U.S., Ortega Dispute Plan for Nicaragua Vote Observers

The Bush Administration said Wednesday that it wants to “flood” Nicaragua with observers to ensure that next February’s elections are fair, but Nicaragua’s president warned that he will refuse entry to U.S. observers unless the Administration changes its policies.

Secretary of State James A. Baker III has urged members of Congress to visit Nicaragua “to flood the nation with observers between now and election day,” spokeswoman Margaret Tutwiler said.

“We very much think that it is important,” she said. “. . . And we very much want a number of congressional delegations going down there to ensure that these are free and fair elections.”

Demand for Financing

But Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega, speaking at a military commemoration ceremony at San Jacinto, Nicaragua, said official U.S. observers will not be allowed in unless the Administration agrees to help finance the election process and to dismantle the anti-Sandinista Contras.

“I told them they could send delegations of the North American government, but they have to comply with these two requirements,” Ortega said. “It’s absurd that we should accept observers of a government that carries out an ambiguous policy--that on one hand says it favors the electoral process and on the other hand is financing mercenaries to murder the Nicaraguan people.”

The election observers issue thus already has become a flashpoint for larger conflicts surrounding Nicaragua’s election: the increasing U.S. focus on the vote as perhaps its last chance to bring down the Sandinistas, and Managua’s interest not only in winning the vote but also in forcing the estimated 12,000 Contras to disband.

Bush Administration officials say they want dozens of observer missions, both official and unofficial, to visit Nicaragua during the next five months to increase pressure on the Sandinistas to play fair during the election campaign. The United Nations, former President Jimmy Carter, several members of Congress and dozens of private organizations have announced that they intend to monitor the process.

But the Sandinistas already are showing resentment. On Wednesday, after Ortega’s statement, Nicaragua’s embassy in Washington announced that it has denied visas to a conservative group led by Curtin Winsor, a former U.S. ambassador to Costa Rica, that said it wants to monitor the campaign.

“Their sole objective was to discredit our electoral process,” Nicaraguan diplomat Leonor Arguello charged.

The Administration had no immediate, official response to Ortega’s new conditions. But several officials predicted that the United States will not accept his demand that the current non-military aid program designed to keep the Contras intact be turned into a program to dismantle the rebel army.

“They have to take away the financing they are now giving the Contras to attack the Nicaraguan people and . . . use these funds to demobilize the Contras,” Ortega said in his speech. “When they send food, clothing and boots to the Contras, they are giving support to continue their attacks.”

He said that the Administration should turn the aid over to the United Nations and the Organization of American States so that those organizations can demobilize the Contras.

The issue is also tied to the Administration’s proposal to send an unprecedented $3 million in direct, overt aid to opposition candidates in the election. The United States has frequently sent secret aid to favored candidates in Central American elections, usually through the CIA, but the Administration is considering making this aid public.

Tutwiler said Baker told Congress that the Administration intends to continue providing non-military aid to the remaining Contras through next February. Under a bipartisan agreement reached earlier this year, Congress could vote to halt the aid at the end of November if it believes the Administration is not promoting efforts toward a negotiated peace.

McManus reported from Washington and Boudreaux from Managua, Nicaragua.