Pastora’s Key Aides Defect to Main Contras Unit : Commanders Abandon Charismatic Leader of Hard-Pressed Guerrilla Army

The top commanders of Nicaraguan rebel Eden Pastora’s impoverished guerrilla army have abandoned their charismatic and controversial leader to join forces with the U.S.-backed United Nicaraguan Opposition.

Pastora’s field commanders signed a communique here late Friday saying that the United Nicaraguan Opposition, an alliance of the major groups of Nicaraguan contras, as the rebels are called, is “the option to unite the combat forces to guarantee success” in the battle to oust the Marxist-led Sandinista government in Managua.

The Pastora commanders’ move caps the latest of many efforts to unite the Nicaraguan rebels, who have been divided by leadership struggles and differences over politics and strategy.

Former Guard Officers

The biggest partner in UNO, as the umbrella group is called, is the Honduras-based Nicaraguan Democratic Force, whose military leaders include former officers in the National Guard of the late Anastasio Somoza, the Nicaraguan dictator who was overthrown by the Sandinista-led revolution in 1979.

Pastora’s organization, the Democratic Revolutionary Alliance, has been the military arm of the so-called Southern Opposition Bloc, a coalition of Nicaraguan exile groups based in Costa Rica. The bloc includes former Sandinistas who grew disillusioned with the Managua regime and is seen by some observers to be more centrist politically than UNO.

Of the United Nicaraguan Opposition’s three top directors, all of whom were active in the revolution that brought down Somoza more than seven years ago, Adolfo Calero, head of the Nicaraguan Democratic Force, is a conservative. The other two, Arturo Cruz, a former Sandinista government official, and Adolfo Robelo, once head of the political arm of Pastora’s organization, are politically leftist. But many observers believe UNO to be dominated politically by Calero because of the much larger size of his guerrilla forces in the field.

Pastora himself signed a unity agreement with the United Nicaraguan Opposition in March but quickly fell out with its leaders over whether or not the accord gave UNO a leadership role over his guerrillas.

The two umbrella groups had been striving to form an alliance in recent months but were unable to do so, at least in part because of leadership differences within both organizations.

Diplomats and rebel observers say the contras of the Southern Bloc could lend political legitimacy to UNO and give all the contras a better image. This is needed, they say, now that charges of corruption are being leveled against some of the Honduras-based guerrillas and a U.S. congressional committee is looking into misuse or mishandling of disbursements made to the rebels out of $27 million in non-military assistance voted for them by Congress last year.

Diplomats say the Costa Rica-based contras are more highly regarded by Latin American governments that generally oppose U.S. support for the contras.

The shift of Pastora’s commanders to their northern rivals comes as the Reagan Administration renews its efforts to get approval in the House for $100 million in military and other aid for the contras. The proposal was approved by the Senate after initially losing in the House, and the House is expected to vote on it again next month.

Six of Pastora’s seven field commanders signed the carefully worded communique signaling their move to UNO, and a spokesman for the Democratic Revolutionary Alliance said the seventh will join the others, although he did not want to sign the communique.

The document says, “We recognize the United Nicaraguan Opposition as the viable organism for the liberty of Nicaragua and accept as valid its postulates and objectives, without renouncing the fundamental principles of ARDE”--the Spanish initials of Pastora’s alliance.

Accused of Abuses

The rebel commanders vow to respect human rights, democracy and pluralism. The Honduras-based contras have been accused of committing human rights abuses in northern Nicaragua.

The commanders said they recognize Fernando (El Negro) Chamorro as their new leader. Chamorro, who has a small contingent of his own guerrilla troops, already belongs to UNO and is allied with Robelo.

The shift of troops to Chamorro is expect to fortify Robelo’s position in the UNO leadership. Robelo and Cruz have argued that Calero’s guerrilla forces weigh too heavily in the organization. They have said they believe that UNO should be democratically run and that guerrillas in the field should be under civilian direction.

It was not known how many troops Pastora’s commanders bring to the United Nicaraguan Opposition. Spokesmen and the commanders claim to have about 5,000 men, but diplomatic observers say there may be less than half that many.

Lack of Food, Uniforms

Pastora could not be reached for comment, but sources close to him said he has been unable to supply his troops with adequate food, uniforms and ammunition for two years.

Jose Davila, a political representative of the Democratic Revolutionary Alliance, indicated that the shift to UNO was one of economic necessity, and he described it as the result of “a general crisis in the opposition” to the Sandinistas, rather than as a positive move.

“We have a lot of people and no resources,” Davila said. “El Negro Chamorro has few people and a lot of resources. . . . The problem for us now is not to fight but to survive.”

One of the military commanders indicated that he and his colleagues had been dissatisfied with Pastora’s leadership for a time, but he declined to elaborate.

“I suppose there is a problem of strategy of war, of direction, of political ability and, consequently, of resources,” Davila said. Shaking his head, he added, “He (Pastora) had it all in his hands.”

The supply shortages and squabbles among the contras, together with an effective Sandinista counterinsurgency effort, have largely neutralized Democratic Alliance guerrillas in the last year. The contras, overall, believe that they need a stronger southern front to draw Sandinista soldiers away from Nicaragua’s northern frontier area, where the majority of contras are based.

The contras in the north have also not been doing well on the battlefield.

Pastora, known as “Commander Zero” when he fought with the Sandinistas against Somoza, gained international attention in 1978 when he led an assault on Nicaragua’s National Assembly and briefly took most of the members of the legislature hostage.

He led Sandinista guerrillas until Somoza was overthrown in July, 1979, and worked with the Sandinista government until 1981, when he became disenchanted and came here to Costa Rica, where he formed a small rebel army.

Denied Receiving Help

Pastora won CIA funding for his fight in 1982, although for a long time he denied receiving such help. U.S. officials have said he lost CIA support early in 1984 because he refused to accept any controls on his operations and carried out actions that were seen to be reckless and counterproductive--notably an air raid on the Nicaraguan capital.

Earlier this year, the United States agreed to pay out of last year’s contras aid appropriation about $400,000 in bills that Pastora had incurred for non-military supplies. But sources in Washington have said that invoices and other records in support of the expenditures are so deficient that it is doubtful whether disbursements can be authorized by the State Department office administering the appropriation.

Pastora, a quixotic figure, has lost most of the political allies he has made in recent times, including Robelo, although one contra source said some of Pastora’s troops were sticking with him.