Nicaragua Willing to Join Peace Conference

Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega said Wednesday that he is willing to join four other Central American leaders at a conference to discuss regional peace proposals.

But Ortega insisted that any summit meeting must deal with more than a Costa Rica-proposed peace plan and should be coupled with direct talks between his leftist Sandinista government and the United States.

Nicaragua’s agreement to attend a summit focused renewed attention on possible political solutions to the five-year Nicaraguan guerrilla war as the U.S. Congress debated future aid to the Nicaraguan contras.

However, it was unclear whether Ortega’s conditions would leave room for a viable summit.

Plan Does Not Include U.S.

A peace plan announced by Costa Rican President Oscar Arias Sanchez on Sunday called for a halt of all military aid to Central American insurgents but does not ask the United States to become involved in negotiations.

Instead, it proposes a general amnesty for rebel forces and other dissidents in all five Central American countries, formal talks between governments and their political opponents, and a cease-fire in the guerrilla conflicts of El Salvador, Guatemala and Nicaragua.

Arias invited Presidents Jose Napoleon Duarte of El Salvador, Vinicio Cerezo Arevalo of Guatemala and Jose Azcona Hoyo of Honduras to discuss the plan at a meeting here Sunday, but they failed to agree on it.

However, they called it a “timely and constructive” basis for further talks, and they invited Ortega to meet with them in Escipulas, Guatemala, within 90 days.

Nicaragua ‘Willing’

In Managua, a written statement by Ortega’s office said Wednesday that Nicaragua is “willing to hold talks with all Central American leaders” to end the region’s conflicts.

“In the same spirit, we have insisted on the need to resume a bilateral dialogue with the United States to work out treaties that guarantee a framework of security and mutual respect,” Ortega added.

The Sandinistas hold the United States responsible for the insurgency and refuse to negotiate with the rebels or with the internal political opposition.

They have been trying to get the Contadora negotiating group--made up of Mexico, Panama, Colombia and Venezuela, supported by Argentina, Brazil, Peru and Uruguay--to force the United States to resume talks with Nicaragua that were broken off in January, 1985. Since then, the Reagan Administration has insisted that the Sandinistas talk with rebel leaders.

Condition Attached

Ortega said a Central American summit should be open to all proposals put forward in four years of fruitless Contadora negotiations, including those of Nicaragua.

He said he will attend such a conference if the Costa Rican plan is “incorporated into the Contadora process.”

Costa Rican Foreign Minister Rodrigo Madrigal Nieto said he had not seen Ortega’s statement, and he would not say whether plans for a summit would go ahead.

President Arias angered the Sandinistas by excluding Ortega from Sunday’s meeting. “In Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador last week, we knew the peace plan would be received with open arms, but in Nicaragua it is different,” Arias said.

Nicaragua has always felt more at ease negotiating with the Contadora group, which is more independent of the Reagan Administration than staunch U.S. allies Costa Rica, Honduras and El Salvador. Costa Rica is hoping to sidestep Contadora with a new initiative supported by Nicaragua’s closest neighbors.

‘Democratization’ Emphasized

More so than a 21-point Contadora draft treaty, the Costa Rican plan emphasizes internal “democratization” in Nicaragua as a means of ending the war. It calls for complete freedom of the press within 60 days of signing, an end to curbs on political liberties and international supervision of all elections.

But other elements of the plan were met with objections by the three other presidents at Sunday’s meeting.

Guatemala insisted that the proposal could not be discussed without Nicaragua present. Honduras, backing the U.S. position, indicated that it wants the Sandinistas to hold talks with rebel leaders, rather than the unarmed opposition.

In Washington, a U.S. State Department spokesman, Charles Redman, said Tuesday, “We agree with the basic assumption of the Arias plan, which is that peace should be attained through a process of national reconciliation and democratization.”