Spain Refuses to Support Reagan’s Nicaragua Stand

President Reagan today hailed the arrival of a “golden age of freedom” in Spain since the Franco era, but failed to win the support of Spain’s socialist prime minister for his political battle against the leftist Sandinista government in Nicaragua.

Secretary of State George P. Shultz made clear, in a briefing for reporters, that Reagan’s private talks with Prime Minister Felipe Gonzalez did little to resolve their differences, especially over Central America.

“I didn’t get any sense of support for our economic sanctions,” Shultz said, referring to the total trade embargo that Reagan imposed on Nicaragua last week.

Differ on Inclination

Shultz also said the Americans and the Spanish differed over whether Nicaragua is drifting into the communist sphere.

The secretary said “it seems pretty clear to us” that Nicaragua’s leaders are moving their country “toward a Soviet style of government,” while Spain believes there is always hope for a change.

Reagan himself sought to overlook those differences, declining even to agree with a reporter’s suggestion that he and Gonzalez agreed to disagree on Nicaragua. Instead, he touted what he called a wave of democracy sweeping the Western Hemisphere.

“Today, for the first time ever, the exceptions to the democratic tide in Spanish-speaking America can be counted on the fingers of one hand,” he said in a speech to Spanish business and community leaders.

He listed them as “entrenched military rule” in Paraguay and Chile, and “communist tyrannies” in Cuba and Nicaragua.

Thanked for Assistance

He thanked Spain for supporting U.S. arms control policy and efforts to strengthen European security.