Honduras Inaugurates a New President; Bush Sees Continued Support for U.S. Latin Policies

Jose Azcona Hoyo, 59, was inaugurated as president of Honduras on Monday, completing the first transition of power here from one elected civilian president to another in more than half a century.

But even before the white-haired Azcona assumed the presidency, observers were calling him politically weak, predicting that he would be more dependent on the United States than his predecessor and unable to confront the country’s powerful military, which rules from behind the scenes.

Vice President George Bush, who headed the U.S. delegation to the inauguration, said he believes the new Honduran government will continue to support U.S. policies in Central America. The United States maintains a constant military presence in Honduras, and Honduras is a staging area for the U.S.-backed guerrillas, called contras, who are fighting to overthrow the Sandinista government in neighboring Nicaragua.

In a wind-whipped ceremony at the National Stadium, Azcona received the blue-and-white sash of office from outgoing President Roberto Suazo Cordova, leader of a rival faction within Azcona’s Liberal Party who had maneuvered unsuccessfully for months to keep power for an illegal second term.

‘Without Rancor’

Suazo said he was leaving the presidency “without rancor for anyone.” He said that Honduras, one of the poorest countries in the hemisphere, had been “economically restablized” under his administration.

Azcona’s inauguration speech focused on the country’s severe economic problems, particularly its foreign debt. “There are no magic formulas to push development and conquer poverty, “ Azcona said.

Honduras, a country of about 4.5 million residents, has a $2.3-billion foreign debt. Seventy percent of the population is rural, most of it landless and, when employed, workers earn an average wage of about $2 per day. About half of the country is unemployed, however, or working in such marginal jobs as selling fruit on the street.

Azcona said the country had engaged in “blind indebtedness to foreign banks” without strengthening its productive sectors, and, like other Latin American leaders, he blamed lenders as well as borrowers.

“It is important to note the co-responsibility between debtors and creditors. Although we don’t disavow the commitments that have been contracted, it would not be fair for the payment of the foreign debt to continue to worsen the hunger and poverty of our people,” he said.

United States Thanked

He said that Honduras has been too dependent on foreign aid, but later in his speech, he thanked the United States for its economic support.

The Reagan Administration has proposed $88.6 million in military aid and $143 million in economic aid for Honduras this year, and the Honduran military is said to want more. Less is expected, however, because of budget cuts mandated by the Gramm-Rudman bill.

Azcona said that his country’s foreign policy will be based on “the principles of nonintervention in the affairs of another state, and the free self-determination of people.” He said that he is committed to the efforts of the Contadora Group of nations--Mexico, Colombia, Panama and Venezuela--to negotiate a peaceful settlement of Central America’s conflicts.

Azcona did not mention the 1,500 U.S. military personnel now in Honduras or acknowledge the presence in the country of about 17,000 U.S.-backed contras.

“To the United States, we reaffirm our invariable friendship and the goal of maintaining the ideals that unite us in the defense of a pluralistic and participatory democracy, based in our sovereignty and mutual respect,” he said.

During his final months as president, Suazo blocked U.S. deliveries of non-lethal supplies to the contras, apparently out of pique because the United States opposed his efforts to extend his term as president and because $67.5 million in U.S. economic aid was held up, ostensibly over Honduras’ failure to carry out promised economic reforms.

No Assurances Told

Bush said at a press conference that he has not received assurances from Azcona that contra aid deliveries will now be permitted. But Honduran observers with close ties to the new government and foreign diplomatic sources said they expect the deliveries to be resumed.

“It’s going to happen,” said a foreign diplomat who asked not to be identified.

The Reagan Administration is expected to ask Congress this year for as much as $100 million in new military and non-lethal aid for the contras.

While Azcona sounded a mildly independent line on Nicaragua and the contras during his campaign, his anti-Sandinista rhetoric has heated up since the November election. Within the armed forces, meanwhile, infighting has resulted in the transfer to the hinterlands of the most nationalistic officers, who might have supported a more independent foreign policy.

Observers say that Honduras’ economic problems and Azcona’s political weakness would prevent his opposing U.S. policies in the region, even if he should desire to do so. Some say that he may move closer to the United States than his predecessor in search of leverage with the military.

Azcona lacks a strong popular base. A pre-election pact aimed at coping with factionalism within the nation’s two main parties enabled Azcona to win the presidency with a personal tally of only about 26% of the popular vote because he and other Liberal Party presidential candidates, taken together, attracted the most total votes.

Azcona’s strongest opponent, Rafael Leonardo Callejas of the rival National Party, lost the election, although he received about 46% of the vote, more than any of the eight other candidates individually.

Azcona also does not control the Congress, and because of another pact made with the National Party, he will not control the Supreme Court, as Suazo did during most of his term.

The army’s influence over the new administration is reflected in the appointment of Carlos Lopez Contreras as foreign minister. Lopez is a cousin of Gen. Walter Lopez Reyes, commander of the armed forces. The leaders of the armed forces, which include the police, also maintain influence through the National Security Council.