The World - News from Oct. 5, 1989

Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard A. Shevardnadze proposed a broad new role for Moscow in Central America, offering to join the United States as a guarantor of a pact to limit the region’s armies. Shevardnadze, speaking at the end of a 24-hour visit to Nicaragua before leaving for Cuba, also pledged that the Soviet Union would continue a freeze in arms shipments to Managua, offered to mediate between the Salvadoran government and leftist rebels, and proposed establishing diplomatic relations with every country in the region. At a press conference, Nicaraguan officials committed the nation to making public all arms purchases and proposed regional negotiations on security issues.