Finally, Congress Gets the Right Approach to Aid for the Contras

The House of Representatives is scheduled to vote today on a new proposal, put forward by the Democratic leadership, to provide $16 million in genuinely humanitarian assistance to Nicaragua’s armed resistance, the Contras, as well as $14 million to assist children who have been injured in Nicaragua’s civil war. The time has come for members of Congress and the Administration to overcome partisan squabbling and approve this measure on a bipartisan basis. The proposal is imperfect, as is often true of such products of compromise, but it is a welcome step toward aligning the United States with the search for peace and reconciliation in Central America.

The House was right to reject the President’s earlier request for military aid to the Contras, even at the reduced level that the Administration finally put forward in its last-ditch effort to keep funding alive. Support at this time for the Contras’ military campaign, even so-called “non-lethal” aid that could contribute to their ability to make war, would be utterly inconsistent with the Central American peace plan. It would risk producing precisely the opposite of what we want by giving Nicaragua a pretext for reimposing harsh restrictions on press and political freedoms, calling off negotiations with the Contras and obtaining greater military assistance of its own from Soviet Bloc suppliers.

The Sandinistas now have a fair chance to demonstrate their peaceful intentions, or else risk losing what they have gained--and more. So long as the Sandinistas hold to their promises, and move forward with the steps toward national reconciliation called for by the Guatemala accord, there is little prospect that the United States will renew military or quasi-military support for the Contra insurgency. The ball is thus squarely in Managua’s court.

But it is also time for the United States to acknowledge the responsibility that we certainly have toward the Contras, who have been organized and sent to fight with U.S. encouragement and support. We should not be providing the Contras with the means to make war--not under any subterfuge or from any source--but neither should we simply turn away from them.

The United States should instead help prepare the Contras to reintegrate into Nicaraguan life, as contemplated in the Guatemala accord--or else prepare to re-settle elsewhere, including the United States.

For these purposes we should provide the Contras with food, medicine, clothing and shelter, as the Democratic proposal provides. Such assistance now, combined with the end to military aid, would send the right mix of signals to the Sandinistas, to the other Central American countries and to the Contras themselves.

The Sandinistas would have every incentive to negotiate seriously toward a cease-fire and to undertake a real political opening. They would know that, while they are making perceptible progress toward these goals, the Contras will not have access to military or logistical supplies to build their combat strength. But they would also have good reason to fear that if they were to reverse course, the Contras could still be remobilized, this time with strong bipartisan support and the backing of Central America’s other four countries. For those countries, humanitarian aid provided for the purpose of reintegrating the Contras (and other refugees) into the region’s life would demonstrate that the United States is no longer obsessed with ousting the Sandinistas, and that we are turning toward a more constructive policy. As for the Contras, they would be strongly encouraged to negotiate toward a cease-fire and to avail themselves of U.S. aid for their re-entry into Nicaragua’s society. They should be helped to understand that Congress is not committed to putting them into power by force, but rather to helping them obtain a fair chance to compete for influence through peaceful means.

The House of Representatives, responsive to public opinion across the country, has stymied the Administration’s preferred policy toward Nicaragua. The Administration can certainly lament that fact, and it can continue to lambaste the opponents of Contra military aid. But President Reagan and the Republicans in the House would be much better advised to seize this opportunity, and to respond positively to the Democratic leadership’s proposal. The United States, at long last, should drop its overwhelmingly military stance toward Nicaragua and turn vigorously toward a political, diplomatic and economic approach. That is the right way to help the Contras, and ourselves.