Costa Rican Offers to Alter Peace Plan

President Oscar Arias Sanchez says he is willing to change some parts of his Central American peace plan that are opposed by the Reagan Administration.

The 10-point Arias proposal calls for cease-fires in Nicaragua, El Salvador and Guatemala and a cutoff of all outside aid to insurgent forces in those countries as soon as their governments start talks with unarmed opponents.

Countries that sign the plan would agree to practice “unrestricted political pluralism,” respect human rights and consent to international monitoring of future elections. Complete press freedom would have to be permitted within 60 days of signing.

The proposal, made last month, was endorsed recently by a 97-1 vote in the U.S. Senate. But Reagan Administration officials have voiced reservations, saying the plan would halt military pressure by U.S.-backed contras on Nicaragua’s leftist Sandinista government before obliging it to make democratic reforms.

‘Moral Authority’ Cited

Arias discussed the plan in a private meeting here Tuesday with Philip C. Habib, the special U.S. envoy to Central America.

In an interview Tuesday night, Arias said that Costa Rica, as the region’s most durable democracy, has the “moral authority” to insist on democratic reforms in Nicaragua as a basis for regional peace. But he said he is open to “possible modifications” on the mechanics of a cease-fire.

Noting that his country has no army and no guerrilla problem, Arias said: “There are important points of this peace plan in which Costa Rica has very little experience.

“For example, the question of a cease-fire. Should a cease-fire be simultaneous with dialogue or a consequence of it? These are distinctions that have great importance for some people. In Costa Rica, thank God, we have very limited knowledge about wars and cease-fires.”

Arias and the presidents of El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua have agreed to meet in Esquipulas, Guatemala, in May or June to discuss Arias’ proposal.

Contra Supporters Wary

The Costa Rican leader said Habib raised no objections to the peace plan in their meeting Tuesday.

Some U.S. officials, notably Elliot Abrams, assistant secretary of state for inter-American affairs, have said the Honduran-based Nicaraguan contras can win their five-year-old war with continued U.S. aid and that, before any cease-fire, the Sandinistas must hold talks with them. Their position is backed by Honduras, a close military ally of the United States.

The Arias plan not only excludes armed rebels from any talks but would forbid any country in the region to allow its territory to be used for attacks on another country.

In a separate interview, Costa Rican Foreign Minister Rodrigo Madrigal said no regional peace plan can succeed unless the United States stops supporting the contra insurgency.

But he said he believes that Habib and U.S. Secretary of State George P. Shultz want a negotiated settlement in Nicaragua and are willing to back any Central American agreement that guarantees free elections there.

Madrigal said Costa Rica is more concerned about intransigence by the Sandinistas, who seized power in 1979 and won 1984 elections that most of the opposition denounced as unfair.

“The problem is that Nicaragua has never wanted to talk seriously about democratic principles,” he said. “They will go to Esquipulas to negotiate something cosmetic, to speak about peace and not about democracy, so they can have a peace that protects their kind of regime for as long as they want.

“This is not the kind of peace that interests Central Americans,” the foreign minister added.

Previous Agreements Noted

Arias and Madrigal said Costa Rica is not trying to dictate to the Sandinistas but instead is insisting that they live up to democratic principles they accepted in previous peace talks led by the so-called Contadora Group of nations--Mexico, Panama, Colombia and Venezuela.

“The Sandinistas keep saying they censure the press and deny individual liberties because they are at war,” Madrigal said. “A cease-fire would disarm Nicaragua of those arguments.”

Arias said he plans to visit Britain, France, West Germany, Belgium and Spain in May to seek diplomatic support for his plan.