Nicaraguans Invite Look at Border Strife

Nicaragua invited members of the peace-seeking Contadora Group on Wednesday to visit the combat zone along its frontier with Honduras to examine the increased level of fighting reported there between the Nicaraguan army and rightist rebels.

The purpose of the inspection, the Nicaraguans said, would be to produce agreement on ways to end the fighting.

At a diplomatic meeting here that has produced fractious disputes over how to resolve political differences in the region, diplomats from both Honduras and Nicaragua agreed that the fighting along their border is serious.

The combat is the result of a recently launched offensive by the Nicaraguan army against the anti-Sandinista guerrillas, or contras, who operate out of base camps in Honduras.

All Necessary Measures

“We understand the Honduran army has mobilized more troops toward the frontier,” said Victor Hugo Tinoco, Nicaragua’s deputy foreign minister. “We insist on our right to take whatever measures are necessary in the face of the increased tension.”

Mario Carias Zapata, one of three members of the Honduran delegation to the talks here, agreed that the stepped-up fighting could lead to further destabilization of the region.

The Contadora Group, which is sponsoring the so-far fruitless effort to reach a Central American regional peace treaty, is made up of Colombia, Mexico, Panama and Venezuela. The current three-day round of talks is one of a series that began in January, 1983.

Ricardo Valero, head of the Mexican delegation, said the group has taken the Nicaraguan invitation “under advisement.” No visit or inspection to the Nicaragua-Honduras border region could take place without the consent of both governments, he said.

On Meeting’s Agenda

The dismantling of the rebels’ camps was, in fact, one of the topics that had been scheduled for discussion in the closed-door negotiations, which are being held in the Washington Room of the Panama Hilton Hotel.

Diplomats said that five Central American governments involved in the talks have given their approval to a provision in the latest version of the proposed treaty that would remove “destabilizing forces” from the region. The five are Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua.

But their approval does not mean that the contras’ camps inside Honduras will be dismantled soon, since the provision will not take effect until the entire treaty is ratified. And the Contadora negotiators privately acknowledge that this remains a distant goal.

In a related development, diplomats here reacted with skepticism to a report from Honduras that the government has declared it would dismantle the camps on its own. The doubts result from Honduras’ previous unwillingness to acknowledge that such camps exist inside its territory.

In the past, diplomats noted, Honduran officials have said the government would tear down any camps, providing they could be found.

If the Hondurans back up their words with actions, the diplomats said, it would mark a significant change in the political climate of the region because the contras’ guarantee of haven in Honduras has aggravated that country’s relations with Nicaragua.

Contras Backed by U.S.

The contras were created with U.S. government financial and logistical support. They have been defended by the Reagan Administration as a weapon in the fight to bring democracy to Central America by undermining the Cuban-backed Sandinista government of Nicaragua.

During Wednesday’s talks, the Nicaraguan delegation once again refused to recognize the contras as a legitimate political opposition, diplomats who attended the meeting said later.

The refusal came in the course of a discussion on political reconciliation, one of the broad topics of discussion within the proposed peace document. This provision requires Central American governments to adopt rules of political fair play within their borders as a way of eliminating armed opposition.

The Nicaraguan government, however, has consistently characterized the contras as American mercenaries rather than legitimate political opponents and has refused to hold talks with contra leaders.