U.S. Seeks Big Boost in Guatemala Aid

The Reagan Administration on Monday unveiled a foreign aid budget that calls for increasing annual military assistance to Guatemala from $300,000 to $35.3 million despite severe criticism of that nation’s human rights record.

The new sum, part of the $14.77-billion overall aid request for fiscal 1986, is relatively small in comparison with packages being proposed for such traditional U.S. allies as Israel, Egypt, Pakistan and the Philippines.

But the jump is so large that it seems certain to trigger new charges from congressional critics that the Administration is seeking to resolve Central America’s conflicts by emphasizing military solutions.

Guatemala has received U.S. economic aid for the last two years. However, except for $300,000 this year for training, it has had no U.S. military assistance since 1977 because of its poor human rights record. Thousands of suspected leftists have disappeared during heightened political violence in Guatemala in the last several years.

Administration officials said they believe the aid increase is justified because the military regime has promised elections.

Sen. Christopher J. Dodd (D-Conn.), a persistent critic of President Reagan’s Central America policy, said the Guatemala request is a surprise to Congress and added: “Good luck to them if they think they can get it. It’s exorbitant.”