Ortega Sees Another Year of Warfare for Nicaragua

President Daniel Ortega predicted on New Year’s Eve that, despite peace moves, 1988 would be a further year of war in this country.

In an interview published in the government daily Barricada, Ortega forecast further combat with U.S.-backed Contras, as well as “diplomatic, military and economic battles against the policies of (President) Reagan.”

Indicating that little progress is likely at a Central American peace summit meeting scheduled to be held in Costa Rica on Jan. 15, he said other regional leaders agreed with him that “peace cannot be accomplished all at once, 100%.”

‘Clashes, Combat’

“Being a realist, I think next year there will continue to be clashes, combat with the mercenary (Contra) forces, as well as diplomatic, military and economic battles against the policies of Reagan,” Ortega was quoted as saying.

Ortega, Costa Rican President Oscar Arias Sanchez and three other regional presidents signed a peace plan for the region in Guatemala City last Aug. 7. Arias, the architect of the plan, won the 1987 Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts.

The plan’s provisions--including cease-fires in all guerrilla wars, amnesties for political prisoners, greater democracy and civil rights and an end to foreign aid to guerrillas--were supposed to be fulfilled by the first week of this month.

A Verification Commission will make on-the-spot checks in all five countries between Jan. 4 and 10 to see how far each country has fulfilled its obligations.

The commission will then report to the five presidents, who will meet in Costa Rica on Jan. 15 to monitor progress.

Belief in Peace

Meanwhile, President Jose Azcona Hoyo of Honduras said in Tegucigalpa that his government is complying with the Central American peace plan and that he believes that peace will come to the region in 1988.

“We have faith that 1988 . . . will be the year in which peace in Central America will be a beautiful reality,” he said in a New Year address on national television.

He said that his government is complying fully with the peace plan and is making a decisive contribution toward peace in the region .

Diplomats say, however, that Honduras continues to allow Nicaraguan rebels to use military bases in its territory for resupply flights, even though the peace accord called for an end to foreign aid to insurgents by Nov. 5.