Sandinista-Contra Technical Talks Stall

Talks aimed at separating the armies in the Nicaraguan conflict collapsed Friday when the government refused to give Contra negotiators a four-day break to consult their superiors over an emerging impasse.

Maj. Gen. Joaquin Cuadra, the chief government negotiator, suspended the talks until top rebel leaders arrive in Managua for political negotiations with Sandinista officials. That event is tentatively scheduled next Friday but is still highly uncertain.

The breakdown is a major setback for the preliminary peace accord negotiated here March 23. Both sides said an informal truce remains in effect, but the supervised 60-day cease-fire that was to start April 1 is delayed indefinitely.

In six days of talks at this southern border crossing, the two military delegations agreed on the sizes and locations of seven enclaves in which rebel forces are to concentrate and which Sandinista troops are to leave during the cease-fire. But the talks foundered on differences over what military supplies each army may receive.

The 14-man Contra delegation left the meeting hall abruptly and returned to Costa Rica on a chartered bus.

“We gave our proposal and they presented something completely different,” said rebel spokesman Bosco Matamoros. “We said we needed to go back and consult our people, but he (Cuadra) did not accept that and said the talks are suspended.”

Cuadra told reporters later he had been willing to negotiate through the weekend, “but they declared themselves incompetent and incapable of staying here to reach an agreement in a reasonable period of time.”

Two divisive issues appeared to bring the talks to an impasse Friday, after an exchange of proposals for governing the cease-fire.

The rebels’ proposal, made public Thursday, insisted on allowing their troops to replenish ammunition used in target practice during the cease-fire or any weapons destroyed by the Sandinistas in violation of the truce. They also proposed that the Soviet-backed Sandinista army stop receiving foreign military aid during the same period.

Cuadra called both demands unacceptable.

Under the March 23 peace accord, he noted, the rebels are to receive only “humanitarian” assistance during the cease-fire.

The government Friday offered a counterproposal to satisfy the rebels’ concern over the security of their troops in the enclaves. It said neither army will “qualitatively or quantitatively modify its military situation” in or around the zones.

A Sandinista negotiator said that meant the government will not try to trap the rebels inside the zones by moving additional troops or weaponry close to them.

The government accepted most of the demands in the rebels’ 34-point proposal. Among other things, it agreed to move its artillery out of firing range of the zones and to permit access to them by journalists, Contras’ relatives and other visitors.

The government agreed to allow the rebels to receive non-military aid by parachute drops from planes that take off from other countries. But it insisted that neutral inspectors be present at the point of takeoff, on the planes and at the drop points.

After studying the government proposal during a two-hour recess Friday afternoon, the rebels remained dissatisfied and the talks ended quickly.

Since top government and rebel leaders signed the preliminary peace accord, their hopeful statements about a lasting political settlement have given way to mutual recriminations.

This week, rebel leaders accused President Daniel Ortega of poisoning the climate for follow-up negotiations by threatening publicly to crush their forces if the accord breaks down.

Government leaders have accused the rebels of trying to sabotage the follow-up talks by stalling.

Still unsettled are arrangements for the forthcoming political talks in Managua, an event viewed with nervous anticipation on both sides.