Bad Timing Hurts Ortega’s Bid for Support at U.N.

Hampered by bad timing, Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega’s campaign to win support for his government stumbled in New York this week as foreign leaders questioned his recent clampdown on civil liberties and President Reagan rebuffed his attempt to arrange a private meeting.

After 72 hours of intense lobbying, Ortega was forced to settle for a stiff handshake from an unsmiling Reagan on Wednesday night as he moved through a receiving line with more than 80 other leaders and diplomats who had gathered to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the United Nations.

Ortega made the obligatory media rounds, topping off his press blitz with an appearance on the “Phil Donahue Show.” At one breakfast meeting with reporters, he said he wanted to tell Reagan: “We have a basic message of friendship for the United States.”

Earlier in the week, Ortega’s wife clasped hands with Nancy Reagan in a show of solidarity for the First Lady’s anti-drug efforts. And in an additional demonstration of shared interests with Americans, Ortega was photographed jogging through Central Park.

But, just as the Nicaraguan leader had dispelled the good will he won on Capitol Hill last spring with an ill-timed trip to Moscow that prompted embarrassed congressmen to vote for aid for the anti-government rebels known as contras, his friendly gestures during the U.N. visit met with little response in the context of Managua’s crackdown last week on civil liberties in Nicaragua.

Ortega said he wants warmer relations with the United States, but he reiterated charges about “U.S. aggression,” accusing the Reagan Administration of illegally pursuing the overthrow of the Nicaraguan government through its support of the contras.

The United States remains the “major obstacle” to peace in Central America, he asserted.

In seeking individual time with Reagan, Ortega sought to bring outside influence to bear, using U.N. Secretary General Javier Perez de Cuellar as his intermediary. But the request was turned down in what a White House aide said was “a political judgment.”

The Nicaraguan’s efforts did not produce a friendly reception elsewhere, either: Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi canceled a scheduled meeting with Ortega, a spokesman saying that Gandhi was “too occupied.”

And Danish Prime Minister Poul Schlueter, who was to meet with Ortega, reflected the skepticism of the 10-nation European Community.

“We’re sad to see that he has diminished the liberty of expression,” Schlueter said. “This will reduce international sympathy for his government.”

European officials have frequently criticized Reagan’s Nicaragua policy, and one U.S. official acknowledged that in general, European governments “were more sympathetic” to Nicaragua. But Administration officials said that Reagan created no strains among Western allies over his refusal to meet with Ortega.

Aimed at Subversion

Ortega, asked to explain his rationale for broadening the state of emergency in his country, said it was necessary to contain internal subversion.

“Now that we are in the position of dealing a mortal blow to our opponents, it is logical that they would try to launch a campaign of internal subversion, so it is logical that we should return to a state of emergency,” he told reporters.