Latin Peace Talks End in Disarray : Nicaragua Appears to Be Main Barrier to Contadora Pact

The latest round of Contadora talks in search of peace in Central America collapsed in disarray here Monday as the five Central American nations failed to agree on a pledge to sign a peace treaty by a date in early June.

Nicaragua appeared to be the main obstacle to getting an agreement on a treaty deadline. Sources close to the talks said that Managua’s foreign minister refused to sign any kind of accord unless it contained a clear condemnation of U.S. aid to the rebels, known as contras, who are battling the Sandinista regime.

Nicaragua’s neighbors and diplomatic rivals--Honduras, Costa Rica and El Salvador--agreed to sign a proposed “Panama Pledge,” an agreement to conclude more than three years of regional peace talks and sign a treaty by June 6. But they pulled out Monday afternoon after three days of unfruitful talks.

An Early Departure

Guatemala, the fifth necessary signer of any regional pact, left earlier in the day.

In the never-say-die tradition of the Contadora Group of four nations that have been pressing for a diplomatic solution to Central America’s conflicts since January, 1983, a statement was issued by Mexico, Colombia, Panama and Venezuela aimed at keeping the talks alive.

The last-minute document, called the “Panama Communique,” offered June 6 as a date for concluding a treaty and gave the Central American governments eight days to respond.

The communique was also signed by Argentina, Brazil, Peru and Uruguay, which last year banded together in support of the Contadora process, as the peace effort has come to be called.

The foreign ministers of all 13 nations had been meeting here since Saturday.

Exercises in deadline-setting are nothing new to the process. At one point last year, the Contadora Group fixed a 45-day time limit for the conclusion of talks, a deadline that came and went with no action.

‘Never Ending’

“Contadora is always beginning and never ending,” sighed Colombia’s foreign minister, Augusto Ramirez Ocampo.

“We never decree that it’s over,” Foreign Minister Dante Caputo of Argentina said.

“Nicaragua rejected everything, everything that was presented to it,” Vice President Rodolfo Castillo Claramount of El Salvador said. Castillo, who is also El Salvador’s foreign minister, added, “There is nothing left to talk about.”

Foreign Minister Miguel D’Escoto of Nicaragua said that he refused to sign the “Panama Pledge” because it deviated from a document signed by the eight Contadora Group and support group foreign ministers in Caraballeda, Venezuela, last Jan. 12.

That document, later ritually approved by the five Central American nations at a meeting in Guatemala City, had expressed strong opposition to U.S. aid to the contras.

“The document of Caraballeda is the central document,” D’Escoto said. “Everyone has upheld that document. That document says it is absolutely indispensable for the resumption of negotiations that the United States must stop providing assistance for the irregular forces in the region.”

Hopes Clouded

The failure of the Central American countries to reach agreement clouded hopes that the Contadora talks can serve as an alternative to escalating military activity in Central America.

The Reagan Administration has asked Congress for $100 million in aid to the contras. The House, which rejected the proposal last month, is scheduled to vote again on the issue next week. With the contras aid measure pending, the foreign ministers meeting here had hoped that the Contadora process would show itself to be an effective instrument toward ending Central American conflicts, hopes that have now suffered a setback.

“It’s not a good thing,” Argentina’s Caputo said. “We very much wanted them to commit” to a date.

In Washington, Republicans predicted that the inflexibility of the Nicaraguan government would bolster Reagan’s request for contras aid.

Congressman’s Statement

Rep. Rod Chandler (R-Wash.), a leading proponent of Reagan’s proposal, said developments in Panama City undermine the argument of those in Congress who contend that the President has ignored the possibility of a diplomatic solution.

“That’s exactly what I wanted to demonstrate as to who is the problem in Central America,” Chandler said, speaking of Nicaragua.

The draft treaty that the Contadora Group wants the Central Americans to sign has been circulating among them in several versions since mid-1984, but disagreement over major provisions of the draft has always prevented conclusion of an accord.

As it stands now, the draft treaty would commit the Central American nations to arms control and limitations on the size of fighting forces, two of the key issues on which agreement has so far been impossible.

It would encourage peace overtures to the domestic opponents, including guerrilla groups, of the concerned governments, and it would require steps to strengthen internal democratic institutions, something that Nicaragua says would amount to interference in its sovereign affairs. The treaty would require all parties to end support for insurgents in each other’s countries.

Outside Backing Opposed

Besides trying to fix a deadline for concluding a treaty and getting it signed, the “Panama Communique” issued Monday afternoon by the Contadora and support group nations called for an end to international backing for “irregular forces or insurrectional movements” in the region.

The oblique language reflected Latin criticism of U.S. support for the contras, although El Salvador also considered it to be a condemnation of support by Nicaragua’s Sandinista regime for the Marxist-led rebels fighting the U.S.-backed Salvadoran government in the countryside.

In any case, the terms were not strong enough for Nicaragua, which is determined not to abandon its position that negotiations cannot go forward unless Washington stops supporting the contras.

Nicaragua’s D’Escoto said, “It’s a pity that the warlike policy of the United States impedes the countries of Latin America to make more significant advances in these negotiations.”

Text Made Public

Honduras, El Salvador and Costa Rica, the countries of the region whose foreign policies are most closely tied to those of the United States, released a text of the “Panama Pledge,” drafted by the four Contadora Group countries and their supporters, which they said they had been willing to sign.

The document set a June 6 deadline for concluding a treaty and called in the meantime for “national reconciliation” of warring factions within each country. It also condemned the “direct and indirect” use of force against any nation.

The latter language was inserted to win Nicaraguan agreement, officials close to the talks said. The phrasing was the result of intense negotiations that took place late Sunday night and again Monday through mid-afternoon.

“That represented 24 hours of work,” said a tired Costa Rican foreign minister, Carlos Jose Gutierrez.

By Monday afternoon, new proposals were being talked about, but patience and airline schedules were stretched thin.

Cab to Airport

“I don’t have anything left to discuss, my friend,” said El Salvador’s Castillo as he fought his way through a cluster of reporters to an airport cab.

Earlier in the day, the foreign minister of Mexico, Bernardo Sepulveda, surprised observers by leaving the meeting early for home. His aides said that he had committed himself to attend a convention of world parliamentary officials in Mexico City.

Nevertheless, his exit appeared to signal the lack of progress. Sepulveda is the only individual foreign minister besides Nicaragua’s D’Escoto to have been involved in the process since it was initiated in 1983 on the Panamanian resort island of Contadora by representatives of Mexico, Colombia, Venezuela and Panama.