NICARAGUA INTERVENTION OVERCOME : Credit Efforts of Diplomats, Not Guns of the Warriors : The election indeed was a historic achievement. But the ‘better future’ will require sacrifice of all.

Violeta Barrios de Chamorro’s triumph in Nicaragua’s election is one of those historic victories that has many parents--and it will take further hard work and good judgment by them all to make this a lasting gain.

Among those deserving credit for this remarkable outcome are Chamorro and the National Opposition Union; President Bush and Secretary of State James A. Baker III; President Oscar Arias Sanchez of Costa Rica and the Central American peace process that he launched almost single-handedly three years ago; the international observers who guaranteed the fairness of the electoral process, and above all the people of Nicaragua--including President Daniel Ortega and the Sandinista movement that he leads.

Chamorro, Vice President-elect Virgilio Godoy and the coalition of 14 parties they championed had the courage and conviction to campaign vigorously against an incumbent regime, overcome their many internal differences in order to present the Nicaraguan people with a clear choice and win the support of Nicaragua’s majority. Now they must develop a program for national reconciliation and reconstruction that takes into account the positive changes in Nicaraguan society brought about by the Sandinista revolution and that recognizes the Sandinista movement as a legitimate and popular force. Despite years of economic deprivation and civil war, more than 40% of the Nicaraguan people gave their support to Ortega. This large constituency must be acknowledged. A move by Chamorro to incorporate some Sandinista leaders or key supporters into a government of national reconciliation would send a powerful signal, within Nicaragua and abroad, that a new and brighter chapter in the country’s history is about to begin.

The Bush Administration deserves great credit for last year’s bipartisan accord, personally negotiated by Baker with the Democratic leadership in Congress. Through that accord, the Administration abandoned Ronald Reagan’s policy of military aid to the armed Nicaraguan resistance, the Contras; accepted the Arias framework for Central American peacemaking, and pledged the United States to accept the results of the Nicaraguan election if it was free and fair. This decision to jettison the Contra war lowered the temperature of Washington’s policy debate, produced broad international support for elections in Nicaragua and induced the Sandinista government to campaign for a new mandate. Now the Administration needs to avoid exuberance in reacting to the Sandinistas’ defeat, recognize President Ortega’s role in arranging Nicaragua’s first free and fair presidential vote, express its interest in ensuring the Sandinistas’ right to compete as a democratic political movement, and provide support for Nicaragua’s economic reconstruction.

Arias painstakingly crafted the ingenious combination of inducements and pressure that produced Sunday’s vote. Against skepticism and outright opposition from the Reagan Administration and its senior Latin American policy officials, Arias persistently argued that peace, democracy and development are indivisible in Central America; that U.S. military aid to the Contras was therefore an obstacle to achieving a settlement, and that the prospects for Central America’s future depended on mutual respect among the governments and oppositions of the region. Now Central America’s leaders and opposition parties need to build on the election momentum, work together to seek a compromise peace settlement of El Salvador’s civil war and cooperate closely in putting forward realistic plans for the region’s economic recovery.

The international observers who helped monitor the Nicaraguan campaign, the conditions for the election and the counting of the votes helped to build national and international confidence in the electoral process and its result. Now they may be able to contribute even more, by lending their good offices in the delicate process of peaceful transition and national reconciliation. Jimmy Carter, without doubt the most effective former President in recent American history, may have a special role to play in the coming weeks in helping to ensure that the fundamental rights of all Nicaraguans are respected.

President Daniel Ortega and his colleagues of the Sandinista Front face the difficult task of accepting defeat and transforming their movement once again. Having won power by force and having lost it at the ballot box, the Sandinistas must now learn how to pursue social and economic reforms through peaceful political channels.

Perhaps the toughest challenge, however, is the one facing the people of Nicaragua. The country has suffered greatly in recent years, a victim of internal division and external attack. The economy is in shambles, civic institutions are weak and the whole society--even individual families--has been polarized by a decade of struggle. It will take enormous will and generosity by all Nicaraguans to bind the wounds, rebuild a shattered economy and work together for the “better future” that both parties, in different ways, promised.