Salvador Hardens Stance on Contras, Mires Summit

A Central American summit bogged down on its closing day today after El Salvador hardened its position on the disbanding of the U.S.-backed Nicaraguan rebels, Honduran and Nicaraguan officials said.

“Unfortunately, this morning we are getting unexpected positions from the Salvadoran delegation that are delaying some of the important accords,” Jose Leon Talavera, Nicaragua’s deputy foreign minister, told a news conference.

He said El Salvador demanded in this morning’s session that the final communique call for demobilization of Salvadoran rebels in the same terms it requires disbanding the Contras.

Presidents of five Central American countries had said they were confident they will be able to announce a timetable today for resettling the Contras. They huddled again this morning again after meeting until 4 a.m., Talavera said.

“There’s no agreement on all the issues. There had been some progress during the night, but they had to address all the issues this morning,” Honduran Foreign Minister Carlos Lopez Contreras said.

No Salvadoran officials were immediately available for comment.

El Salvador’s new rightist president, Alfredo Cristiani, came to the talks hoping to link Contra demobilization to the civil war with leftist rebels in his country. El Salvador accuses Nicaragua of arming the rebels.

The presidents of Honduras, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Guatemala and Costa Rica agreed in February to engineer the demobilization of the Contras, but they put off coming up with a specific plan until this meeting.

Honduran President Jose Azcona said Sunday night that the presidents had not agreed on a timetable but had made progress on some fronts, including agreement on some of the mechanics of disbanding the rebels.