council to declare that all the ballots
collected here today are null and void, said Juan Gilberto Portillo, a
beleaguered national election official here. He was pitted against a score of
workers trucked in by the Nationalist Republic Alliance, known by its Spanish
acronym, Arena.
'This has turned into a sham,' Mr. Portillo said.
Arena officials overseeing the balloting in San Rafael Oriente, where 10,000
voters were registered, acknowledged that they had taken responsibility for
opening the election booths, arranged in a shaded outdoor area off the town's
rutted main road. Most of the workers, they said, were brought in from San
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(c) 1989 The New York Times, March 20, 1989
Miguel, a conservative stronghold known for heavy guerrilla activity.
The Arena officials, dressed in red-white-and-blue poll -watching aprons,
said they had received authority from national election officials to take
charge of the voting. But they could produce no credentials to document that,
and journalists who visited the polling station encountered citizens
denouncing the vote as a fraud.
'Everyone Is Afraid'
'They don't have any right to be doing this,' said Dr. Jose Antonio Morales
Ehrlich, a local resident who carried a letter certifying him as a poll
watcher for the small National Conciliation Party. ''Everyone else is afraid, so
they have just taken it into their own hands.
Dr. Morales and other residents said a guerrilla commander, identified as
Commandante Francisco Sanchez, sent a written warning to the town's election
workers Wednesday night, saying they would be killed within 24 hours if they
took part in the election.
When the officials resigned, the residents said, the Arena workers stepped
in, organized by the city's former Mayor, an Arena supporter who resigned under
guerrilla threats late last year. Questioned about his role, the former Mayor
insisted that the no longer held a political office and accused townspeople of
trying to expose him to guerrilla retaliation.
San Rafael Oriente is in a rough rural area that has long been a center of
rebel activity.
SUBJECT: BOYCOTTS; CIVIL WAR AND GUERRILLA WARFARE; ELECTIONS
NAME: UHLIG, MARK A
GEOGRAPHIC: SALVADOR, EL; SAN RAFAEL ORIENTE (SALVADOR)
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BTH STORY of Level 1 printed in FULL format.
The Xinhua General Overseas News Service
The materials in the Xinhua file were compiled by The Xinhua News Agency. These
materials may not be republished without the express written consent of The
Xinhua News Agency.
MARCH 20, 1989, MONDAY
LENGTH: 553 words
HEADLINE: roundup: salvadorians go to polls amidst gunfire
BYLINE: by wang shubo
DATELINE: beijing, march 20; ITEM NO: 0320169
BODY:
sunday's nationwide presidential elections in el salvador were held
amidst gunfire and explosions, while consistent fighting between government
troops and guerrillas made it impossible to give a preliminary count of the
votes. however, observers said alfredo cristiani, candidate of the right-wing
nationalist republican alliance (arena), was expected to claim more than half of
the vote, followed by fidel chavez mena of the ruling christian democratic
party. as the voting started at 7:00 a.m. local time on sunday, fully-armed
troops and police began to patrol the streets to prevent guerrilla attacks on
balloting boothes. starting from saturday night, the guerrillas of the
farabundo marti national liberation front (fmln) had mounted attacks against the
capital city and more than 20 towns across the country. fire exchanges between
the government troops and guerrillas continued until sunday evening, leaving
more than 10 people killed, including three foreign journalists who were shot
dead by the police. sunday's presidential elections drew a total of seven
candidates. under the nation's constitution, whoever obtains more than 50
percent of the vote will succeed president jose napoleon duarte, who is
suffering from cancer and will retire on june 1. early this year, the Fmln put
forward a peace proposal designed to end the 10-year-old civil war which has
left more than 70,000 dead. the Fmln urged the government to ensure a fair and
free election without interference from the united states, and asked the
government to put off the election until september 15. the guerrillas also
called for a reshuffle of the army leadership and put those responsible for the
death-squads on trial. if these demands were met, the Fmln said, the guerrillas
would then participate in the election and accept the results. besides, the
guerrillas would give up armed struggle and join in the political life of the
country, the -fmln added. however, those demands have been turned down by the
government and the military. fretted by the rejection of their demands, the
guerrillas, three days prior to the election, launched nationwide strikes to
cut off public transportation and electricity supply in a bid to boycott the
election. sunday's turnout of the 1.83 million eligible voters was lower
than expected because of the violence and the guerrillas' threats, even though
the guerrillas honored their promise not to hit the polling stations and
voters. following the election, arena leader roberto d'aubuisson said that
by his party's account, cristiani had gained 59 percent of the vote in eight of
el salvador's 14 provinces, and 59 percent in the capital city. still,
observers were uncertain about the post- election prospects in el salvador.
cristiani, who claimed victory in sunday's election, said he will continue to
ask for U.S. support for the country's reconstruction and war against the
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The Xinhua General Overseas News Service, MARCH 20, 1989
guerrillas. the united states has, in the past eight years, pumped 3.3 billion
dollars in aid into the government's war against the guerrillas. meanwhile, the
guerrillas, while stepping up their military attacks, said that they will put
forward another peace proposal after the results of the election are released.
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12TH STORY of Level 1 printed in FULL format.
Copyright (c) 1989 The Times Mirror Company;
Los Angeles Times
March 19, 1989, Sunday, Home Edition
SECTION: Part 1; Page 15; Column 1; Foreign Desk
LENGTH: 418 words
HEADLINE: SALVADOR BOMB HURTS 7; REBELS RENOUNCE ATTACKS IN VOTE TODAY
BYLINE: From Times Wire Services
DATELINE: SAN SALVADOR
BODY:
A bomb exploded beneath a police truck in the capital's central market
Saturday, injuring seven civilians on the eve of E1 Salvador's presidential
elections.
Witnesses and Red Cross officials said the seven, one of them a boy of 11,
were hit by shrapnel after leftist guerrillas put the bomb under the pickup
truck while its occupants were in the market buying vegetables.
The attack was the most serious since Wednesday, when a rebel ban on public
transportation went into effect.
The ban was issued by the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front in an
attempt to paralyze traffic and keep voters away from the polls. Most of the
nation's roads were deserted Saturday. Rebel attacks on power installations
overnight also left much of E1 Salvador without electricity and water.
The rebels earlier warned that all polling places would be considered
"military targets" and vowed to turn "each street into a battleground" during
today's elections to choose a successor to President Jose Napoleon Duarte, the
dominant figure in Salvadoran politics for the past eight years.
However, on Saturday, the rebels assured the nation's nearly 1.8 million
voters that they will not be attacked. Recent surveys indicated that most
Salvadorans would indeed go to the polls.
A U.S. team of observers, led by Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky
and Florida Republican Gov. Bob Martinez, arrived late Saturday in the capital,
which remained tense as troops began distributing ballots to voters.
Salvador officials said there is no plan to distribute ballots to the 24
municipalities under rebel control.
Armed forces chief Col. Rene Emilio Ponce has said the military would
guarantee the security of voters, and that it would provide trucks to take
people to the polls.
Opinion polls show voters are expected to favor rightist candidate
Alfredo Cristiani of the Nationalist Republican Alliance, or Arena, although a
runoff is expected.
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(c) 1989 Los Angeles Times, March 19, 1989
Millionaire businessman Cristiani has promised to seek a national dialogue to
end the nine-year guerrilla war.
He is opposed by Fidel Chavez Mena of the Christian Democratic Party, a
former foreign and planning minister. But Chavez Mena has had to fight off
accusations of corruption and incompetence against his party.
The election also is the first this decade in which a candidate of the left
has taken part. Guillermo Ungo of the Democratic Convergence, a coalition of
parties of the left, has focused his campaign on the need for a negotiated end
to the war.
GRAPHIC: Photo, Tense election eve -- Officials and gun-toting soldiers
deliver ballot boxes to isolated areas in E1 Salvador for today's presidential
vote. Despite earlier threats, leftist guerrillas assured Salvadorans that
they will not be attacked at the polls. Associated Press
TYPE: Wire
SUBJECT: BOMBINGS - EL SALVADOR; EL SALVADOR - ELECTIONS; EL SALVADOR
-- REVOLTS; GUERRILLAS -- EL SALVADOR
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15TH STORY of Level 1 printed in FULL format.
Copyright (c) 1989 The Sunday Telegraph Limited;
Sunday Telegraph
March 19, 1989, Sunday
SECTION: INTERNATIONAL; Pg. 9
LENGTH: 916 words
HEADLINE: Salvadorean voters run deadly gauntlet
BYLINE: by David Blundy
BODY:
SAN SALVADOR THIS MORNING, the citizens of E1 Salvador go gingerly to the
polls to vote for a new president. It will be a difficult and often dangerous
task. Forty- nine per cent of them have said in opinion polls that they do not
want to vote or do not know who to vote for. It is not surprising. Unlike the
British, who are often deterred from casting their votes by a slight drizzle,
Salvadorean voters face a battery of lethal obstacles in their pursuit of
democracy. The election is taking place in the middle of a civil war between
the Salvadorean army, funded, armed, trained and advised by the United States
government, and Communist guerrillas, funded and armed by Cuba, Nicaragua and,
indirectly, the Soviet Union. The Salvadorean army has bases in almost every
town. But at night, as a Western diplomat said, "the soldiers control only the
ground they stand on". Guerrillas, who in effect control most of the
countryside, oppose the election. They make their views brutally clear. The
mayors of 140 municipalities fled, under threat of death, to the fragile
security of the capital, San Salvador. Ten mayors who refused to resign, as the
guerrillas demanded, have been shot dead. Polling officials have been
threatened and so have many rural voters. In 21 municipalities entirely
controlled by guerrillas there will be no voting. The guerrillas wrecked the
country's electricity system by blowing up pylons and sub-stations. Many towns
and villages have not had electricity, telephones or running water for months.
Even the capital has been virtually without power for three days.
At night, San Salvador is a dark sprawl, with a volcano - where the
guerrillas have their bases - looming above it, almost in the city's suburbs.
Many Salvadoreans will have to walk miles to the polling booths because the
national transport system has been paralysed by the guerrillas' demand that
vehicles keep off the roads.
A group of bus drivers sat under a tarpaulin in a small town last week
getting drunk instead of driving buses.
"If I drive, maybe next week or next month - bang!" said a bus driver as he
put two fingers against his head and pulled an imaginary trigger. There was
little enthusiasm for the election in San Agustin, a benighted town about 60
miles east of San Salvador in the centre of what Salvadoreans call a "conflict
zone". Senora Maria Reyes, owner of the town pharmacy, was reluctant to discuss
the poll because a soldier with a rifle was leaning through the window
listening to the conversation. Guerrillas go on patrol a mile or 50 outside the
town, and the inhabitants have been frequently caught in the cross-fire. They
are afraid of both the army with its long history of killing civilians and the
guerrillas. They have had no electricity or running water for years and very
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PAGE 12
(c) 1989 The Sunday Telegraph Limited, March 19, 1989
little money. In the previous election, in 1984, many San Agustinians voted
for the Christian Democratic Party, which promised a new road for the town. It
has still not been built. This year, since even voting carries dangers, Senora
Reyes was adamant: "We will not vote." However, pollsters and officials
confidently predict that at least half the Salvadoreans eligible to vote will
turn out for the election. Professor David Browning of Oxford University,
Britain's official election observer, believes that Salvadoreans will overcome
the odds and that the election will be fair and comparatively free. If the
polls and the experts are even modestly correct, the winner today will be the
Right-wing Arena Party. It has a big lead over the ruling Christian Democrats,
led by the colourless Senor Chavez Mena, and the Left-wing Convergence Party,
which has loose links with the rebels. The Convergence candidates wear
bullet-proof vests as protection against Right-wing assassins and even the
rebels. If Arena fails to get 51 per cent of the vote today, there will be a
run-off with the Christian Democrats next month. Arena is expected to win. This
is bad news for Washington, which has put much of its $ 400 million-a-year aid
behind the moderate Christian Democrats and President Napoleon Duarte, who is
dying of cancer. A lot of this money found its way into the pockets, villas and
limousines of Christian Democrat officials, whose rampant corruption will almost
certainly lose them the election. The Arena Party has been linked to some of
the worst atrocities of the past eight years of civil war. Its former leader,
the cashiered Major Roberto D'Aubuisson, organised death squads and is suspected
of deep involvement in the murder of Archbishop Oscar Romero in 1980. The
party's new candidate and the man most likely to be the next president is an
engaging businessman, Senor Alfredo Cristiani. He promises to improve the
country's economy rather than his own bank account, and disavows the bloody
extremes of the 'Aubuisson era. It is difficult to take him seriously. Senor
Cristiani has refused to condemn Major D'Aubuisson until he sees "clear
evidence" of his guilt. According to US officials, this makes Senor Cristiani
either a fool or a liar. The election result could light a short fuse to
another explosion of violence. If Arena wins, the guerrillas have threatened to
increase their attacks and even unleash what they call a "Tet offensive" against
the capital. Arena may, in turn, unleash the Salvadorean army with its legendary
reputation for brutality. If the violence changes from the present
"low-intensity conflict" to full-scale war, the guerrillas could win.
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13
24TH STORY of Level 1 printed in FULL format.
Copyright (c) 1989 The New York Times Company;
The New York Times
March 18, 1989, Saturday, Late City Final Edition
SECTION: Section 1; Page 1, Column 2; Foreign Desk
LENGTH: 731 words
HEADLINE: Election Officials Quit in Fear of Salvador Rebels
BYLINE: By LINDSEY GRUSON, Special to the New York Times
DATELINE: SAN SALVADOR, March 17
BODY:
Bowing to a heightened campaign by leftist rebels to disrupt presidential
elections, poll workers resigned today in 11 eastern towns, provincial
officials said.
That may prevent voting there on Sunday, when the first round of the
presidential election is to be held. No elections have been scheduled in 24
other towns in guerrilla-controlled areas. As a result, as many as 35 of the
country's 260 municipalities will not take part in the elections.
In their attempt to disrupt the vote, the guerrillas have brought much of
E1 Salvador to a standstill. Sabotage of utilities has left most of the
country without power or water for the last four days and traffic has almost
vanished from the highways.
The rebel campaign has strained relations with a coalition of leftist
political parties that is taking part in the election for the first time in
almost a decade.
Members of the coalition, known as the Democratic Convergence, say they think
the guerrillas' campaign helps the right-wing Nationalist Republican Alliance,
which is known by its Spanish acronym Arena and enjoys a commanding lead in the
polls.
Coalition leaders said the guerrilla campaign was an attempt to strengthen
the extremes and force the Government to increase repression. The rebels, they
added, hope that will polarize the electorate and drive many voters to the
left, providing the support necessary for a popular insurrection.
Seven candidates are running in the first round, but only two are given any
chance of winning. They are Alfredo Cristiani, a businessman, for Arena and
Fidel Chavez Mena, a lawyer and technocrat who leads the ruling Christian
Democrats.
Guillermo Ungo, also a lawyer, is the candidate for the Democratic
Convergence, which is expected to finish a distant third. If no candidate
receives an absolute majority, there will be a runoff of top two finishers.
President Jose Napoleon Duarte, who is being treated for liver cancer, is
constitutionally barred from running for re- election.
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14
(c) 1989 The New York Times, March 18, 1989
Mr. Duarte and other senior Christian Democratic officials say they fear the
rebels' tactics will succeed. In recent days, they have repeatedly warned that
the party may not survive a loss.
' ' The guerrillas want the center to disappear so that at last it will be a
fight between the classes,' Gerardo Lechevallier, a senior party official and
vice minister of communication, said in an interview Thursday night.
U.S. Policy in Question
That would pose a major challenge for the Bush Administration. It would mark
the failure of longstanding American efforts to build up the Christian Democrats
as a centrist bulwark against both political extremes.
The Marxist-led rebels charge that the elections are a facade put in place
by the United States to continue the nine-year-old civil war, which has claimed
70,000 lives and displaced an estimated one in four Salvadorans.
The rebels have boycotted the last five elections, often using violence in
attempts to disrupt them. In a dramatic about-face, the guerrillas in January
agreed to take part in the vote provided it was postponed six months.
But the negotiations broke down and the rebels began seeking to disrupt the
elections.
Rebels Threaten Officials
In a broadcast this morning on their underground radio network, the
guerrillas once again called for an election boycott and issued a veiled
threat against any mayors, municipal officials and poll workers who refused
to resign.
The threats led two mayors to resign today. Nine mayors have been
assassinated and 137 have quit in the last three months. That has disrupted
municipal government in more than half of the country'scities and towns, a blow
to American efforts to extend the Government's authority.
The Government has responded to the rebel campaign by imposing censorship,
ordering local news organizations to refuse to publish or broadcast rebel
statements. A radio station in the capital said an interview with a guerrilla
commander was stopped in mid-sentence Thursday by the Attorney General's office.
Much of the country was living in siege conditions today. Highways were
deserted for the second straight day because the rebels have threatened to
'blow to pieces or consume in flames'' any vehicle.
The transportation stoppage, which began Thursday, was imposed to prevent the
country's 1.9 million registered voters from going to the polls.
SUBJECT: ELECTIONS; CIVIL WAR AND GUERRILLA WARF ARE
NAME: GRUSON, LINDSEY
GEOGRAPHIC: SALVADOR, EL
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25TH STORY of Level 1 printed in FULL format.
Proprietary to the United Press International 1989
March 18, 1989, Saturday, BC cycle
SECTION: International
LENGTH: 579 words
HEADLINE: Salvadoran voters prepare to defy rebel election boycott
BYLINE: By DAVID KIRBY
DATELINE: SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador
KEYWORD: Salvador- Voters
BODY:
A threat by leftist rebels to attack polling places sent tensions rising
on the eve of presidential elections Saturday but some Salvadorans said they
were determined to cast their ballots.
Officials said some 1.5 million of 1.8 million registered voters were
expected to vote Sunday for president and vice president despite the threat by
the leftist Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front.
The FMLN decided to boycott the elections when negotiations broke down to
postpone the voting by six months. The rebels had offered to participate in the
elections and held out hopes for a possible end to the civil war, which has
killed some 70,000 people.
Urban commandos of the FMLN announced Thursday all polling places would be
considered 'military targets'' and vowed to turn ''each street into a
battleground'' during elections to choose a successor to President Jose
Napoleon Duarte, the dominant figure in Salvadoran politics for the past eight
years.
' 'We advise people to stay inside on Sunday,' the rebels said in a taped
message broadcast on local radio stations.
But many people said they would take the risk.
of course I'm going to vote, although 1 have to admit it's pretty scary.
But WE live with warfare every day of our lives, why should Sunday be any
different?'' said Jose Maria Bustamente, a construction foreman in the capital.
'Here, going to the grocery store can be dangerous, but you have to do it.
And you have to vote, too. We can't just roll over and play dead each time we're
threatened, Bustamente said.
Martha Castillo Godoy, a housewife from a pleasant middle-class neighborhood,
said she was going to vote because, ''We have to keep our fragile democracy
going. Otherwise, the communists will take over to fill the void.
Castillo said she and her entire family would vote for Alfredo Cristiani of
the right-wing Nationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA), who was expected to
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Proprietary to the United Press International, March 18, 1989
defeat Fidel Chavez Mena of the ruling Christian Democratic Party.
As Castillo spoke, the familiar muffled sound of a bomb in the distance
marred the otherwise tranquil afternoon.
!!I think we'll be hearing lots of that sort of thing tomorrow. We're going
to the polls early 50 we don't have to wait in a long line - that's the most
dangerous part of voting,' she said.
The relative calm in the city led to rumors that the rebels might back off
their threat and let the voters cast their ballots. Rebel leaders contacted
by United Press International in Mexico City indicated they might let Sunday go
by without excessive bloodshed, although they would not give any guarantees.
Even so, some people took the boycott seriously. Jorge Mendoza, a 28-year-old
mechanic, said he 'wouldn't dare step foot outside tomorrow.
'We have enough food, water and candles to last a few days. My family and I
see no reason to be out on the street. The guerrillas have guts. If they decide
to attack, then any place in the city is not safe. We live near a polling
place, I hope they don't bomb it,'' he said.
Other people said they wouldn't vote, but not because of rebel threats.
'I'll go vote when I see there is a chance of finally having peace in the
country. But there is no choice here. The ARENA operates death squads, but Jose
Napoleon Duarte and the Christian Democrats have allowed themto do so,'' said
Miguel Argel Roger Montenegro, an investigator for the non-governmental Human
Rights Commission.
'We are all tired of suffering,'' he said.
LEXIS® ® NEXIS ® LEXIS® ® NEXIS® ®
Administration of George Bush, 1989 / Mar. 22
who strictly apply the law to convicted
leagues that he was driving to a new site to
and top officials in
drug offenders and severe sentences for
meet a drug dealer, he was found shot to
d Peru. And the
dealers who hire children. And it means
death in Staten Island. And earlier this
g production and
increasing Federal drug prosecutions. And,
month I met with his widow, Mary Jane-a
by trafficking car-
yes, it means strict enforcement-and I
very emotional moment. And we have of-
a very interesting
mean strict enforcement-of the Antidrug
fered $250,000 for information leading to
eport. The Presi-
Abuse Act of 1988. I want increased prison
the apprehension of the man wanted in
ate, and yet some
sentences for drug-related crimes and, yes,
connection with this murder. But it brought
e so wrecked by
the death penalty for drug kingpins and
it home to me, loud and clear: We have got
harily difficult for
those who commit these drug-related mur-
to win the war on drugs for Everett Hatch-
1 their intentions,
ders. We owe our police officers nothing
er and all those of your profession who have
illegal cartels and
less than that. I was very pleased that yes-
given their lives to free America of drug
em to control the
terday the Supreme Court validated drug
abuse.
S of our kids. We
testing. I hope this will help achieve our
To build a better life, to make tomorrow
y with our hemi-
goal of a drug-free workplace.
free of drugs, will require the will and spirit
vital effort. We're
A secure community is the right of every
of the American people. People like Ever-
at at all. And I'm
American. Toward the end, guns can be
ett Hatcher. People like Corporal Durnan.
reported to me
imported under current law only if they are
People like you. And of this I am certain: As
nd then through
adapted for sporting purposes. That's the
Americans, nothing lies beyond our reach.
way the law reads now. We've recently
y are much more
The people, yes. The future, yes. By serving
the task. Hereto-
taken a step and temporarily suspended the
one, let us seize the other.
import of these AK-47's and certain other
residents of the
And thank you for inviting me and for
always felt that it
semiautomatic weapons into this country, as
we continue to search for a solution to this
your many kindnesses. And God bless you
weren't for the
all, and God bless the United States of
difficult and complex problem.
uming the prod-
I do believe-and I expect many in the
America. Thank you very, very much.
would go away.
room like me are sportsmen-I do believe
societies are ad-
in the legitimate right of sportsmen and
Note: The President spoke at 12:35 p.m. in
e. And so, it isn't
the Delaware Ballroom at the Radisson
others who own guns. But I also believe in
States. We are in
supporting our police officers who lay their
Hotel. He was introduced by Gov. Michael
1 of the border,
lives on the line. And I am convinced that
N. Castle. Following his remarks, the Presi-
t in an interna-
the vast majority of sportsmen want to find
dent returned to Washington, DC.
We've got to de-
a way to support our law enforcement offi-
that process the
cers, and I want to be with them in finding
ucing countries.
a solution to this problem. I said yesterday
orders; and that
that I'm a member of the NRA [National
Statement by Press Secretary Fitzwater
in the enormous
Rifle Association], and I am. I have nothing
on President Bush's Telephone
to be ashamed of there. But I happen to
Conversation With Newly Elected
690 million for
believe that the vast majority of NRA mem-
President Alfredo Cristiani of El
on, which plays
bers support the position I've just taken:
Salvador
34 the identifica-
that the time has come to do something
March 22, 1989
planes and ves-
about these automated weapons that are
nore than $300
threatening the lives of these people behind
President Bush spoke earlier today with
for the Depart-
me. And I'm going to see that it takes
Alfredo Cristiani, the winner of the Salva-
jully 70 percent
place.
doran Presidential election, to congratulate
W enforcement
You know, many issues involve shades of
him on his victory. The President assured
want to signifi-
gray. Crime is not among them. Drug trade
Mr. Cristiani that the United States would
Federal prisons.
is not among them. It involves good guys
continue to work closely with El Salvador to
rerowding has
and bad guys, white hats and black hats,
help the Salvadorans create and protect a
to go scot-free.
good and evil. And many of you, I'm sure,
durable democracy there. Mr. Cristiani af-
need your help
have heard of Everett Hatcher. I'll bet
firmed his recent public statements that he
gher sentences.
these guys have-Federal agent involved in
and his administration will be committed to
lot about zero
an undercover drug investigation. He was
respect for human rights. President Bush
is not a catch-
only 46 years old, the father of two. Barely
invited Mr. Cristiani to visit Washington at
ply, if you do
3 weeks ago, an hour after radioing col-
an early date.
t means judges
411
Mar. 22 / Administration of George Bush, 1989
On Sunday, March 19, hundreds of thou-
patriotism, his steadfast commitment to de-
Since 1986 I
sands of Salvadoran peasants, working
mocracy, and for his enormous and lasting
ner with Fried
people, business men and women, and citi-
contribution to building an authentic demo-
Jacobson in W
zens from every walk of life defied threats
cratic process in his country.
he was in pra
of death and terror from Marxist guerrillas
worski, 1983-
to vote in that country's Presidential elec-
Counsel for th
tion. This was the sixth national election El
1981-1983. M1
Salvador has held under international su-
pervision in the last 7 years. What we wit-
Nomination of Quincy Mellon Krosby
al capacities o
To Be an Assistant Secretary of
tion including
nessed last Sunday should leave no doubt:
Commerce
term to end 19
The people of El Salvador are passionately
committed to the democratic rights and lib-
tee on gover
March 22, 1989
erties they have fought for and won with
and chairman
U.S. support in recent years.
The President today announced his inten-
procedure, 19
Our policy in El Salvador, forged through
of the task for
tion to nominate Quincy Mellon Krosby to
bipartisan consensus and with bipartisan
Mr. Gideon
be Assistant Secretary of Commerce (Export
support, is clear: We are committed to con-
Enforcement). She would succeed G. Philip
versity (B.A.,
tinue democratic progress and the defense
Hughes.
(J.D., 1971). M
of human rights. There must be no turning
Since 1982 Mrs. Krosby has been with the
ton, DC.
back to the dark and terrible past. We
Department of State, serving in several ca-
expect, and the Salvadoran people clearly
desire, continued steady progress toward es-
pacities, including economic officer (energy
tablishing the rule of law, an effective judi-
attaché) for the U.S. Embassy in London;
cial system, and security against political vi-
Special Assistant to the Under Secretary for
olence from either the right or the left.
Security Assistance, Science and Technolo-
Nomination
There is also a message for the FMLN [Far-
gy; Special Assistant to the Counselor of the
To Be a Mei
abundo Marti National Liberation Front]
Department; economic counselor for the
Commerce (
guerrillas in Sunday's election: The Salva-
U.S. Embassy in Bulgaria; and political/eco-
March 22, 1.
doran people clearly yearn for an end to
nomic officer in the Office of East Europe-
the terrible violence to which they have
an and Yugoslav Affairs. Between 1973 and
The Preside
been subjected.
1981, she was a consultant in London and
tion to nomin
The time has come to end the violence
Oslo for private firms and U.S. Government
be a membe
and secure an honorable peace that will
agencies and served as an adjunct college
Commission 1
protect the rights and security of all Salva-
teacher for Union College, University of
ber 31, 1992
dorans, regardless of their political views, to
Minnesota, the London School of Eco-
N. Andre.
participate in a safe and fair political proc-
nomics, and Oslo University.
Since 1986
ess. If the FMLN would embrace that goal,
Mrs. Krosby received a bachelor of arts
tive director
we are confident that this tragic war can
and a master of arts degree from the Uni-
prove Distrit
come to an end. The President welcomes
versity of Minnesota and the London School
ecutive direc
Mr. Cristiani's stated commitment to con-
of Economics and Political Science (Ph.D.,
sociation, 19
tinue the dialog with the FMLN guerrillas
1979).
he was the
and hope the guerrillas accept his offer.
Moreover, the guerrillas will not succeed in
Group. He V
obtaining the political victory in the United
Texas, 1979-
the House
States that they cannot win among the
people of El Salvador. The United States is
Nomination of Kenneth W. Gideon To
1987, and a
committed to the defense of democracy and
Be an Assistant Secretary of the
tee on Tra
human rights in El Salvador. So long as El
Treasury
1976 to 197
Salvador continues on that path, the United
March 22, 1989
Exxon Corp.
States will remain a firm and steady ally.
Mr. Emme
A final note: Last Sunday's election her-
The President today announced his inten-
sity (B.A., 19
alds the final months of the Presidency of
tion to nominate Kenneth W. Gideon to be
at Austin (M
José Napoleón Duarte, a great patriot and
Assistant Secretary of the Treasury (Tax
14, 1949, in
champion of democracy. The President sa-
Policy). He would succeed O. Donaldson
is married, I
lutes President Duarte for his courage, his
Chapoton.
Round Rock
412
Carter's unfulfilled deal
Mark M. Klugmann is an editorial
diplomatic amnesia has set in. And
aid and led the international commu-
writer for The Washington Times. He
as a consequence the Nicaragua is-
nity in putting together a $1.6 billion
served In the White House from 1983
sue is often misreported, as in a re-
financial package for Nicaragua's
to 1985 as assistant director of the
cent Associated Press news story
new government.
Outreach Working Group on Central
that termed the central policy ques-
The Carter administration with
America.
tion "whether the United States
the support of liberal congressional
should be sponsoring a rebel force
Democrats had cut off military, eco-
aimed at destabilizing a foreign gov-
nomic, and political support from
Jimmy Carter
he crisis in Nicaragua has a
ernment." Memories may fade, but
Somoza as he battled the Sandinista
T
forgotten history. It is the ne-
facts don't. The real question is
insurgency in order to force him to
gotiated settlement by
whether the Sandinistas will be
accept a settlement. As Nicaragua's
which the United States
forced to comply with the negotiated
civil war grew in intensity, the U.S.
helped install Nicaragua's Sandin-
settlement that legitimized them
government conducted negotiations
ista government in 1979.
and enabled them to take power.
with the Somoza government, the
That this agreement has been vir-
U.S. policy in Nicaragua is now at
communist Sandinistas, the genu-
tually absent from the Nicaragua
a critical point. With the failure of
inely democratic opposition to
debate is most unfortunate, but all
the Arias plan to bring either peace
Somoza, and the Organization of
too typical of America's failure to
or democracy to Nicaragua and with
American States. The objectives of
assert or enforce its past diplomatic
Congress scheduled to vote on new
the Carter administration were codi-
solutions.
aid to the freedom fighters in early
fied on June 23, 1979 when the OAS
For example, U.S. officials rightly
February, it is time to reexamine the
passed a resolution calling for the
criticize Fidel Castro's on-going sup-
still valid and binding 1979 negoti-
"immediate and definitive re-
port for subversion in a dozen coun-
ated settlement and restore the
placement of the Somoza regime"
tries- but they rarely cite the stip-
agreement to the primary role it de-
and "the installation in Nicaraguan
ulation of the Kennedy-Khrushchev
serves in public debate. At mini-
territory of a democratic govern-
agreement that bars Cuba from ex-
mum, it is essential to a truthful ac-
ment" that would honor "human
porting revolution. Similarly, East-
counting of how we got where we are
rights," hold "free elections," and
ern Europe, Vietnam, human rights
today. And it could hold the political
guarantee "peace, freedom, and jus-
in the Soviet bloc, and other areas of
key to renewing aid to the Nicara-
tice." This resolution was a request
TUESDAY, JANUARY 26, 1988
concern are addressed by never ful-
guan resistance and removing the
for a new government willing to
filled, never enforced negotiated
Sandinista's brutal Marxist-Leninist
meet certain political specifications.
agreements.
regime.
The Government of National Recon-
But in a key respect the 1979 Nica-
Until recently, the Reagan admin-
struction junta the Sandinista-
ragua settlement is different. Some
istration made little mention of the
dominated government-in-waiting
past agreements have faded from
1979 settlement. Presidential
- had positioned itself to fill that
sight because they deal with bygone
speeches would briefly mention the
role by crafting a democratic facade
issues or because the United States
Sandinistas' "broken promises," fail-
and actively campaigning and nego-
has no appetite or instrument for en-
ing to explain that these commit-
tiating with the United States and
forcing them. With the Nicaragua
ments were part of a negotiated set-
other OAS member states.
settlement, on the other hand, the
tlement that addressed political,
With Somoza still in power, Pres-
issue is current and an effective en-
security and human rights issues.
ident Carter's envoys met repeatedly
forcement policy - support for the
The Democrats in 1979 were not
with the GNR junta to negotiate spe-
freedom fighters- is already being
so modest about their accomplish-
cific democratic requirements and,
carried out. Ironically, it is only the
ment. In June of that year, Senator
ultimately, finalize a plan for in-
settlement which has been dis-
Edward Kennedy and other senators
stalling the five-member GNR junta.
remembered.
pressing the Carter administration
On July 12, 1979, a spokesman for
Back on July 20, 1979, the day
on Nicaragua said plainly that their
the GNR junta said that their talks
COMMENTARY
after the Sandinistas took power, a
goal was the ouster of President
with the United States had "reached
standard news summary, Facts on
Anastasio Somoza and "a political
the final stages." That same day, the
File, would matter-of-factly write
settlement in Nicaragua." Carter's
GNR junta sent a cable to the OAS
that "The U.S. negotiated an agree-
Deputy Secretary of State, Warren
Secretary General acknowledging
ment with the leaders of the FSLN
Christopher, candidly wrote to Sen.
the June 23rd resolution and pre-
while pressing Somoza to resign.
Kennedy three weeks before the
senting their "Plan to Achieve
When the FSLN had conceded a
Sandinistas were installed that "we
Peace" which they described as
number of points that the U.S. felt
are engaged in a wide-ranging diplo-
developed on the basis of the June
were necessary to insure that the
matic effort in Washington, in Mana-
23rd resolution- and the "Program
new government would not be domi-
gua, and throughout the hemi-
of the Junta of the GNR." The cover-
nated by communist sympathizers,
sphere. Our goal is a process which
ing letter and documents committed
Somoza was told that he could step
would remove Somoza peacefully
the junta to "free elections," "a
down." The account would refer to
and would lead to the establish-
broad-based democratic govern-
"the plans for a peaceful transfer of
ment of a new representative gov-
ment," "full respect for human
power that had been painstakingly
ernment." The State Department,
rights," "fundamental liberties,"
negotiated by [U.S. Ambassador to
following Somoza's resignation and
"freedom of religion," "union
Nicaragua] Lawrence A. Pezzullo,
departure from Nicaragua, credited
rights,""a mixed economy," inde-
the 5-member rebel junta and
itself with having "worked to facili-
pendent foreign policy of non-align-
Somoza." The story of the negoti-
tate a peaceful and democratic solu-
ment" and a "minimum" permanent
ations and settlement, the decisive
tion." President Carter, once Somoza
military corps, among other specif-
political front in the Sandinistas'
was out and the Sandinista-
ics. On July 15, 1979, the United
march to power, is well told by Pulit-
dominated junta was in, boasted of
States gave its approval to the GNR
zer prize-winning journalist Shirley
having "[brought] about an orderly
junta based on the specific commit-
Christian in "Nicaragua: Revolution
transition." Mr. Carter later hosted
ments received on July 12th, and fi-
MARK KLUGMANN
in the Family" and is documented in
Daniel Ortega at the White House
nal plans were made for Somoza's
The Washington Times
the Congressional Record and press
and with the support of Congress
resignation and the transfer of
accounts.
provided $118 million in direct U.S.
power. (. next page)
But despite the historical record,
Nicaragua, page two
freedom fighters' military struggle
both weapons and sanctuary to San-
Klugmann
would stop tomorrow, if tomorrow
dinista guerrillas while democracy
the Sandinistas fulfilled their 1979
for Nicaragua was negotiated in San
The political settlement reached
pledges. However, for the U.S. Con-
Jose; meanwhile it was the dictator
with the Sandinistas in 1979 is still
gress to terminate the freedom
in Managua whose arms supplies
unfulfilled, but the terms are good,
fighters prior to that point, is to ef-
were cut off, not the rebels. No Cen-
guaranteeing real democracy and
fectively convert the United States'
tral American president - and cer-
human rights for the people of Nica-
1979 intervention and settlement
tainly not Daniel Ortega - has the
ragua - which, after all, was the
from a pro-democratic undertaking
authority to sign away the legitimate
objective of the American interven-
into one that served only to advance
claim of every Nicaraguan to the
tion against Somoza. The settlement
Soviet communism to the mainland
fundamental democratic rights pro-
also fully protects the security of
of North America.
vided under the 1979 settlement.
Central America and the United
The failure of the Arias plan to
The terms of the Arias plan fall
States by precluding Nicaragua
deliver what it promised has focused
far short of the requirements of the
from aiding communist guerrillas in
renewed attention on the 1979 agree-
1979 settlement, both in terms of
Central America, basing thousands
ment. President Reagan, speaking
genuine democracy and with re-
of Soviet bloc, Cuban, PLO, and Lib-
last October before the OAS, bluntly
spect to fundamental security issues
yan military and intelligence per-
stated that "there already exists a
which the plan does not address. But
sonnel in Nicaragua or building a
negotiated settlement with the San-
at this point the shortcomings of the
military capability greater than that
dinistas that pre-dates the Guate-
Arias plan are largely beside the
of all its neighbors combined - all
mala plan - the settlement of 1979.
point: The Arias plan's own stip-
of which the Sandinistas have done.
each nation here is a party to that
ulations on human rights, democra-
The 1979 settlement must be en-
negotiated settlement." (Unfortu-
tization, amnesty, and political nego-
forced and complied with. Without
nately, despite thirteen references to
tiation have not been honored by the
the political settlement, the Sandin-
the 1979 settlement in a major pres-
Sandinistas, and the 90 and 150-day
istas would not have gained power.
idential policy address, the settle-
deadlines have each passed and been
And if the agreement is enforced,
ment, having vanished down the
ignored. Under the terms set by the
the United States' policy re-
memory hole, went unmentioned in
signers of the Arias plan themselves
quirement of a genuinely demo-
most press coverage of the speech.)
on August 7, 1987, the plan has failed
cratic, peaceful Nicaragua will be
In November, President Reagan
not once, but twice. What remains is
satisfied and the yearning of the
speaking again to the OAS, reiter-
what we have always had: the 1979
Nicaraguan people for democracy
ated the point about the 1979 settle-
settlement, a group of brave Nicara-
and freedom, expressed in their op-
ment, as did Secretary of State
guans struggling to fulfill it, some of
position to both the Somoza dictator-
George Shultz, addressing the or-
them armed and others resisting
ship and the Sandinista communists,
ganization the following day.
without arms, and a communist re-
will at long last be fulfilled.
When it was Daniel Ortega's turn
gime determined to hold and expand
But that is only part of what the
to speak to the OAS last November
its power in Central America. In-
settlement negotiated between the
he spent half his speech trying to
deed, the Burton Amendment to the
Carter administration and the San-
escape the grip of the 1979 agree-
1985 Foreign Assistance Act re-
dinistas does; it also recasts the
ment, arguing a defense reminiscent
quires that U.S. policy in Nicaragua
American political debate over Nic-
of the man accused of murder who
must be governed by the terms of
aragua's communist regime,
claimed he was out of town when it
the 1979 settlement. And after two
shifting the burden to the political
happened and, besides, he had acted
Arias deadlines, three years of Con-
party that helped bring the Sandin-
in self-defense. Mr. Ortega began by
tadora deliberations, many rounds
istas to power and, most importantly,
denying "the supposed violation of
of bilateral negotiations and numer-
which has generally opposed aiding
an inexistent commitment," then
ous visits of congressional del-
the Nicaraguan resistance and en-
switched to arguing that "even sup-
egations it has become quite clear:
forcing the negotiated settlement.
posing that such a political pledge
There is no other sound basis for U.S.
Opponents of contra aid have in-
had had the force of a legal commit-
policy besides the 1979 settlement.
sisted that they are not defenders of
ment, it could not have justified the
When the Reagan administration
the Sandinistas, they simply want a
United States insisting [on] the ful-
asks Congress to renew aid to the
negotiated settlement. The reality is
fillment of the commitment made
Nicaraguan democratic resistance
that we already have a satisfactory
not directly toward the United
the message should be this: we have
negotiated settlement, and the
States." (Of course, Comandante Or-
a binding negotiated settlement with
Democratic party is chiefly respon-
tega knows that the Sandinistas'
the Sandinistas that guarantees true
sible for it. The agreement provides
made their democratic commit-
liberal democracy for the people of
everything that we require. The San-
ments directly to the United States:
Nicaragua and assures the security
dinistas are not honoring it. The con-
he personally participated in the
of Central America and the United
tras are fighting to fulfill it. Some
1979 negotiating sessions. And both
States. Under the auspices of the
members of Congress are working
Daniel Ortega and Sergio Ramirez,
OAS, the settlement was achieved by
to erase it.
his vice president, signed the July
a Democratic president with a
Congressional liberals have for
12, 1979 written commitments.)
Democratic Congress. The United
too long hid behind a false choice by
Both congressional liberals and
States is morally obligated to en-
saying they seek a diplomatic solu-
the Sandinista Marxists have used
force it, and our national security
tion, not a military solution. The re-
the Arias plan in an effort to defund
requires that we do SO. If the Demo-
ality is that the contras' armed
the resistance and prevent the en-
crats now want to repudiate their
struggle is not instead of a negoti-
forcement of the 1979 settlement.
own settlement rather than enforce
ated settlement, it is in enforcement
The Arias plan's concept of disarm-
it against a brutal and expansionist
What the Democrats
of the settlement that President
ing and evicting the resistance today
pro-Soviet communist dictatorship
say they want - a
Carter reached. Cutting off aid to the
in exchange for promises of "demo-
on the mainland of North America,
contras does not promote a political
cratization" tomorrow is utterly
let them tell the American people
negotiated settlement
solution, it abandons the democratic
flawed and unenforceable. By con-
why. Come November, the electorate
- we already have.
settlement already- achieved. The
trast, in 1979, Costa Rica provided
will have a clear choice.
Jimmy Carter's
Nicaragua settlement
guarantees democracy
and U.S. security -
but will Congress let
Reagan enforce it?
THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
For Immediate Release
April 26, 1989
EXECUTIVE ORDER
DELEGATING AUTHORITY TO PROVIDE ASSISTANCE
FOR THE NICARAGUAN RESISTANCE
By the authority vested in me as President by the
Constitution and laws of the United States of America,
including Public Law 101-14, to implement the Bipartisan
Accord on Central America of March 24, 1989 ("Act"), the
Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, as amended (22 U.S.C. 2151
et seq.), Central American Peace Assistance Act, Public
Law 100-276, and section 301 of title 3 of the United States
Code, and in order to delegate certain functions concerning
the designation of amounts to be transferred from specified
accounts, the transfer of funds, and related personnel
matters, it is hereby ordered as follows:
Section 1. The Director of the Office of Management and
Budget, in consultation with the Secretary of State, is
authorized to perform the functions, vested in the President
by sections 2 and 4 of the Act, of determining the amounts of
unobligated funds that are to be transferred to the Agency for
International Development, and of designating the accounts to
which they are to be transferred.
Sec. 2. The Secretary of Defense, in consultation with
the Administrator of the Agency for International Development,
is authorized to perform the functions, vested in the
President by sections 2 and 4 of the Act, of transferring
unobligated funds from the accounts specified in section 6 of
the Act.
Sec. 3. The Secretary of Defense is authorized to
perform the function of designating the amounts of unobligated
funds from accounts specified in section 6 of the Act to be
transferred.
Sec. 4. The Director of the Office of Management and
Budget is authorized to perform the function of approving the
detailing of personnel to the Agency for International
Development. This authority is vested in the President by
section 4 (d) of Public Law 100-276 and made applicable by
section 8 (c) of the Act.
Sec. 5. This order shall be effective immediately.
Sec. 6. Executive Order No. 12654 is revoked.
GEORGE BUSH
THE WHITE HOUSE,
April 26, 1989.
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1ST STORY of Level 1 printed in FULL format.
Copyright (c) 1989 Inter Press Service;
Inter Press Service
March 31, 1989, Friday
LENGTH: 467 words
HEADLINE: LATIN AMERICA: SELA ANNOUNCES POSSIBLE OUTLINE OF DEBT PROPOSAL
DATELINE: CARACAS, Venezuela, March 31
BODY:
The possible outline of a joint proposal by Latin American and Caribbean
nations on the foreign debt was announced here today by the permanent
secretary of the Latin American Economic System (SELA), Carlos Perez del
Castillo.
The proposal would include the "solid foundations" espoused by the Group of
Eight since their meeting in Rio de Janeiro in 1987, as well as the specific
interests of each sub-region ( South America, Central America and the
Caribbean).
The focus of the proposal would be to reduce both the principal and interest
owed on four different types of debt: medium- and long-term debt, loans
granted by multilateral lending agencies, government loans and intra-Latin
American commitments.
The SELA outline is contained in a document drafted on the basis of
principles agreed to during three meetings of experts from SELA's 26
member-countries.
The South American group met in November 1988, the Caribbean group in
February 1989 and the Central American group in March 1989.
The Group of Eight was created in December 1986 in Rio de Janeiro by the most
indebted Latin American countries -- Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Mexico,
Panama, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela - in an effort to strengthen Latin
America's role and leadership in the world as well as seek a solution to the
foreign debt crisis.
SELA's proposal envisions a reduction of the debt through the creation of
an entirely new multilateral financial organization or, at least, a new branch
of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) or World Bank.
Also proposed is the repurchase of debt on secondary markets as well as the
adoption of legislation that facilitates the conversion of debt into
investment, according to Perez del Castillo.
The schemem will also suggest the implementation of certain macroeconomic
policies as set forth by the new U.S. foreign debt treatment drafted by
Treasury Secretary Nicholas Brady.
The SELA official maintained that the issue of intra-Latin American debt
must be considered within the context of the joint regional proposal.
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"We must first put our house in order to be able to demand a new treatment"
from abroad, Perez del Castillo said.
He will now circulate the draft proposal to SELA member-countries with an eye
towards holding a regional conference on the debt, probably during the second
half of the year.
The SELA secretary remarked that the new proposal offers a more coherent
treatment of the debt than the series of ambiguous proposals sketched by the
Brady Plan.
"The Brady Plan speaks of separate negotiations and leaves the decision about
the percentages of reducing the debt up to creditor banks
" Perez del
Castillo noted.
The SELA initiative, on the other hand, attempts to deal with 90 percent of
the region's $420-billion foreign debt, he explained.
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16TH STORY of Level 1 printed in FULL format.
Copyright (c) 1989 The New York Times Company;
The New York Times
March 6, 1989, Monday, Late City Final Edition
SECTION: Section A; Page 10, Column 1; Foreign Desk
LENGTH: 961 words
HEADLINE: Venezuela Unrest: Lesson for Leader
BYLINE: By MARK A. UHLIG, Special to the New York Times
DATELINE: CARACAS, Venezuela, March 5
BODY:
Speaking in this riot-torn capital late last week, Venezuela's new President,
Carlos Andres Perez, said that the three days of violent street protests should
teach world leaders an important lesson about the dangers of third world debt.
But many here believe that the lethal explosion of discontent may be equally
instructive for Mr. Perez himself, starkly emphasizing how much Venezuela has
changed since he last occupied the presidency a decade ago.
When the 66-year-old Social Democrat won his first five-year term as
President in 1974, Venezuela was riding a wave of apparently endless prosperity
as South America's only major oil-producing nation. Mr. Perez's Government
reflected - indeed, embodied - that outlook, gaining a reputation for free
spending and poor management that haunted him beyond the end of his term in
1979.
A Volatile Setting
On Feb. 2, however, Mr. Perez returned to the presidency of a far different
country, weakened by a long-term slump in oil markets, burdened by $33 billion
in foreign debt and faced with a deep decline in living standards - a volatile
setting by any measure.
Mr. Perez, a career politician who belongs to the Democratic Action Party,
was clearly aware of the difficulties that lay in store for him and issued
forceful warnings that Venezuela's debt payments, which he said had reached as
much as 70 percent of export earnings, threatened the stability of the country's
longstanding democratic institutions.
But it now seems clear that neither Mr. Perez nor the rest of the country's
political leadership was prepared for the strength of the backlash that occurred
when he imposed the first steps in an austerity program intended to stabilize
the country's economy.
What has not changed since the 1970's is Mr. Perez's forceful style or the
desire for international influence that once made him a spokesman for developing
nations. In that role, he played a part in negotiations leading to the Panama
Canal treaties and became a confidant of many world leaders, including President
Jimmy Carter, who publicly described him as ''one of my best personal friends
and a great counselor and adviser'' on Latin American issues.
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Supporter of Sandinistas
In his first term of office, Mr. Perez, was also an important early supporter
of Nicaragua's Sandinista guerrillas, whom he supplied with money and arms in
their successful revolution against the dictator Anastasio Somoza Debayle in
1979. And he retained his high international profile even after his departure
from office, serving as vice president of the Socialist International and in
several important regionwide posts.
That kind of stature made the re-election of Mr. Perez a kind of political
homecoming that was welcomed by leaders throughout the region who looked to him
for guidance and leadership.
His inauguration last month was one of the grandest celebrations Latin
America has ever known, drawing 22 heads of state together with Vice President
Dan Quayle and other dignitaries from around the world.
Regional leaders have sought his counsel and mediation on issues ranging from
relations with the European Community to negotiations with leftist guerrilla
movements. And when five Central American Presidents held a summit meeting in
Tesoro Beach, E1 Salvador, last month, operators could be overheard placing
calls for them to Mr. Perez, apparently to seek his advice as a respected
neutral party.
A Role in Debt Debate
For months, Mr. Perez has made a virtue of necessity by taking a highly
visible role in the debate on the debt issue. In appearances here and in
Europe, he has argued that rigid repayment schedules threaten Latin America's
recent progress toward greater democracy. And he has proposed, among other
steps, the creation of an international agency to buy outstanding third world
debt at discounted rates and convert it into long-term bonds.
But few anticipated how quickly his warnings would be tested by his own
countrymen. And few political analysts and diplomats here are willing to say how
seriously the violence may damage Mr. Perez's standing, either in Venezuela or
on the international stage where he feels so at home.
Most Venezuelans seem to believe that the crisis was not of Mr. Perez's
making. They fault him more for the way he imposed austerity measures -raising
prices, for instance, before announcing agreement on private sector wage
increases to offset them.
And many this week have looked beyond the President's role to the larger
roots of the crisis, expressing shock and even shame that their proudly
democratic nation should react so violently to economic measures that have been
seen as unavoidable for quite some time.
Ammunition for His Foes
Caracas newspapers have pointedly noted that Mr. Perez's predecessor, Jaime
Lusinchi, who left a legacy of economic chaos, was not even in the country as
the crisis unfolded last week, but was reported to be relaxing at a spa in
Florida.
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Yet even if Mr. Perez successfully rides out the storm at home, it is not
clear how the days of bloodshed -which took at least 300 lives - will affect his
ambition and his ability to serve as a regional leader. In the short run, the
problems appear to have buttressed Mr. Perez's case for relief of Venezuela's
own debt, and some here believe that they may also focus world attention on
his role as a spokesman for debtor nations as a whole.
But in the sharp conflicts of Latin American politics, enemies of Mr. Perez
have already capitalized on Venezuela's troubles with caustic suggestions that
he put his own affairs in order before meddling elsewhere. And it remains to be
seen whether Mr. Perez can preserve his infuence abroad at a time when his
troubles at home are on painful display.
GRAPHIC: photos of President Carlos Andres Perez; Venezuelans picks through
remains of discarded food (Reuters)
SUBJECT: DEMONSTRATIONS AND RIOTS; ECONOMIC CONDITIONS AND TRENDS; CREDIT
NAME: UHLIG, MARK A; PEREZ, CARLOS ANDRES (PRES)
GEOGRAPHIC: VENEZUELA
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20TH STORY of Level 1 printed in FULL format.
Copyright (c) 1989 The New York Times Company;
The New York Times
March 2, 1989, Thursday, Late City Final Edition
SECTION: Section A; Page 1, Column 3; Foreign Desk
LENGTH: 1342 words
HEADLINE: DRUG PRODUCTION RISING WORLDWIDE, STATE DEPT. SAYS
BYLINE: By ELAINE SCIOLINO, Special to the New York Times
DATELINE: WASHINGTON, March 1
BODY:
Global production of coca, marijuana, opium poppies and hashish increased
sharply in the last year, partly because of political and economic instability
in drug-producing countries, the State Department reported today.
American policymakers ''were confronted once again in 1988 by world events
that can and do have a devastating impact on efforts to reduce the global supply
of drugs,' the report said.
Despite a directive issued by President Reagan in 1986 that made drug
trafficking a national security issue, the new report concluded that ' 'political
and economic instability in drug-producing areas around the world have resulted
in the subordination of our drug control agenda to other pressing concerns.
Limits on U.S. Action
Civil strife in Burma, war in Afghanistan, the death of President Mohammed
Zia ul-Haq in Pakistan and the declining economy in Peru were cited as examples
of events that signaled possible setbacks for the United States in its war on
drugs.
Administration officials acknowledged that the drug issue has often been
subordinated to other American interests, from support for insurgents fighting
Communist regimes to the belief that punishing drug-producing countries like
Colombia and Peru might destabilize them.
Most discouraging, it said, was the failure to curb the production of coca in
the Andean countries, where a new generation of traffickers has emerged that
threaten both the streets of America and the stability of countries long
friendly to the United States. Also cited as disappointing was the inability of
the United States to convince the Andean Governments to agree to aerial spraying
of coca, which the report said is the only way to significantly curb cocaine
production.
' 'We will have only limited success in battling cocaine until we forge a
comprehensive, multifaceted strategy which recognizes that cocaine is not simply
a law enforcement issue but is also a complex foreign policy matter, requiring a
long-term approach,' the report said.
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It added that the United States needs to explore ways of using third world
debt as a lever in gaining cooperation on drug control.
The report estimated that from 1987 to 1988, the production of coca increased
7.2 percent among the four coca-growing countries: Bolivia, Colombia, Peru and
Ecuador. Over the same period, the global marijuana crop increased by 22
percent, the opium crop by 15 percent and the hashish crop by 11 percent.
Despite the pessimistic tone of the report, the accompanying actions by the
Bush Administration were rather mild, as they were during the last years of the
Reagan Administration.
Under a law passed in 1986, it is up to the President to certify by March 1
that countries where major drug trafficking occurs are ''fully cooperating'' in
cracking down on the drug trade.
There is a growing sentiment in Congress and the State Department that the
law is flawed and applied selectively because it does not take into account the
complexities of relations between drug-trafficking countries and the United
States.
Half-Steps Used
Although empowered to impose sanctions against drug-producing countries that
do not qualify, President Bush announced mostly symbolic penalties against six
countries with which the United States has no relations or severely strained
relations: Panama, Afghanistan, Iran, Syria, Laos and Burma.
Mexico, Colombia, Bolivia, Peru, the Bahamas and Paraguay, all major
drug-producing or drug-transit countries - which were described by Ann B.
Wrobleski, Assistant Secretary of State for International Narcotics Matters, as
'close friends and allies' -were also cited as needing to ''do more'' to
cooperate with the United States. But they were fully certified under the law
and will not be penalized.
Lebanon was again faulted for not doing enough to combat the drug trade, but
was certified because of overriding ' 'national interests.'
A preliminary decision to certify Laos and Burma because of national
interests, reported today by The New York Times, was altered to decertify them
completely, White House officials said.
Troubled by the Futility
Secretary of State James A. Baker 3d, transmitting the President's
certification to Congress, was quoted by Ms. Wrobleski as saying that he and Mr.
Bush ''are deeply troubled by the state of affairs upon which the President
based his certification decisions.
Despite the hard work and dedication of many public servants and private
citizens both here and abroad, the international war on narcotics is clearly not
being won, he said.
The report in effect has become an annual admission of the inability of the
United States to singlehandedly fight narcotics. This year's report details
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increases in arrests, record drug seizures and eradicated acreage, new
international treaties of cooperation, cooperative raids and the successful
extradition of a small number of drug traffickers, while acknowleding an
increase in both global drug production and demand.
The report said that continuing turmoil in Afghanistan, where the production
of opium poppy and heroin trafficking increased in 1988, could lead to an even
bigger increase this year if refugees returning home after the nine-year Soviet
occupation turn to opium as a cash crop.
Rebel Agriculture
Much of the opium poppy grows in areas controlled by the United
States-supported Afghan guerrillas or on territory where they have influence,
according to the report.
The collapse of order in various parts of the country after the Soviet troop
withdrawal, favorable weather and the destruction of some traditional
agriculture all make the cultivation of opium extremely attractive.
' 'AS we see refugees moving back into a war-torn country where there is no
central government, we see them turning to a fairly easy, quick, profitable
means of supporting themselves, Ms. Wrobleski said. Perhaps the most dramatic
shift in this year's report concerns Mexico, which was criticized last year for
''endemic'' corruption in the highest levels of government. Although this year's
report expressed concern over continued government corruption, it emphasized a
commitment by the newly elected President, Carlos Salinas de Gortari, to
intensify anti-drug efforts.
As for the Bahamas, which has emerged as a major transit area for much of the
cocaine and some of the marijuana entering the United States, the report says
''drug-related corruption continues to be a problem, making the country
attractive to drug smugglers. It also faults the Bahamas for stalling
extradition requests in the courts.
Debate Expected
Congress, which has 45 days to rule on the Administration's decision on
certification, is likely to challenge Mr. Bush's conclusions on Mexico and the
Bahamas.
These were among the report's other conclusions:
*
The demand for drugs outside the United States, particularly in countries
involved in production and transportation like Pakistan and parts of South
America, has contributed to increased production. In Pakistan, for example,
there are now between 670,000 and one million addicts, who consume more opium
than the country produces.
*
In Panama, even though the United States no longer recognizes the
leadership of Gen. Manuel Antonio Noriega, American law enforcement officials
continue to work with the Panamanian military in fighting drugs.
* Officals in Laos are involved in opium and marijuana production, refining
and smuggling. Although Laos won certification on grounds of American national
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interest last year because of its cooperation in helping to recover American
remains from the Indochina war, corruption in the small Southeast Asian nation
is 50 severe that it was decertified this year.
* In Colombia, drug kingpins have so thoroughly corrupted the criminal
justice system by threats and bribes that is it is ''virtually impossible'' to
arrest and convict them or to significantly damage their organizations.
The report was printed in a small quantity and will not be available to the
public.
SUBJECT: DRUG TRAFFIC; MARIJUANA; COCA (PLANT); OPIUM; HASHISH; CIVIL WAR AND
GUERRILLA WARFARE; POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT
NAME: SCIOLINO, ELAINE
GEOGRAPHIC: UNITED STATES; COLOMBIA; PERU; BURMA; PAKISTAN; AFGHANISTAN; UNITED
STATES
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9TH STORY of Level 1 printed in FULL format.
Copyright (c) 1989 Reuters
April 12, 1989, Wednesday, AM cycle
SECTION: Domestic Money. Money Report.
LENGTH: 311 words
HEADLINE: ECUADOR TO RENEGOTIATE FOREIGN DEBT WITH BANKS
BYLINE: By Jorge Aguirre
DATELINE: QUITO, APRIL 12, REUTER
BODY:
Ecuadorean Finance Minister Jorge Gallardo said government officials were
preparing to renegotiate debt payments owed to foreign banks following a
decision to resume some interest payments.
"We are entering a process of renegotiation which has neither a starting date
nor a deadline but will be a continuous process of negotiations," Gallardo told
a news conference.
Gallardo, who returned on Sunday from conversations with creditor banks in
New York, said government officials were preparing to renegotiate with the
bankers 5.5 billion dlrs of principal and about one billion dlrs in interest
arrears.
Ecuador's total foreign debt stands at more than 11 billion dlrs, central
bank figures showed.
Gallardo said the renegotiation was part of a long-running process aimed at
repaying the debt after the government announced in February it would make
some payments on interest due this year.
Gallardo did not say when Ecuador would start the interest payments, ending a
suspension of debt payments to foreign banks caused by tumbling oil revenues
in force since January 1987.
President Rodrigo Borja has said the government decided to resume interest
payments to enhance credit opportunities for Ecuador, the second poorest country
in South America.
Separately, Gallardo said Ecuador had requested new credits of between 495
and 565 mln dlrs from the World Bank for the next two and a half years.
"We hope the World Bank will approve the credits that would finance
telecommunications, drainage and flood-control programmes," he said.
He said the funds would also be used for export promotion, development of the
oil sector, family health and nutrition.
Gallardo, who met officials of the World Bank and Inter- American Development
Bank in Washington last week, did not say when the World Bank was likely to
respond to Ecuador's application.
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19TH STORY of Level 1 printed in FULL format.
Copyright (c) 1989 The Times Mirror Company;
Los Angeles Times
April 2, 1989, Sunday, Home Edition
SECTION: Part 1; Page 1; Column 4; Foreign Desk
LENGTH: 898 words
HEADLINE: U.S., VENEZUELA OK STEPPED-UP EFFORT ON DEBT
BYLINE: By DOYLE McMANUS and ART PINE, Times Staff Writers
DATELINE: WASHINGTON
BODY:
President Bush and Venezuelan President Carlos Andres Perez agreed Saturday
to begin intensive work on a plan to reduce Venezuela's $33-billion foreign
debt, making the country one of the first "test cases" of America's new Third
World debt strategy.
U.S. officials said the meeting between the two leaders, which lasted for
almost two hours, was designed both to provide new political impetus to the
effort to help Venezuela with its debt problems and to coordinate the two
leaders' policies on Central America.
Administration officials said top economic policy-makers from the two
countries would begin intensive sessions this week to work out a concrete
debt -reduction plan. The Venezuelans are here for a meeting of the 151-nation
International Monetary Fund.
It was not immediately clear how much in actual debt relief Venezuela would
be able to obtain. Secretary of the Treasury Nicholas F. Brady is to unveil the
broader U.S. debt strategy at a special meeting today of finance ministers
from seven major industrial nations.
Mixed Reaction to U.S. Plan
Initial reaction to the U.S. proposal, which Brady outlined broadly on March
10, has been mixed. U.S. officials say support from Perez, who is one of South
America's elder statesmen, could have a major impact on how other Third World
countries react to the plan.
"The focus (at the White House meeting) was on implementation (of the new
debt relief ideas) -- let's get on with it," a U.S. official said. "Nobody has
any question about the urgency of the economic situation in Venezuela."
Besides Bush and Brady, Secretary of State James A. Baker III also attended
the White House meeting.
The new Brady debt plan essentially would offer to help debtor countries
reduce the cost and size of their huge foreign debt by asking the IMF and the
World Bank to serve as catalysts for schemes under which banks could write down
their loans and swap them for guaranteed bonds.
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(c) 1989 Los Angeles Times, April 2, 1989
The proposal is designed to replace the previous debt strategy, outlined by
Baker when he was Treasury secretary in 1985, which called on banks to provide
new loans to help debtor countries finance economic reforms. (See related story
in Business, Page 1.)
Venezuela, the oldest democracy in Latin America and a major oil producer,
has been in a crunch since oil prices collapsed in the early 1980s. Perez, a
moderate socialist, imposed economic reforms after his inauguration in January,
touching off riots that claimed 300 lives.
Although Perez publicly has blamed the riots on the "intolerable and obscene"
burden of repaying his country's foreign debt, U.S. officials said he struck a
more conciliatory and pragmatic tone in his talks with Bush, promising to
continue overhauling his economy.
"He made it clear that he understands that countries that don't reform and
restructure their economies can't escape blame for their own problems," the
official said.
U.S. and Venezuelan officials have already held preliminary talks to discuss
a debt reduction strategy, but Bush and Perez directed their aides to
accelerate the negotiations this week, several officials said.
Treasury officials have been hoping to move quickly to apply the new plan to
two or three countries in hopes of blunting criticism that the proposal is
ineffective and making it more credible to debtor countries, many of which are
embroiled in political unrest and are facing leftist challenges.
Besides Venezuela, U.S. officials also have been considering Mexico as a
candidate for quick action under the new proposal.
Investment Potential
"We discussed the potential for Venezuela as one of the first test cases (of
the Brady plan), the official said. "As an oil exporter, Venezuela can attract
new capital flows better than some other countries."
Officials said it was too early to predict how soon a concrete plan for
reducing Venezuela's debt might be ready, however.
The United States wants finance ministers of the seven largest non-Communist
industrial nations to endorse the plan today and agree to refine it further
between now and the seven-nation economic summit in Paris in July. Besides the
United States, the group includes Japan, West Germany, Britain, France, Italy
and Canada.
In their meeting Saturday, Bush and Perez also discussed the situation in
Nicaragua, where the Administration has launched a new strategy to put
diplomatic pressure on the ruling Sandinista regime for democratic reforms.
As part of its pressure, the Administration has won approval from
congressional leaders for continued non-military aid to the Contras.
Perez, who has played a key role as a mediator between the Sandinistas and
Nicaraguan opposition groups, assured Bush of his general support for the new
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(c) 1989 Los Angeles Times, April 2, 1989
U.S. approach and said he understood the rationale for the continued Contra aid,
one official said.
But the Venezuelan disappointed some U.S. officials by ducking an opportunity
to make his support public when he left the White House without pausing to talk
with reporters.
Bush and Perez also discussed the situation in Panama, where the United
States has mounted an abortive campaign to oust the military strongman, Gen.
Manuel A. Noriega.
Along with Bush, Perez has been pressing Noriega to allow free elections in
Panama next month, although U.S. and Venezuelan officials are privately
pessimistic about the chances for an untainted vote.
SUBJECT: BRADY, NICHOLAS F; BUSH, GEORGE; PEREZ, CARLOS ANDRES; VENEZUELA ----
ECONOMY; VENEZUELA - FINANCES; FOREIGN DEBT; UNITED STATES -- FOREIGN
RELATIONS -- VENEZUELA; UNITED STATES -- FOREIGN RELATIONS -- THIRD WORLD;
UNITED STATES -- FOREIGN POLICY -- CENTRAL AMERICA; UNITED STATES - FOREIGN
AID -- NICARAGUA; NICARAGUA -- FOREIGN RELATIONS -- VENEZUELA; UNITED STATES ----
FOREIGN RELATIONS - PANAMA; PANAMA -- FOREIGN RELATIONS --- VENEZUELA; THIRD
WORLD -- FINANCES
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22ND STORY of Level 1 printed in FULL format.
Copyright (c) 1989 The Nihon Keizai Shimbun
Japan Economic Journal
April 1, 1989
SECTION: Pg. 1
LENGTH: 1045 words
HEADLINE: Risky details in Brady plan worry bankers
BYLINE: By Konosuke Kuwabara, JAPAN ECONOMIC JOURNAL STAFF WRITER
BODY:
U.S. Treasury Secretary Nicholas Brady's Third World debt -relief proposal
drew praise and the promise of financial support from Japan when it was
disclosed earlier this month.
But, with its stress on concerted efforts by numerous banks, international
agencies and debtor nations, the plan will need more than praise and promises to
materialize.
Already, some misgivings have surfaced with the new strategy. And Japanese
officials say they are likely to figure in the discussion of the Brady plan at
upcoming meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank in
Washington in early April.
The plan presents three major problems, sources say.
First, it is uncertain whether it will enjoy the full support of creditor
banks. Private Japanese banks, whose help is essential because they are the
largest loan providers, are concerned that the U.S. strategy will force them to
shoulder an even heavier burden than at present.
Second, not all creditor nations share the same priorities in resolving the $
1.3 trillion Third World debt problem, a Ministry of Finance official said.
The U.S., for instance, is said to be most interested in helping Mexico, while
France is concerned about Africa. Other European nations associate debt
relief chiefly with Eastern Europe's plight.
Third, debtor countries themselves may not be able to effectively carry out
the economic reforms that are essential elements of the debt strategy.
"Now is not the time to resolve the details (of the Brady plan), the
ministry official said. Rather, the April meetings will indicate how receptive
the creditor nations are to the U.S.'s ideas, he added.
Japan's stance on debt
The Brady plan shows the shift of the U.S. debt policy, from new loans --
under the so-called Baker plan, announced in 1985 by then U.S. Treasury
Secretary James Baker -- to broad debt -reduction efforts.
Says the Finance Ministry official: "We do not need to add any ideas to the
Brady plan because it reflects the so-called Miyazawa plan" (which was
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(c) 1989 The Nihon Keizai Shimbun, JEJ, April 1, 1989
outlined last year by then Finance Minister Kiichi Miyazawa).
The two pillars of the Miyazawa plan were an emphasis on reduction of old
debt and interest payments rather than on new lendings, and a larger role for
international agencies in debt -relief programs. These points are incorporated
in the new U.S. plan.
So, the U.S. policy shift was an important step in "ending friction between
the new-money approach of the U.S. and the debt -reduction-oriented policy of
Japan," said Motoo Kusakabe, special adviser to the president of Japan Center
for International Finance (JCIF).
Japan, with an annual trade surplus of some $ 90 billion, is being asked by
the U.S. to share the debt -relief burden because Washington has been suffering
from its own crunching deficits.
But Tokyo will likely face difficulty in making the domestic adjustments
necessary for it to assume that international role, sources say.
Japanese banks' anxieties
Japanese banks, whose debt exposure to less-developed countries was about $
85 billion at the end of 1988, welcome the framework of the new U.S. strategy.
But they don't necessarily welcome some of its specific points, which have yet
been finalized.
A source at one of Japan's biggest banks said it would be "nonsense" if the
Brady plan asks private banks to extend new loans to a debtor country at the
same time the banks are completing a debt -reduction program for that country.
The source said the banks will want to wait and 52e if the debtor nation
succeed in restructuring its economy before providing new money. And that could
take years.
Yet, the combination of debt reduction and new money lending is crucial to
the Brady plan. Unless debtor nations are provided with money for long-term
economic growth, the plan will not work, said JCIF's Kusakabe.
Another banking source said he wants to ask the Ministry of Finance to
carefully select the debtor nations to which the new program will be applied.
For instance, Japan and the U.S. are said to be thinking about applying the
Brady plan to Mexico first.
But Mexico, the banker said, would be an unfavorable choice for banks.
Taking into account Japanese banks' 10% share in the country's outstanding
external debt, banks may be able to help reduce the nation's debt to some
extent, but they will not readily extend new financial assistance, he said.
Finally, to participate in the Brady plan, some revision of Japan's tax and
accounting regulations is essential, banking sources say. That will require
long and intense work, a government source said.
IMF, World Bank meetings
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(c) 1989 The Nihon Keizai Shimbun, JEJ, April 1, 1989
All these problems mean that a smooth launch of the Brady plan is unlikely at
the upcoming IMF and the World Bank meetings, sources say. They say the
competing interests among major industrialized countries could get in the way.
Even Mexico, Argentina and some other debtor nations are reportedly against
the Brady plan's call for more debt -for-equity swaps, which assistant U.S.
Treasury Secretary David Mulford calls "an integral part" of the new approach.
This is mainly because such swaps lead to a higher money supply, which could
accelerate inflationary pressure in those countries.
A senior Bank of Japan official said the Brady plan is not all. Thus, the
major creditor nations may begin seeking ways to put together the best aspects
of various debt -relief ideas (based on the Brady plan) to satisfy all parties
involved.
"Any debt -relief strategy requires a long time (to mature), he said.
"Thus, April is like a milepost in a long road, even for a proposal as
anticipated as this one."
Outstanding balance of Japanese
financial institution' loans
(in millions of dollars; end of March 1987)
Change
Region
Balance
(%) *
Asia
27,211
+17.8
Central & South
America
39,759
+ 9.1
Middle East
897
+ 1.3
Africa
6,187
+ 4.3
Soviet, Eastern Europe
12,859
+16.1
OECD members
79,973
+28.3
Int'l organizations
14,469
+11.5
Total
181,356
+18.7
Note: * Change from Sept. 1986. Yen-denominated loans are calculated at a rate
of 145.0 to the dollar at the end of March 1987, and 153.6 at the end of Sept.
1986.
Source: Ministry of Finance
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reaching ant Theme
3860,
- democracy Centrl America of Panama
RM. 392
- economic dobt
W4916
- drugs
0900 Apr 27
The Secretary's remarks to the Council of the Americas
David
May 1, 1989
Pacelli
If you look around the world today, from the Communist bloc
to the developing areas, you will see evidence of the triumph
of two great ideas: the idea of a free society government and the idea of
a free economy.
The two ideas are really one, joined in a single vision, a
vision of democracy. Abroad, it is a vision that causes
ordinary people to rejoice and dictators to tremble. Here at
home, it is a vision which all Americans should applaud, for
freedom is quintessentially our founding vision, the vision of
the New World.
A free society and a free economy are now also becoming the
models for the rest of the New World that Columbus discovered
almost 500 years ago -- the countries of Latin America and the
Caribbean. Across this hemisphere, the Sid old barriers of
dictatorship and state control are being dismantled.
a decade
Democracy -- 10 years ago the exception -- is today the
rule. The ballot box is the concrete symbol of a decade of
- 2 -
political progress in Latin America and the Caribbean. By
year's end, 14 national elections will have been held this year
alone. And most of them will have offered real choices with
real consequences.
Economically, also, there are encouraging signs. Mexico
has joined GATT and is making profound changes toward a more
open and outward-oriented economy. Costa Rica is exporting
cellular phones to third world customers; Brazil is to supply
automated supermarket systems to Portugal: and Venezuela is
mixing water and oil in a new substance called orimulsion which
it is marketing for power plants in Japan.
You in the business community are among the pioneers and
partners in these changes. You are contributing to Latin
America's productivity and capacity for progress. You have
greatly increased the region's potential for success.
These hopeful changes in Latin America, and the historic
shift in political and economic thinking now underway, are good
news for us all. Once democratic habits have become
established, they give people both a stake in their future and
mechanisms for change that are less violent and disruptive than
the abrupt swings Latin American countries have often known in
the past. There is fundamental value, even strategic advantage
for the United States, in the stability that comes from
- 3 -
America's economies fuels trade and jobs for the citizens of
the United States.
Thomas Jefferson said that "It is a kind of law of nature
that every nation prospers by the prosperity of others."
Today, the stake we have in the prosperity of our neighbors is
greater than ever. Their growth will restore vigor to U.S.
trade with Latin America and the Caribbean. Growth will win
the approval of the voters in the Latin democracies who are
looking to their elected leaders to "deliver the goods." And
because it brings diversification, growth is also the key to a
new and meaningful kind of independence -- not being dependent
on one or two commodities; the independence that comes from
having options and freedom to maneuver.
Which brings me to my central point today: to make the
most of the new opportunities in the hemisphere, we must
improve our working partnerships - between countries north and
south, between the different branches of government, and
between government and business. We are all in this together.
We must all work together.
We in the Administration intend to reach out to Latin
America as never before to build a new partnership for the
Americas -- a partnership built on mutual respect and mutual
responsibility.
- 4 -
We seek a partnership based on support for democratic forms
of government. The battle for democracy is by no means won; in
many nations the struggle continues or has only just begun.
But it is clear on which side of the battle line we stand:
This Administration stands with the people of Latin America in
the cause of democracy and against the enemies of freedom on
the extreme left and on the extreme right.
On Central America, we have already made a new approach
toward partnership with the democratic leaders of this
hemisphere. With the full bipartisan support of Congress we
have joined together to support the promises of democracy,
security, and peace contained in the Agreement signed almost
two years ago at Esquipulas by the five Central American
(Insent)
Presidents.
-security Threat
-Soriets must
cooperate
- Sandinistas lack
Achieving these goals will not be easy. But if the U.S. of compliance
Congress and the Administration and the democratic governments election m
law to
inside the hemisphere and out work together, we have the best media law
chance of turning the promises of Esquipulas into concrete
(see state
realities on the ground.
Dept sheating
In Paraguay, the only country with a dictator who had been
in power longer than Fidel Castro, elections are taking place
(mAy)
yestenday today under freer and fairer conditions that give hope that
Paraguay is on its way to joining the hemisphere's mainstream.
- 5 -
In Panama, free and fair elections this coming Sunday would
end that nation's political and economic crisis and its
international isolation as well. Despite coercion and
intimidation and the regime's tight control of the media,
Panamanians have mounted an effective campaign for democracy.
The regime's candidates are trailing in polls by a margin over
2 to 1. Unfortunately the Noriega regime's response has been
S
to prepare for a massive fraud and to retrict the presence of
international observers and press.
If democracy is to continue to develop in this hemisphere,
such practices cannot be tolerated. The position of the United
States is clear: There can be and there will be no
<-0mit
accomodation with a Noriega-dominated regime. There is still toke from
draft
time for the Panamanians to save their country from the
presidental
increasing destruction wrought by the Noriega dictatorship.
statent
The key is in the hands of the Defense Forces. They can
fulfill their constitutional duty as professional soldiers and
allow the elections to proceed freely and fairly. or they can
face the consequences of the path on which General Noriega has
placed them. The days of dictatorship in Latin America are
over. They must end in Panama as well.
A second element of the new partnership we seek should
reflect a common committment to helping new market oriented
economies survive, prosper, and prevail. Thus far, economic
- 6 -
freedom has not moved as far along or as fast as political
freedom. The economic case for statism and protectionism has
never been weaker and the advocates of these regressive
policies have never been so few in number, yet statist
regulations and entrenched bureaucracies remain largely intact
in many nations in the Americas.
That is why this Administration has made a new commitment,
through the Brady proposals, to reach out to help reduce the
weight of debt -- as Latin governments and leaders take the
important. but difficult steps to restructure their economies.
And that is the key point: debt reduction is necessary,
but it is not by itself sufficient to generate the needed
growth. To grow, Latin America must create a climate for
s
invetment -- a climate that will bring flight capital back to
the region and that will attract new capital flows. Debt is a
problem, but it is really also a symptom of, sometimes, a
greater problem. If there were a magical solution that did not
require structural economic reform, then those nations which
have declared a moratorium on debt would be growing well today,
but that simply is not the case. Instead, they are in deeper
economic crisis. Today the democratic governments must try to
reform bloated state economies, service their debt and, at the
same time, satisfy the real needs of their citizens. We
understand that facing this challenge alone is a nearly
- 7 -
We recognize that individual debtor economies are
different. Their problems are different. Election schedules
do not always match ideal timetables for economic initiatives.
But, the Brady approach is not an "all or nothing," "now or
never" option. Progress will likely come incrementally,
case-by-case and step-by-step. No country is precluded from
participation so long as a clear commitment is made to needed
reforms.
Our common interest in growth demands that each do his part
and that all work together: debtor countries, commercial
banks, creditor countries, and the international financial
institutions. We must be able to count on the full and
meaningful participation of all.
Third, our new partnership seeks a common commitment to
free and open trade. If we ask Latin America to strip away the
layers of protection that shield their economies from the free
flow of trade in goods and services, then we in the United
States, too, must confront protectionism and steadily reduce
the barriers to products. We are deeply engaged in the Uruguay
Round in an effort to dismantle remaining tariff barriers and
to grapple with the many nontariff barriers that have sprung up
to impede trade. Already making good on the promise of freer
and expanded trade, the Caribbean Basin Initiative can go still
- 8 -
further. We welcome proposals in the Congress to enhance
opportunities under the Initiative.
Finally, we seek a partnership based on a common commitment
to face our common enemies, none more then narcotics
traffickers. We all have a responsibility and a part to play.
Drugs threaten our citizens and civil society on both sides of
the Rio Grande and all shores of the Caribbean. We and the
people of Latin America must face this common menace together
as full partners instead of wasting time and precious energy in
the endless game of mutual blame and recrimination. For the
plain truth is that drugs is both a problem of demand and of
supply and if we do not tackle both heads of this two headed
monster, it will devour us all.
You in Council of Americas have long propounded a vision of
cooperation and partnership with Latin America. Your
commitment is important as never before. The potential is
great, but there are also dangers. The countries which have
not yet summoned political will to make needed economic reforms
need our encouragement and assistance. They must know that if
they are willing to walk down same path as Mexico, Costa Rica,
Bolivia, Chile, the financial business community will help them
take the next step with debt reduction and new investment.
In conclusion, if I were to summarize our approach, I would
say that progress in Latin America
- 9 -
economic freedom that goes with it makes possible greater
cooperation that ever. Democracy within nations makes it
easier to practice democracy among nations. We recognize that
our dialogue will move at different speeds and follow a
somewhat different course for nations like Mexico and
Venezuela, which have just installed new governments, than with
nations like Argentina and Brazil, which are preparing for
elections. But we are prepared to move ahead in partnership
with any nation that is ready to make a serious effort. And we
intend to use the OAS to help define and support partnership on
a regional basis as well.
I do not underestimate the problems, risks, and threats
that challenge and assail us. There is no guarantee that all
will work out for the best -- the problems are daunting, even
for a Texan. But I believe that all of us -- North and South,
in government and in the private sector -- can indeed work to
meet the challenges of change head on and together. And I
believe that if we do, then the Americas will indeed enter the
next century living up to its enormous potential.
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647-2492
7 pages to follow
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DEPARTMENT OF STATE
DAILY PRESS BRIEFING
DPC #71
TUESDAY, APRIL 25, 1989, 12:39 P. M.
(ON THE RECORD UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED)
MS. TUTWILER: Good morning. How are you all? I have
a brief - not brief, but I have a statement. Are we ready?
Q
Yes, ma'am.
A
Today, April 25, marks the date by which the
Government of Nicaragua is obligated under the Tesoro Beach
agreement to have in place electoral laws conducive to free and
fair elections scheduled to take place in February of 1990.
The Government of Nicaragua has recently put into
effect new laws governing electoral procedures and the press.
Both the substance of these laws and the manner in which they
have been put into effect is troubling.
The electoral law was not the result of good-faith
bargaining between the Government of Nicaragua and the internal
opposition groups and was unilaterally imposed after being
passed by the Sandinista-dominated legislature. This law
includes a provision requiring that the Supreme Electoral
Council, of which the Sandinistas maintain control, receive
one-half of any foreign political contributions. It ignores
proposals made by the internal opposition for absentee
balloting and procedures for ensuring the presence and
unlimited access of international election observers.
A new law governing press conduct includes penalties
for disseminating information which the Interior Ministry
determines to be a violation of national integrity and allows
the Interior Ministry to order closures of up to four days.
This media law has also been passed by the Sandinista
Legislature without genuine dialogue with the internal
opposition, which depends upon Freedom, of expression, or with
the independent media in Nicaragua.
It is still not too late for dialogue and for the
necessary compromises by all sides which alone can create
conditions of trust in which free elections can go forward. We
urge the Government of Nicaragua to engage in the necessary
dialogue to revise its electoral and press laws.
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Tuesday, 4/25/89
Q
Can we get a copy of that?
A
Sure.
Q
Margaret, is the conclusion of the
Administration, therefore, to offer carrots or sticks or
nothing at all in response to what has happened in Nicaragua?
A
I'm not sure I understand what you're asking me.
Q
Well, the Secretary of State told Congress that
he would have --
A
I know about that.
Q
-- this whole collection of incentives or
disincentives. Now the Sandinista Government has done some
things, as you just outlined them, so what is the response?
Does the United States -- do you want to ask for sticks or are
you going to offer carrots?
A
The United States is asking for free, fair and
honest elections.
Q
But, for example, relations with the Sandinistas
are still at a very low level. There's no Ambassador in either
capital.
A
Ambassador -- what?
Q
There's no Ambassador in either capital.
A
That's correct. And that particular point is
under review.
Q
What does that mean?
Q
Does that mean he's under review?
Q
We're now considering --
A
The reinstituting of an Ambassador there and an
Ambassador here is currently under review.
Q
That's been under review since the Administration
took office.
A
That's true. It's still under review, as of
today. (Laughter) I asked.
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Tuesday, 4/25/89
Q
I think what Roy is asking, if I -- what happens
-- I mean, we're calling on them, we're saying there's still
time to make these changes which we have outlined. What if
they don't?
A
That's something that I'm not prepared to answer
today.
Q
What if they do?
A
That would be very encouraging.
Q
No. But I think what Roy was trying to get at is
A
I know.
Q
-- there was this set of carrots and sticks, and
this is one of the deadlines of which one would have expected
some sort of an official U.S. response - either a carrot or a
stick or nothing.
A
But I think that I just did make an official
United States response to - today is April 25 - and to point
out our disappointment that genuine consultation has not taken
place with all the opposition groups. I'd point out, which I
think you all would have an interest in, that the media laws
that they have passed -- I'd hate to think what it would be
like in many countries in the world, including our own, if We
said we were going to disband the media for four minutes, much
less four days.
So, I mean, there is definitely room for improvement
here.
Q
Do you see anything positive in the steps that
have been taken?
A
I've characterized the steps that have been
taken, as I characterized them in the statement.
3
I mean, for example, they used to be able to shut
down the media indefinitely, and so they are claiming that
limiting themselves to four days is an advance. Now, for us
it's certainly not. But do you see any advance in that?
A
I wouldn't call that an advance, just as you said
you wouldn't.
observations Q about Japan's political problems? Mr. Takeshita,
Is the State Department prepared to have some
who was unceasingly described by the White House as President
Reagan's best friend, apparently is on the way out, and I
wondered if relations with Japan will take a dip because of all
this.
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Thursday, 4/20/89
A
-- that there be no discrimination.
Q
But go ahead and list all the other appointments
he's made, and it doesn't come out looking that good. SO --
A
Well, the whole process is not finished yet, I'm
sure. But in any case, he's very firmly committed to this.
There was an announcement he issued on, I think it was February
22nd, about equal opportunity within the Department, and it's a
matter of great importance to him, and I'm sure he will carry
it out fully.
Q
New subject.
A
All right.
or
Does the United States Government intend to ask
the Mexican Government to extradite Ramon Salcido?
A
We've been in touch with Mexican authorities on
the matter, but I don't have anything particular For you now on
extradition.
Q
Do you expect any particular difficulties with
the treaty with Mexico in this situation? Does the situation
present any obvious difficulties in achieving an extradition?
A
They're not obvious to me. I don't really have
any knowledge of it. It is a legal matter. It's under
review. It's being looked at here and at the Department of
Justice, and we just don't have any conclusions or statements
now.
Q
Richard, Iraq has called for declaring the Midd:-
East a zone free of nuclear and chemical weapons. Do you have
any comment on that?
A
I don't have any comment on that. I'm sorry.
Q
Will you look at that? will you have any comme
A
I think our position on nuclear-free weapon
zones, nuclear-free areas, chemical-free areas and that sort
thing has been stated many times.
Q
Yes, but this time it is coming From Iraq.
A
I don't think I have anything new on this.
I
look into it and see if there is anything specific to Traq,
I must say right now that 1 doubt it.
Q
on Nicaragua --
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Q
Specifically, what do you find objectionable?
You've been speaking in general terms. You haven't given
specifics as to what's wrong with the process.
A
Well, what's wrong with the process is a lot of
things. I'd say the basic step that's been taken so far
regards the structure of the electoral council. That council,
in order to achieve legitimacy, has to fairly represent the
people of Nicaragua. The structure that's been passed in this
legislation is not one that can lead, then, to further steps
that would ensure the legitimacy of the elections.
We've also, I think, spoken before about access to the
media and other things. These are things the opposition groups
have highlighted in their statements. They have listed a whole
bunch of specific steps that should be taken in order for there
to be fair and free elections.
Back to your statement on Panama for just one more
question. Are there any consequences to U.S.-Panamanian
relations from the announcement that you reported today about
the change of visa requirements and travel requirements, and 50
on? Are there any consequences with regard to the election
process that you foresee to U.S. - Panamanian relations?
A
I'm not exactly sure what kind of consequences
you're looking for. There's a consequence to American
travelers, first of all. We, as the United States Government
are very concerned about that. There's a consequence to the
ability of -
Q
Can you do anything about that -- about your
concern?
A
Well, we've made it clear. What we've said is
that there can be no normal relations - what the Secretary
said -- "No normal relations as long as Noriega is in power
This kind of thing shows why.
Q
But you don't meet with -- you don't send anyb. :,
to meet with the Noriega government to resolve this little
issue of visa -- or travel restrictions?
A
Nothing that I'm aware of.
Q
Do you do anything about trying to influence h.
setting up of the election procedures?
A
As we said, we've made public calls for the
ability of outside observers to monitor a free and fair
election. We have supported the efforts of various groups to
try to get in there and monitor elections. We're calling
attention to the fact Noriega has made that impossible. That
what we're doing.
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Q
But isn't there a difference because those were
changes in parties?
A
There is a difference overall, no matter who had
won this election, in standards. And there is a difference -
what in the first term of the Reagan Administration, I can't
speak to the Carter Administration -- an initial FBI, what we
call "name check," "overnight name check," which in the first
term of the Reagan Administration took approximately 24 hours
to 3 to 5 days, which is what I have been told. Today that
same process can take anywhere up to three weeks or longer, so
there is a difference in process, yes.
Q
You just mentioned "standards." What do you mean
by standards?
A
I mean there is a different standard based on -
after eight years of an administration we're all under much
more difficult scrutiny; I believe there are more forms to fill
out; there are different questions we are asked, in reaction to
things that happened over the last eight or 10 years. And so
it definitely takes longer.
In fact, you can talk to some people who served in the
Ford Administration who are now serving in this administration;
you can talk to people who served in the first term of the
Reagan Administration - it just takes longer. There are a
combination of reasons, and it just does.
But as far as where WE are and who all's been
confirmed, how many Assistant Secretaries have been officially
nominated by the President and announced from the White House,
I don't keep a list. I can try to get it for you. I just
don't have it.
Q
Do you have any comment on, or can you tell us
something about the two Soviets who allegedly defected up
around Alaska? What happened to these people?
A
We don't comment, Don, as you know, on whether or
not individuals have made requests for asylum. The Immigration
and Naturalization Service decides all requests for asylum,
with the State Department serving in an advisory role.
Q
Margaret, I want to go back to -- unless you have
a follow-up on that, Don? Go ahead.
A
We have not received a request from the Soviets
to meet with the two journalists. That's all I have.
in the context Q of the Bipartisan Accord, and relaying in any
On Nicaragua, is the Secretary going to Congress
way/the information that you have laid out here this morning,
that clearly the Nicaraguans have not passed this first
deadline, or hurdle, that we had set, for them for their
reforms?
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A
He does not have a scheduled meeting on the Hill
that I am aware of.
Q
May I ask, what are the implications? I mean,
April 25 was the date.
A
That's correct.
D
It's now passed.
A
And the last paragraph of my statement said
something to the effect of -- I'll get it literally -- that it
still is not too late.
Q
Right.
A
It is still not too late for dialogue and for the
necessary compromises by all sides, which alone can create
conditions of trust in which free elections can go forward.
My understanding of that is that we are asking people
to still, sincerely and genuinely, negotiate and discuss and
talk to try to ensure free, fair, and honest elections in
Nicaragua.
Q
Has the Secretary given that message to the
Sandinistas in some form other than through the public podium
here?
A
I don't have a literal answer for you to that,
but my instincts would tell me there are officials in this
building who certainly are.
or
In other words, this has been transmitted already
to the Nicaraguan Government?
A
I haven't asked that specific question.
Q
Also, there's a group of Resistance, internal
opposition people, and Contra leaders in town. Is the
Secretary seeing them?
A
Not that I'm aware of. But I'd want to check
that for you. I know it's not on his schedule for today, to my
knowledge, unless they added it this morning or something ---
requesting Q meetings with people in the State Department. Has
I understand Mr. Delvalle is in town and is
his request been granted?
to see Secretary A Baker. I do not know if it was added to his
I became sware that he has requested this morning
schedule. I believe the request was for today.
- how stopped? long since US mil aid
- during this Speriod, est of
for mil aid
Dave Pacelli
3860
THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
For Immediate Release
March 24, 1989
STATEMENT BY THE PRESIDENT
The President of a Central American democracy was asked recently
what is the most important step the United States can take. He
said, "Speak with one voice." Today, for the first time in many
years, the President and Congress, the Democratic and Republican
leadership in the House and Senate, are speaking with one voice
about Central America.
In my inaugural address I reached out my hand to the leadership
of Congress in both parties asking them to join with me to
rebuild a bipartisan foreign policy based on trust and common
purpose. Today, I am gratified that the Speaker and the Majority
and Minority Leaders of the Senate and House have extended their
hands back to me.
We have signed today together a Bipartisan Accord on Central
America. It sets out the broad outlines of U.S. policy towards
that troubled region and commits both the Executive and Congress
to work together to achieve it.
The goals we seek are the goals which the people of Central
America yearns for: democracy, security, and peace. Those are
the pledges made by the Central American Presidents in the
Esquipulas II Accord. That agreement is an integrated whole:
all of its provisions must move forward together if any of them
are to be fulfilled. Our challenge now is to turn those promises
into concrete realities on the ground.
The only way we can meet that challenge is if Latin democratic
leaders and the United States work together, with the support of
our European friends and allies, as true partners with candor and
mutual respect. I believe Latin leaders are asking for that kind
of relationship as we confront together the many challenges facing
our hemisphere. As President, I pledge the United States is
ready to respond.
Under this Central America agreement, insurgent forces have the
right to re-integrate into their homeland under safe, democratic
conditions with full civil and political rights. That is the
desire of the Nicaraguan Resistance. It is what they are
fighting for. We hope and believe it can be achieved through a
concerted diplomatic effort to enforce this regional agreement.
- more -
- 2 -
To achieve these goals the bipartisan leadership of Congress has
agreed to support my request for continued humanitarian
assistance to the Nicaraguan Resistance through the elections
scheduled in Nicaragua for February 28, 1990.
There will be extensive consultations and review with respect to
these funds effective November 30, 1989 by the bipartisan
leadership and relevant committees. However, I have been assured
that the leadership in both Houses supports the extension of this
assistance through the Nicaraguan elections barring unforeseen
circumstances.
There is no shortcut to democracy; no quick fix. The next weeks
and months will demand patience and perseverance by the
democratic community and the hard, technical work of ensuring
compliance with the Esquipulas Accord. The United States will
work in good faith to support that kind of diplomatic effort, but
we will not support a paper agreement that sells out the
Nicaraguan people's right to be free.
We do not claim the right to order the politics of that country.
That is for the people of Nicaragua to decide. We support what
the Esquipulas Accord requires: free, open, political processes
in which all groups can fairly and safely compete for political
leadership. That means the playing field must be level; all,
including the current government must respect the majority's
decision in the end, and the losers much also retain the
political rights to operate as a legal opposition and contest
again for political authority in the next recurring election
contest.
The burden of proof is on the Sandinista government to do
something it has steadfastly refused to do from 1979 to 1989: to
keep its promises to the Nicaraguan people to permit real
democracy; keep its promises to its neighbors not to support
subversion in Central America; and keep its obligation to this
hemisphere not to permit the establishment of Soviet bloc bases
in Central America. If those promises are kept we have an
opportunity to start a new day in Central America; but if those
p edges continue to be violated, we hope and expect that other
nations will find ways to join us to condemn those actions and
reverse those processes.
The Soviet Union also has an obligation and an opportunity: to
demonstrate that its proclaimed commitment to "new thinking" is
more than a tactical response to temporary setbacks, but
represents instead a new principled approach to foreign policy.
- more -
- 3 -
In other regional conflicts around the world the Soviet Union has
adopted a welcome new approach that has helped resolve
long-standing problems in constructive ways. In Central America
what we have seen from the Soviet Union and Cuba can only be
described as "old thinking."
In the last decade, the Soviet bloc has poured at least $50
billion in aid into Cuba and Nicaragua. Soviet and Cuban aid is
building in Nicaragua a military machine larger than all the
armies of the other Central American nations combined and
continues to finance violence, revolution, and destruction
against the democratically elected government of El Salvador.
Indeed, Soviet bloc military support for the Marxist guerrillas
has increased since the United States ended military support for
the Nicaraguan Resistance and Soviet military aid to the
government of Nicaragua continues at levels wholly uncalled for
by any legitimate defensive needs. The continuation of these
levels of Soviet bloc aid into Central America raises serious
questions about Soviet attitudes and intentions towards the
United States.
The Soviet Union has no legitimate security interest in Central
America; and the United States has many. We reject any doctrine
of equivalence of interest in this region as a basis for
negotiations. Instead, the Soviet Union and Cuba have an
obligation to the leaders of Central America to stop violating
the provisions of the Esquipulas Accord which the Soviet Union
and Cuba both pledged to uphold. The time to begin is now.
In signing the Esquipulas Accord, President Oscar Arias of Costa
Rica said: "Without democracy, there can be no peace in Central
America." He is right. But with democracy and peace in Central
America can come new hope for economic development in which all
of the people of the region can share. One can look at the
terrible violence ravaging Central America and despair, but I
have a different vision of its future.
I can see a democratic Central America in which all of the
nations of the region live in peace with each other; where the
citizens of the region are safe from the violence of the state or
from revolutionary guerrillas; where resources now devoted to
military defense could be channeled to build hospitals, homes,
and schools. That is not a dream if all the people and nations
of the Americas will it to be true. I hope the Esquipulas Accord
and perhaps, also, the Bipartisan Accord, will someday be seen as
the first step toward its fulfillment.
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March 31, 1989, Friday
LENGTH: 467 words
HEADLINE: LATIN AMERICA: SELA ANNOUNCES POSSIBLE OUTLINE OF DEBT PROPOSAL
DATELINE: CARACAS, Venezuela, March 31
BODY:
The possible outline of a joint proposal by Latin American and Caribbean
nations on the foreign debt was announced here today by the permanent
secretary of the Latin American Economic System (SELA), Carlos Perez del
Castillo.
The proposal would include the "solid foundations" espoused by the Group of
Eight since their meeting in Rio de Janeiro in 1987, as well as the specific
interests of each sub-region ( South America, Central America and the
Caribbean).
The focus of the proposal would be to reduce both the principal and interest
owed on four different types of debt: medium- and long-term debt, loans
granted by multilateral lending agencies, government loans and intra-Latin
American commitments.
The SELA outline is contained in a document drafted on the basis of
principles agreed to during three meetings of experts from SELA's 26
member-countries.
The South American group met in November 1988, the Caribbean group in
February 1989 and the Central American group in March 1989.
The Group of Eight was created in December 1986 in Rio de Janeiro by the most
indebted Latin American countries -- Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Mexico,
Panama, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela -- in an effort to strengthen Latin
America's role and leadership in the world as well as seek a solution to the
foreign debt crisis.
SELA's proposal envisions a reduction of the debt through the creation of
an entirely new multilateral financial organization or, at least, a new branch
of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) or World Bank.
Also proposed is the repurchase of debt on secondary markets as well as the
adoption of legislation that facilitates the conversion of debt into
investment, according to Perez del Castillo.
The schemem will also suggest the implementation of certain macroeconomic
policies as set forth by the new U.S. foreign debt treatment drafted by
Treasury Secretary Nicholas Brady.
The SELA official maintained that the issue of intra-Latin American debt
must be considered within the context of the joint regional proposal.
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"We must first put our house in order to be able to demand a new treatment"
from abroad, Perez del Castillo said.
He will now circulate the draft proposal to SELA member-countries with an eye
towards holding a regional conference on the debt, probably during the second
half of the year.
The SELA secretary remarked that the new proposal offers a more coherent
treatment of the debt than the series of ambiguous proposals sketched by the
Brady Plan.
"The Brady Plan speaks of separate negotiations and leaves the decision about
the percentages of reducing the debt up to creditor banks
" Perez del
Castillo noted.
The SELA initiative, on the other hand, attempts to deal with 90 percent of
the region's $420-billion foreign debt, he explained.
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Copyright (c) 1989 The New York Times Company;
The New York Times
March 6, 1989, Monday, Late City Final Edition
SECTION: Section A; Page 10, Column 1; Foreign Desk
LENGTH: 961 words
HEADLINE: Venezuela Unrest: Lesson for Leader
BYLINE: By MARK A. UHLIG, Special to the New York Times
DATELINE: CARACAS, Venezuela, March 5
BODY:
Speaking in this riot-torn capital late last week, Venezuela's new President,
Carlos Andres Perez, said that the three days of violent street protests should
teach world leaders an important lesson about the dangers of third world debt.
But many here believe that the lethal explosion of discontent may be equally
instructive for Mr. Perez himself, starkly emphasizing how much Venezuela has
changed since he last occupied the presidency a decade ago.
When the 66-year-old Social Democrat won his first five-year term as
President in 1974, Venezuela was riding a wave of apparently endless prosperity
as South America's only major oil-producing nation. Mr. Perez's Government
reflected - indeed, embodied - that outlook, gaining a reputation for free
spending and poor management that haunted him beyond the end of his term in
1979.
A Volatile Setting
On Feb. 2, however, Mr. Perez returned to the presidency of a far different
country, weakened by a long-term slump in oil markets, burdened by $33 billion
in foreign debt and faced with a deep decline in living standards - a volatile
setting by any measure.
Mr. Perez, a career politician who belongs to the Democratic Action Party,
was clearly aware of the difficulties that lay in store for him and issued
forceful warnings that Venezuela's debt payments, which he said had reached as
much as 70 percent of export earnings, threatened the stability of the country's
longstanding democratic institutions.
But it now seems clear that neither Mr. Perez nor the rest of the country's
political leadership was prepared for the strength of the backlash that occurred
when he imposed the first steps in an austerity program intended to stabilize
the country's economy.
What has not changed since the 1970's is Mr. Perez's forceful style or the
desire for international influence that once made him a spokesman for developing
nations. In that role, he played a part in negotiations leading to the Panama
Canal treaties and became a confidant of many world leaders, including President
Jimmy Carter, who publicly described him as ''one of my best personal friends
and a great counselor and adviser'' on Latin American issues.
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Supporter of Sandinistas
In his first term of office, Mr. Perez, was also an important early supporter
of Nicaragua's Sandinista guerrillas, whom he supplied with money and arms in
their successful revolution against the dictator Anastasio Somoza Debayle in
1979. And he retained his high international profile even after his departure
from office, serving as vice president of the Socialist International and in
several important regionwide posts.
That kind of stature made the re-election of Mr. Perez a kind of political
homecoming that was welcomed by leaders throughout the region who looked to him
for guidance and leadership.
His inauguration last month was one of the grandest celebrations Latin
America has ever known, drawing 22 heads of state together with Vice President
Dan Quayle and other dignitaries from around the world.
Regional leaders have sought his counsel and mediation on issues ranging from
relations with the European Community to negotiations with leftist guerrilla
movements. And when five Central American Presidents held a summit meeting in
Tesoro Beach, El Salvador, last month, operators could be overheard placing
calls for them to Mr. Perez, apparently to seek his advice as a respected
neutral party.
A Role in Debt Debate
For months, Mr. Perez has made a virtue of necessity by taking a highly
visible role in the debate on the debt issue. In appearances here and in
Europe, he has argued that rigid repayment schedules threaten Latin America's
recent progress toward greater democracy. And he has proposed, among other
steps, the creation of an international agency to buy outstanding third world
debt at discounted rates and convert it into long-term bonds.
But few anticipated how quickly his warnings would be tested by his own
countrymen. And few political analysts and diplomats here are willing to say how
seriously the violence may damage Mr. Perez's standing, either in Venezuela or
on the international stage where he feels so at home.
Most Venezuelans seem to believe that the crisis was not of Mr. Perez's
making. They fault him more for the way he imposed austerity measures -raising
prices, for instance, before announcing agreement on private sector wage
increases to offset them.
And many this week have looked beyond the President's role to the larger
roots of the crisis, expressing shock and even shame that their proudly
democratic nation should react so violently to economic measures that have been
seen as unavoidable for quite some time.
Ammunition for His Foes
Caracas newspapers have pointedly noted that Mr. Perez's predecessor, Jaime
Lusinchi, who left a legacy of economic chaos, was not even in the country as
the crisis unfolded last week, but was reported to be relaxing at a spa in
Florida.
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Yet even if Mr. Perez- successfully rides out the storm at home, it is not
clear how the days of bloodshed -which took at least 300 lives - will affect his
ambition and his ability to serve as a regional leader. In the short run, the
problems appear to have buttressed Mr. Perez's case for relief of Venezuela's
own debt, and some here believe that they may also focus world attention on
his role as a spokesman for debtor nations as a whole.
But in the sharp conflicts of Latin American politics, enemies of Mr. Perez
have already capitalized on Venezuela's troubles with caustic suggestions that
he put his own affairs in order before meddling elsewhere. And it remains to be
seen whether Mr. Perez can preserve his infuence abroad at a time when his
troubles at home are on painful display.
GRAPHIC: photos of President Carlos Andres Perez; Venezuelans picks through
remains of discarded food (Reuters)
SUBJECT: DEMONSTRATIONS AND RIOTS; ECONOMIC CONDITIONS AND TRENDS; CREDIT
NAME: UHLIG, MARK A; PEREZ, CARLOS ANDRES (PRES)
GEOGRAPHIC: VENEZUELA
NF
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Copyright (c) 1989 The New York Times Company;
The New York Times
March 2, 1989, Thursday, Late City Final Edition
SECTION: Section A; Page 1, Column 3; Foreign Desk
LENGTH: 1342 words
HEADLINE: DRUG PRODUCTION RISING WORLDWIDE, STATE DEPT. SAYS
BYLINE: By ELAINE SCIOLINO, Special to the New York Times
DATELINE: WASHINGTON, March 1
BODY:
Global production of coca, marijuana, opium poppies and hashish increased
sharply in the last year, partly because of political and economic instability
in drug-producing countries, the State Department reported today.
American policymakers ''were confronted once again in 1988 by world events
that can and do have a devastating impact on efforts to reduce the global supply
of drugs, the report said.
Despite a directive issued by President Reagan in 1986 that made drug
trafficking a national security issue, the new report concluded that `political
and economic instability in drug-producing areas around the world have resulted
in the subordination of our drug control agenda to other pressing concerns.
Limits on U.S. Action
Civil strife in Burma, war in Afghanistan, the death of President Mohammed
Zia ul-Haq in Pakistan and the declining economy in Peru were cited as examples
of events that signaled possible setbacks for the United States in its war on
drugs.
Administration officials acknowledged that the drug issue has often been
subordinated to other American interests, from support for insurgents fighting
Communist regimes to the belief that punishing drug-producing countries like
Colombia and Peru might destabilize them.
Most discouraging, it said, was the failure to curb the production of coca in
the Andean countries, where a new generation of traffickers has emerged that
threaten both the streets of America and the stability of countries long
friendly to the United States. Also cited as disappointing was the inability of
the United States to convince the Andean Governments to agree to aerial spraying
of coca, which the report said is the only way to significantly curb cocaine
production.
'We will have only limited success in battling cocaine until we forge a
comprehensive, multifaceted strategy which recognizes that cocaine is not simply
a law enforcement issue but is also a complex foreign policy matter, requiring a
long-term approach, the report said.
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It added that the United States needs to explore ways of using third world
debt as a lever in gaining cooperation on drug control.
The report estimated that from 1987 to 1988, the production of coca increased
7.2 percent among the four coca-growing countries: Bolivia, Colombia, Peru and
Ecuador. Over the same period, the global marijuana crop increased by 22
percent, the opium crop by 15 percent and the hashish crop by 11 percent.
Despite the pessimistic tone of the report, the accompanying actions by the
Bush Administration were rather mild, as they were during the last years of the
Reagan Administration.
Under a law passed in 1986, it is up to the President to certify by March 1
that countries where major drug trafficking occurs are ''fully cooperating'' in
cracking down on the drug trade.
There is a growing sentiment in Congress and the State Department that the
law is flawed and applied selectively because it does not take into account the
complexities of relations between drug-trafficking countries and the United
States.
Half-Steps Used
Although empowered to impose sanctions against drug-producing countries that
do not qualify, President Bush announced mostly symbolic penalties against six
countries with which the United States has no relations or severely strained
relations: Panama, Afghanistan, Iran, Syria, Laos and Burma.
Mexico, Colombia, Bolivia, Peru, the Bahamas and Paraguay, all major
drug-producing or drug-transit countries - which were described by Ann B.
Wrobleski, Assistant Secretary of State for International Narcotics Matters, as
'close friends and allies'' -were also cited as needing to ''do more' to
cooperate with the United States. But they were fully certified under the law
and will not be penalized.
Lebanon was again faulted for not doing enough to combat the drug trade, but
was certified because of overriding 'national interests.
A preliminary decision to certify Laos and Burma because of national
interests, reported today by The New York Times, was altered to decertify them
completely, White House officials said.
Troubled by the Futility
Secretary of State James A. Baker 3d, transmitting the President's
certification to Congress, was quoted by Ms. Wrobleski as saying that he and Mr.
Bush ''are deeply troubled by the state of affairs upon which the President
based his certification decisions.'
'Despite the hard work and dedication of many public servants and private
citizens both here and abroad, the international war on narcotics is clearly not
being won,' he said.
The report in effect has become an annual admission of the inability of the
United States to singlehandedly fight narcotics. This year's report details
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increases in arrests, record drug seizures and eradicated acreage, new
international treaties of cooperation, cooperative raids and the successful
extradition of a small number of drug traffickers, while acknowleding an
increase in both global drug production and demand.
The report said that continuing turmoil in Afghanistan, where the production
of opium poppy and heroin trafficking increased in 1988, could lead to an even
bigger increase this year if refugees returning home after the nine-year Soviet
occupation turn to opium as a cash crop.
Rebel Agriculture
Much of the opium poppy grows in areas controlled by the United
States-supported Afghan guerrillas or on territory where they have influence,
according to the report.
The collapse of order in various parts of the country after the Soviet troop
withdrawal, favorable weather and the destruction of some traditional
agriculture all make the cultivation of opium extremely attractive.
''As we see refugees moving back into a war-torn country where there is no
central government, we see them turning to a fairly easy, quick, profitable
means of supporting themselves, Ms. Wrobleski said. Perhaps the most dramatic
shift in this year's report concerns Mexico, which was criticized last year for
''endemic'' corruption in the highest levels of government. Although this year's
report expressed concern over continued government corruption, it emphasized a
commitment by the newly elected President, Carlos Salinas de Gortari, to
intensify anti-drug efforts.
As for the Bahamas, which has emerged as a major transit area for much of the
cocaine and some of the marijuana entering the United States, the report says
'drug-related corruption continues to be a problem, making the country
attractive to drug smugglers. It also faults the Bahamas for stalling
extradition requests in the courts.
Debate Expected
Congress, which has 45 days to rule on the Administration's decision on
certification, is likely to challenge Mr. Bush's conclusions on Mexico and the
Bahamas.
These were among the report's other conclusions:
The demand for drugs outside the United States, particularly in countries
involved in production and transportation like Pakistan and parts of South
America, has contributed to increased production. In Pakistan, for example,
there are now between 670,000 and one million addicts, who consume more opium
than the country produces.
*
In Panama, even though the United States no longer recognizes the
leadership of Gen. Manuel Antonio Noriega, American law enforcement officials
continue to work with the Panamanian military in fighting drugs.
* Officals in Laos are involved in opium and marijuana production, refining
and smuggling. Although Laos won certification on grounds of American national
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interest last year because of its cooperation in helping to recover American
remains from the Indochina war, corruption in the small Southeast Asian nation
is so severe that it was decertified this year.
* In Colombia, drug kingpins have so thoroughly corrupted the criminal
justice system by threats and bribes that is it is ''virtually impossible'' to
arrest and convict them or to significantly damage their organizations.
The report was printed in a small quantity and will not be available to the
public.
SUBJECT: DRUG TRAFFIC; MARIJUANA; COCA (PLANT); OPIUM; HASHISH; CIVIL WAR AND
GUERRILLA WARFARE; POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT
NAME: SCIOLINO, ELAINE
GEOGRAPHIC: UNITED STATES; COLOMBIA; PERU; BURMA; PAKISTAN; AFGHANISTAN; UNITED
STATES
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Copyright (c) 1989 Reuters
April 12, 1989, Wednesday, AM cycle
SECTION: Domestic Money. Money Report.
LENGTH: 311 words
HEADLINE: ECUADOR TO RENEGOTIATE FOREIGN DEBT WITH BANKS
BYLINE: By Jorge Aguirre
DATELINE: QUITO, APRIL 12, REUTER
BODY:
Ecuadorean Finance Minister Jorge Gallardo said government officials were
preparing to renegotiate debt payments owed to foreign banks following a
decision to resume some interest payments.
"We are entering a process of renegotiation which has neither a starting date
nor a deadline but will be a continuous process of negotiations," Gallardo told
a news conference.
Gallardo, who returned on Sunday from conversations with creditor banks in
New York, said government officials were preparing to renegotiate with the
bankers 5.5 billion dlrs of principal and about one billion dlrs in interest
arrears.
Ecuador's total foreign debt stands at more than 11 billion dlrs, central
bank figures showed.
Gallardo said the renegotiation was part of a long-running process aimed at
repaying the debt after the government announced in February it would make
some payments on interest due this year.
Gallardo did not say when Ecuador would start the interest payments, ending a
suspension of debt payments to foreign banks caused by tumbling oil revenues
in force since January 1987.
President Rodrigo Borja has said the government decided to resume interest
payments to enhance credit opportunities for Ecuador, the second poorest country
in South America.
Separately, Gallardo said Ecuador had requested new credits of between 495
and 565 mln dlrs from the World Bank for the next two and a half years.
"We hope the World Bank will approve the credits that would finance
telecommunications, drainage and flood-control programmes," he said.
He said the funds would also be used for export promotion, development of the
oil sector, family health and nutrition.
Gallardo, who met officials of the World Bank and Inter- American Development
Bank in Washington last week, did not say when the World Bank was likely to
respond to Ecuador's application.
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Copyright (c) 1989 The Times Mirror Company;
Los Angeles Times
April 2, 1989, Sunday, Home Edition
SECTION: Part 1; Page 1; Column 4; Foreign Desk
LENGTH: 898 words
HEADLINE: U.S., VENEZUELA OK STEPPED-UP EFFORT ON DEBT
BYLINE: By DOYLE McMANUS and ART PINE, Times Staff Writers
DATELINE: WASHINGTON
BODY:
President Bush and Venezuelan President Carlos Andres Perez agreed Saturday
to begin intensive work on a plan to reduce Venezuela's $33-billion foreign
debt, making the country one of the first "test cases" of America's new Third
World debt strategy.
U.S. officials said the meeting between the two leaders, which lasted for
almost two hours, was designed both to provide new political impetus to the
effort to help Venezuela with its debt problems and to coordinate the two
leaders' policies on Central America.
Administration officials said top economic policy-makers from the two
countries would begin intensive sessions this week to work out a concrete
debt -reduction plan. The Venezuelans are here for a meeting of the 151-nation
International Monetary Fund.
It was not immediately clear how much in actual debt relief Venezuela would
be able to obtain. Secretary of the Treasury Nicholas F. Brady is to unveil the
broader U.S. debt strategy at a special meeting today of finance ministers
from seven major industrial nations.
Mixed Reaction to U.S. Plan
Initial reaction to the U.S. proposal, which Brady outlined broadly on March
10, has been mixed. U.S. officials say support from Perez, who is one of South
America's elder statesmen, could have a major impact on how other Third World
countries react to the plan.
"The focus (at the White House meeting) was on implementation (of the new
debt relief ideas) -- let's get on with it," a U.S. official said. "Nobody has
any question about the urgency of the economic situation in Venezuela."
Besides Bush and Brady, Secretary of State James A. Baker III also attended
the White House meeting.
The new Brady debt plan essentially would offer to help debtor countries
reduce the cost and size of their huge foreign debt by asking the IMF and the
World Bank to serve as catalysts for schemes under which banks could write down
their loans and swap them for guaranteed bonds.
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(c) 1989 Los Angeles Times, April 2, 1989
The proposal is designed to replace the previous debt strategy, outlined by
Baker when he was Treasury secretary in 1985, which called on banks to provide
new loans to help debtor countries finance economic reforms. (See related story
in Business, Page 1.)
Venezuela, the oldest democracy in Latin America and a major oil producer,
has been in a crunch since oil prices collapsed in the early 1980s. Perez, a
moderate socialist, imposed economic reforms after his inauguration in January,
touching off riots that claimed 300 lives.
Although Perez publicly has blamed the riots on the "intolerable and obscene"
burden of repaying his country's foreign debt, U.S. officials said he struck a
more conciliatory and pragmatic tone in his talks with Bush, promising to
continue overhauling his economy.
"He made it clear that he understands that countries that don't reform and
restructure their economies can't escape blame for their own problems," the
official said.
U.S. and Venezuelan officials have already held preliminary talks to discuss
a debt reduction strategy, but Bush and Perez directed their aides to
accelerate the negotiations this week, several officials said.
Treasury officials have been hoping to move quickly to apply the new plan to
two or three countries in hopes of blunting criticism that the proposal is
ineffective and making it more credible to debtor countries, many of which are
embroiled in political unrest and are facing leftist challenges.
Besides Venezuela, U.S. officials also have been considering Mexico as a
candidate for quick action under the new proposal.
Investment Potential
"We discussed the potential for Venezuela as one of the first test cases (of
the Brady plan), the official said. "As an oil exporter, Venezuela can attract
new capital flows better than some other countries."
Officials said it was too early to predict how soon a concrete plan for
reducing Venezuela's debt might be ready, however.
The United States wants finance ministers of the seven largest non-Communist
industrial nations to endorse the plan today and agree to refine it further
between now and the seven-nation economic summit in Paris in July. Besides the
United States, the group includes Japan, West Germany, Britain, France, Italy
and Canada.
In their meeting Saturday, Bush and Perez also discussed the situation in
Nicaragua, where the Administration has launched a new strategy to put
diplomatic pressure on the ruling Sandinista regime for democratic reforms.
As part of its pressure, the Administration has won approval from
congressional leaders for continued non-military aid to the Contras.
Perez, who has played a key role as a mediator between the Sandinistas and
Nicaraguan opposition groups, assured Bush of his general support for the new
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(c) 1989 Los Angeles Times, April 2, 1989
U.S. approach and said he understood the rationale for the continued Contra aid,
one official said.
But the Venezuelan disappointed some U.S. officials by ducking an opportunity
to make his support public when he left the White House without pausing to talk
with reporters.
Bush and Perez also discussed the situation in Panama, where the United
States has mounted an abortive campaign to oust the military strongman, Gen.
Manuel A. Noriega.
Along with Bush, Perez has been pressing Noriega to allow free elections in
Panama next month, although U.S. and Venezuelan officials are privately
pessimistic about the chances for an untainted vote.
SUBJECT: BRADY, NICHOLAS F; BUSH, GEORGE; PEREZ, CARLOS ANDRES; VENEZUELA --
ECONOMY; VENEZUELA --- FINANCES; FOREIGN DEBT; UNITED STATES -- FOREIGN
RELATIONS -- VENEZUELA; UNITED STATES -- FOREIGN RELATIONS -- THIRD WORLD;
UNITED STATES -- FOREIGN POLICY --- CENTRAL AMERICA; UNITED STATES --- FOREIGN
AID -- NICARAGUA; NICARAGUA -- FOREIGN RELATIONS -- VENEZUELA; UNITED STATES --
FOREIGN RELATIONS -- PANAMA; PANAMA -- FOREIGN RELATIONS -- VENEZUELA; THIRD
WORLD -- FINANCES
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Copyright (c) 1989 The Nihon Keizai Shimbun
Japan Economic Journal
April 1, 1989
SECTION: Pg. 1
LENGTH: 1045 words
HEADLINE: Risky details in Brady plan worry bankers
BYLINE: By Konosuke Kuwabara, JAPAN ECONOMIC JOURNAL STAFF WRITER
BODY:
U.S. Treasury Secretary Nicholas Brady's Third World debt -relief proposal
drew praise and the promise of financial support from Japan when it was
disclosed earlier this month.
But, with its stress on concerted efforts by numerous banks, international
agencies and debtor nations, the plan will need more than praise and promises to
materialize.
Already, some misgivings have surfaced with the new strategy. And Japanese
officials say they are likely to figure in the discussion of the Brady plan at
upcoming meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank in
Washington in early April.
The plan presents three major problems, sources say.
First, it is uncertain whether it will enjoy the full support of creditor
banks. Private Japanese banks, whose help is essential because they are the
largest loan providers, are concerned that the U.S. strategy will force them to
shoulder an even heavier burden than at present.
Second, not all creditor nations share the same priorities in resolving the $
1.3 trillion Third World debt problem, a Ministry of Finance official said.
The U.S., for instance, is said to be most interested in helping Mexico, while
France is concerned about Africa. Other European nations associate debt
relief chiefly with Eastern Europe's plight.
Third, debtor countries themselves may not be able to effectively carry out
the economic reforms that are essential elements of the debt strategy.
"Now is not the time to resolve the details (of the Brady plan),' the
ministry official said. Rather, the April meetings will indicate how receptive
the creditor nations are to the U.S.'s ideas, he added.
Japan's stance on debt
The Brady plan shows the shift of the U.S. debt policy, from new loans --
under the so-called Baker plan, announced in 1985 by then U.S. Treasury
Secretary James Baker -- to broad debt -reduction efforts.
Says the Finance Ministry official: "We do not need to add any ideas to the
Brady plan because it reflects the so-called Miyazawa plan" (which was
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(c) 1989 The Nihon Keizai Shimbun, JEJ, April 1, 1989
outlined last year by then Finance Minister Kiichi Miyazawa).
The two pillars of the Miyazawa plan were an emphasis on reduction of old
debt and interest payments rather than on new lendings, and a larger role for
international agencies in debt -relief programs. These points are incorporated
in the new U.S. plan.
So, the U.S. policy shift was an important step in "ending friction between
the new-money approach of the U.S. and the debt -reduction-oriented policy of
Japan," said Motoo Kusakabe, special adviser to the president of Japan Center
for International Finance (JCIF).
Japan, with an annual trade surplus of some $ 90 billion, is being asked by
the U.S. to share the debt -relief burden because Washington has been suffering
from its own crunching deficits.
But Tokyo will likely face difficulty in making the domestic adjustments
necessary for it to assume that international role, sources say.
Japanese banks' anxieties
Japanese banks, whose debt exposure to less-developed countries was about $
85 billion at the end of 1988, welcome the framework of the new U.S. strategy.
But they don't necessarily welcome some of its specific points, which have yet
been finalized.
A source at one of Japan's biggest banks said it would be "nonsense" if the
Brady plan asks private banks to extend new loans to a debtor country at the
same time the banks are completing a debt -reduction program for that country.
The source said the banks will want to wait and see If the debtor nation
succeed in restructuring its economy before providing new money. And that could
take years.
Yet, the combination of debt reduction and new money lending is crucial to
the Brady plan. Unless debtor nations are provided with money for long-term
economic growth, the plan will not work, said JCIF's Kusakabe.
Another banking source said he wants to ask the Ministry of Finance to
carefully select the debtor nations to which the new program will be applied.
For instance, Japan and the U.S. are said to be thinking about applying the
Brady plan to Mexico first.
But Mexico, the banker said, would be an unfavorable choice for banks.
Taking into account Japanese banks' 10% share in the country's outstanding
external debt, banks may be able to help reduce the nation's debt to some
extent, but they will not readily extend new financial assistance, he said.
Finally, to participate in the Brady plan, some revision of Japan's tax and
accounting regulations is essential, banking sources say. That will require
long and intense work, a government source said.
IMF, World Bank meetings
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All these problems mean that a smooth launch of the Brady plan is unlikely at
the upcoming IMF and the World Bank meetings, sources say. They say the
competing interests among major industrialized countries could get in the way.
Even Mexico, Argentina and some other debtor nations are reportedly against
the Brady plan's call for more debt -for-equity swaps, which assistant U.S.
Treasury Secretary David Mulford calls "an integral part" of the new approach.
This is mainly because such swaps lead to a higher money supply, which could
accelerate inflationary pressure in those countries.
A senior Bank of Japan official said the Brady plan is not all. Thus, the
major creditor nations may begin seeking ways to put together the best aspects
of various debt -relief ideas (based on the Brady plan) to satisfy all parties
involved.
"Any debt -relief strategy requires a long time (to mature),' he said.
"Thus, April is like a milepost in a long road, even for a proposal as
anticipated as this one."
Outstanding balance of Japanese
financial institution' loans
(in millions of dollars; end of March 1987)
Change
Region
Balance
(%) *
Asia
27,211
+17.8
Central & South
America
39,759
+ 9.1
Middle East
897
+ 1.3
Africa
6,187
+ 4.3
Soviet, Eastern Europe
12,859
+16.1
OECD members
79,973
+28.3
Int'l organizations
14,469
+11.5
Total
181,356
+18.7
Note: * Change from Sept. 1986. Yen-denominated loans are calculated at a rate
of 145.0 to the dollar at the end of March 1987, and 153.6 at the end of Sept.
1986.
Source: Ministry of Finance
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The Associated Press
The materials in the AP file were compiled by The Associated Press. These
materials may not be republished without the express written consent of The
Associated Press.
April 26, 1989, Wednesday, PM cycle
SECTION: Washington Dateline
LENGTH: 469 words
HEADLINE: U.S., Anti-Sandinistas Say Election Being Rigged
BYLINE: By GEORGE GEDDA, Associated Press Writer
DATELINE: WASHINGTON
KEYWORD: Nicaraguan Opposition
BODY:
The State Department is joining a delegation of Nicaraguan opposition leaders
in accusing Sandinista authorities of trying to rig national elections set for
next February.
The opposition leaders, ranging from an anti-Sandinista communist to
U.S.-backed Contra rebels, said Tuesday that Nicaraguan officials are attempting
to ensure victory by stacking the all-powerful Supreme Electoral Council in
their favor and by denying the opposition equal access to media outlets.
The State Department leveled similar charges and appealed to the Sandinistas
to meet opposition demands for a more equitable process.
At issue is legislation approved by recently by the Sandinista-dominated
legislature setting forth ground rules for the elections.
Tuesday was the deadline, established at a Central American summit meeting
last February in E1 Salvador, for setting in motion an electoral process that
will culminate in national elections 10 months from now.
Nicaraguan Embassy spokeswoman Cecilia Lopez said the new laws were approved
with the participation of the political parties represented in the legislature
and are in compliance with the terms of the Central American summit.
In a telephone interview, she said the law allows opposition parties more air
time for campaign purposes than they would have received under their original
request.
In addition, she said, the Sandinistas, consistent with another pledge made
at the summit, have released about 1,700 National Guardsmen who served the
rightist regime which was ousted by the Sandinistas a decade ago.
Twelve opposition leaders outlined their criticisms at a news conference
after discussing the issue with United Nations and Organization of American
States officials.
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The Associated Press, April 26, 1989
The delegates included Eli Altamirano of the Nicaraguan Communist Party and
three members of the U.S.-supported Contra rebels.
At the State Department, spokeswoman Margaret Tutwiler said the
administration shares the criticisms of the opposition leaders.
The electoral law approved last week "is not the result of good faith
bargaining between the government of Nicaragua and the internal opposition
groups, and was unilaterally imposed after being passed by the
Sandinista-dominated legislature," she said.
She said the law includes a provision requiring that the election council
which the Sandinistas control receive one-half of any foreign political
contributions.
The law, she said, ignores proposals made by the internal opposition for
absentee balloting and procedures for ensuring unlimited access for
international election observers.
A new law governing press conduct, she added, includes penalties for
disseminating information which the Interior Ministry determines to be a
violation of national integrity and allows officials to order closures of up to
four days.
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Copyright (c) 1989 The Washington Post
April 26, 1989, Wednesday, Final Edition
SECTION: FIRST SECTION; PAGE A23
LENGTH: 643 words
HEADLINE: Nicaragua's Electoral Reform Faulted;
U.S. Warns That Military Aid to Contras Can Be Resumed
BYLINE: John M. Goshko, Washington Post Staff Writer
BODY:
The Bush administration, in a pointed reminder that its agreement not to seek
new military aid for the Nicaraguan contras is linked to free elections in that
country next February, charged yesterday that reforms made by the Marxist-led
Sandinista government are insufficient to prevent rigged balloting.
State Department spokesman Margaret Tutwiler began her daily press briefing
with a statement that described the electoral laws enacted by the Sandinistas
last week as "troubling" and "not the result of good-faith bargaining" with its
domestic opposition. She concluded with a warning that dialogue and compromise
are necessary to "create conditions of trust in which free elections can go
forward."
Administration officials said the statement was meant to remind Nicaraguan
President Daniel Ortega that President Bush can ask Congress next year to resume
funding of the contra guerrilla war against the Sandinistas if the elections are
a sham.
The officials, noting that Ortega is touring Western Europe seeking economic
aid from the European Community, said the statement also was intended to draw
the attention of West European leaders to what the United States contends is
lagging progress toward democracy in Nicaragua.
The officials said privately they felt Ortega was given what one called "an
uncritically warm reception" by French President Francois Mitterrand. Ortega
also will be meeting for the first time with such U.S. allies as British Prime
Minister Margaret Thatcher and West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl, and, as one
U.S. official said, "We want to remind them that they shouldn't accept his
avowals of commitment to democracy at face value."
The bipartisan accord reached last month by Secretary of State James A. Baker
III and congressional leaders calls for Bush not to seek arms for the contras
until after the February elections. In the meantime, Baker has said, the United
States will use moral suasion and various "carrots and sticks" to prod the
Sandinistas toward fair elections.
Administration officials said Tutwiler's statement was in line with this
approach and was timed to coincide with Ortega's promise to have satisfactory
electoral reforms in place by yesterday. He set that deadline at a Feb. 14
meeting in El Salvador with the presidents of the four neighboring countries
that joined with Nicaragua in the 1987 Central America peace plan.
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The new laws adopted by Nicaragua's Sandinista-dominated legislature have
been attacked by opposition political parties as enabling the government to
manipulate voter registration and balloting and retain unfair control over
television and other media.
"Both the substance of these laws and the manner in which they have been put
into effect is troubling," Tutwiler said. "The electoral law was not the
result of good-faith bargaining and was unilaterally imposed.
It 15 still
not too late for dialogue and for the necessary compromises by all sides, which
alone can create conditions of trust in which free elections can go forward."
Similar charges were repeated at a news conference here yesterday by a
delegation of 12 Nicaraguan opposition figures representing the contras and
political parties ranging from the far right to the Nicaraguan Communist Party.
In addition, a group of House members -- including several Democrats who have
been key swing voters in past battles over contra military aid -- sent a
telegram to Ortega urging him to address charges that the new laws are "biased
and unfair."
Paul Reichler, a Washington attorney who represents the Sandinista government
here, said, "The State Department is hardly a disinterested party." He charged
that Tutwiler's statement contained inaccuracies and distorted
characterizations of Nicaraguan laws, which he asserted are comparable to the
electoral laws used by many Latin American democracies.
TYPE: FOREIGN NEWS
SUBJECT: NICARAGUA; POLITICS; GOVERNMENT AID TO FOREIGN NATIONS
ORGANIZATION: CONTRAS
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