Contras Seek New Technical Talks Before Managua Parley

Contra leaders who had threatened to boycott scheduled peace talks in Managua asked Nicaragua’s Sandinista government Wednesday to resume technical negotiations today in the hope that full-scale talks can begin in the capital Friday as planned.

The technical talks, in the southern Nicaraguan border village of Sapoa, collapsed last week in disagreement over how the Contras are to conduct themselves in seven zones where they are to assemble during a 60-day cease-fire. The Sandinistas charged that the Contras wanted to resupply themselves with arms during the cease-fire.

The Contra directorate, known formally as the Nicaraguan Resistance, said last week that the suspension of the technical talks meant that there was “no basis to move forward.” Under an informal agreement, the two sides were to have resumed the Sapoa talks Wednesday, but for reasons the Contras said they could not explain, the meeting was canceled.

One of the Contra directors, Pedro Joaquin Chamorro, said that if the technical talks are resumed today, “there is a good chance” that the five-member Contra directorate will head a delegation of 35 to 43 people to Managua on Friday.

The Contra leadership received a message from the Sandinistas on Wednesday morning, Chamorro said. Without disclosing the contents of the message, he said the Contras replied with a letter asking that the Sapoa talks be resumed today, and he seemed to be optimistic that the peace process would now get back on the track.

The Contras told the Sandinistas that they “remain in the best disposition to attend” the Managua talks Friday and that they would send an advance team to the Nicaraguan capital today to make preparations. It said they were “determined to expedite” an accord at the technical talks in Sapoa if they are resumed today.