U.S.-Nicaragua Enmity a Barrier : Central America Peace Drive Reported in Peril

Dispirited over their inability to win support for their Central American peace initiative, the four nations of the Contadora Group believe that their efforts are doomed unless the United States and Nicaragua reduce their mutual hostility, Venezuelan officials say.

“Contadora is at a dead point,” said a Cabinet-rank adviser to President Jaime Lusinchi of Venezuela. “Unless we obtain a clear definition of support from the Reagan Administration for a realistic agreement in the region, our good offices are not going to prosper.”

The Contadora Group is made up of Mexico, Colombia, Panama and Venezuela and is named for the Panamanian island where the group first met.

The situation is so unpromising now, said the Venezuelan official, who asked not to be named, that the foreign ministers of the Contadora Group are considering postponing a meeting with the Central American countries, scheduled for Feb. 14 in Panama to consider a peace plan put forward by the group.

Threat of Boycott

Costa Rica, supported by El Salvador and Honduras, has threatened to boycott the meeting over what it says was an invasion of the Costa Rican Embassy in Managua by Nicaraguan police, who arrested an opponent of Nicaragua’s leftist Sandinista regime.

Even if this incident is smoothed over, though, the feeling in Venezuelan official circles is that the United States’ allies in Central America--Costa Rica, Honduras and El Salvador--cannot accept a peace plan opposed by the Reagan Administration. And, the Venezuelans believe, U.S. hostility toward the revolutionary regime in Nicaragua, as reflected in U.S. military and financial support for the rebels--known as contras-- makes winning U.S. approval for any plan difficult.

Bilateral talks between the United States and Nicaragua had been under way at Manzanillo, Mexico, since last year, paralleling the Contadora initiative. However, Washington abruptly suspended the talks earlier this month, a move seen here as a withdrawal of U.S. support for the Contadora peace mediation.

The Contadora draft plan calls for the reduction of arms acquisitions by countries in the region, the withdrawal of foreign military advisers, establishment of a formal mechanism for peaceful settlements of disputes and a commitment to a democratic form of government.

U.S. objections were based on the lack of procedures for verifying compliance with the arms limitations and on what Washington calls a lack of democratic procedures in Nicaragua. The United States rejected the results of the recent Nicaraguan presidential election because of restrictions on opposition parties and on the press.

These objections were subsequently taken up by Costa Rica, Honduras and El Salvador, which proposed a series of amendments to the Contadora proposal. Nicaragua, which accepted the original proposal, has resisted any changes.

While all parties involved recognize that an agreement cannot be effective without U.S. support, the U.S.-Nicaraguan dispute has split the Contadora Group. Mexico strongly supports Nicaragua’s position and seeks U.S. concessions. Venezuela, Colombia and Panama have more sympathy for the concerns of the United States and its allies in the region.

Venezuelan President Lusinchi met with President Reagan in Washington in December, and the Central American situation was one of the major issues discussed. Venezuelan sources said Reagan encouraged Lusinchi to continue efforts by the Contadora countries to achieve a peace agreement.

However, Reagan also said his government will continue to support the contras, whose attacks from bases in Honduras into border areas of Nicaragua keep a virtual state of war in effect.

Against increasing opposition from U.S. congressmen who oppose the U.S. assistance as illegal, the Reagan Administration is reportedly seeking another $14 million for the contras this year. Last year, Congress withdrew authorization for all covert CIA funding of guerrilla activities against the Nicaraguan government.