An Appeal for Peace : U.S., Nicaraguan Willfulness Puts All the Americas at Risk

The following is excerpted from “Rebuilding Cooperation in the Americas,” the 1986 report of the Inter-American Dialogue, which was released today in Washington. The Dialogue is a group of several dozen opinion leaders from throughout the Western Hemisphere with experiencein government, business, labor and education. More than 160,000 Central Americans have been killed in the last decade. Two million have been displaced from their homes. The combination of armed conflict and economic stagnation frustrates efforts to build democratic politics and to remedy the deep inequities underlying the region’s struggles.

The solutions to Central America’s problems lie in economic and social development and political dialogue, not in more weapons and military advisers.

We are greatly concerned about the internal situation in Nicaragua under the Sandinistas. Few of us believe that the restrictions of civil liberties are justified as a response to the contra threat.

The international behavior of the regime is also troubling. With Cuban and Soviet support, Nicaragua has aided revolutionary movements beyond its borders. Neighboring countries fear and resent this. Nicaragua’s military buildup is also menacing, and has accelerated a local arms race. We deplore the Sandinistas’ growing ties to the Soviet Union, which further entangle Central America in the East-West struggle.

We are disturbed as well by the response of the United States to Nicaragua’s challenge. Thus far it has been ineffective and, most of us believe, counterproductive.

There is no realistic basis for believing that the contras can or will drive the Sandinistas from power. On the contrary, the Sandinistas have stepped up their acquisition of weapons, tightened their bonds with the Soviet Bloc and imposed greater restraints on their internal opposition.

We oppose all military and paramilitary support for the contras’ campaign against the Sandinista government. We also oppose so-called humanitarian assistance, which is used to help the contras wage war.

Under the current circumstances, essential steps toward peace are unlikely to be taken as unilateral initiatives by either the United States or Nicaragua. They can, however, be accomplished within the framework offered by the Contadora process. (This effort was begun in 1983 by the governments of Mexico, Venezuela, Colombia and Panama, and recently acquired the active support of Argentina, Peru, Brazil and Uruguay. Last weekend’s meeting of the 13 Latin American governments involved was adjourned for lack of an agreement.)

Although the United States does not formally participate in the Contadora process, no agreement can be implemented without Washington’s concurrence. For some time now, U.S. actions have been inconsistent with the spirit of the negotiating process and at odds with specific requests made by the Contadora nations. The Contadora peace effort cannot succeed as long as the United States insists on fundamental changes in the Sandinista regime as a prior condition for any agreement on security matters.

We call on the U.S. government to modify its position. It should work closely with the Contadora countries, and also revive direct discussions with the Nicaraguan government.

And we call on Nicaragua to end its state of emergency, lift restrictions on freedom of the press and association, respect the rights of national minorities and begin an active dialogue with the full range of opposition.

It is important that the United States and other countries of the hemisphere press Nicaragua to move in these directions. But we believe that efforts to achieve workable regional security arrangements should not be held hostage to the accomplishment of internal political reform in Nicaragua.

Progress toward peace in Central America depends on the willingness of both Nicaragua and the United States to compromise. As specified in the proposed Contadora treaty, Nicaragua must make verifiable commitments to live peaceably with its neighbors. It must reduce the military ties with Cuba and the Soviet Bloc nations by agreeing to the withdrawal of military personnel, and to restrict arms acquisitions from those nations. At the same time, the United States must agree to accept a verifiable security agreement achieved through negotiations, rather than trying to overthrow the Nicaraguan government.

We welcome the initiative of the current U.S. Administration to discuss issues of regional security with leaders of the Soviet Union. Such discussions could help to prevent superpower competition from intensifying. In the same vein, we believe that it is worth exploring whether discussions between the United States and Cuba might advance the cause of peace.

Unless peace can be negotiated (the wars in Nicaragua and El Salvador) will continue to take 5,000 to 10,000 lives annually, and to displace hundreds of thousands more people from their homes. They will continue to lay waste to Central America’s economies. Hopes for recovery and democratic development will dwindle.

The prime requisite for making peace in Central America is not more aid, more weapons or more advisers, but political will. Some basic choices have to be made. The Sandinistas must decide whether they will respect the sovereignty of their neighbors, and remove their nation from the East-West struggle, as part of a settlement that assures Nicaragua’s own sovereignty. The United States, in turn, must decide whether to prolong a war to undo the Nicaraguan regime. We believe that the United States should concentrate first on guaranteeing its legitimate strategic interests and the security interests of its allies, and then promote democracy and pluralism inside Nicaragua through nonviolent means.

We are convinced that neither democracy nor security in the hemisphere would be jeopardized by a carefully framed and verifiable peace treaty with the government of Nicaragua.

The alternative to a negotiated peace is protracted warfare, which does, indeed, threaten the security of the Americas.

Among the Inter-American Dialogue participants were: Co-chairmen Sol M. Linowitz, former U.S. ambassador to the OAS, and Galo Plaza, former secretary general of the OAS; Terence C. Canavan, executive vice president, Chemical Bank; Robert S. McNamara, former president of the World Bank; William G. Milliken, former chairman of the National Conference of Governors; Ralph A. Pfeiffer Jr., chairman, IBM World Trade Americas/Far East Corp.; Elliot L. Richardson, former secretary of defense; Franklin A. Thomas, president, Ford Foundation.

Former Presidents Nicolas Ardito Barletta of Panama, Osvaldo Hurtado of Ecuador and Daniel Oduber of Costa Rica; Oscar Camilion, former foreign minister of Argentina; Jorge Fontaine, president, Federation of Production and Commerce, Chile; Pedro-Pablo Kuczynski, co-chairman, First Boston International; Leopoldo Solis, chairman, Council of Economic Advisers, Mexico.