Bush Orders $2.6 Million in Medical Aid

WASHINGTON — President Bush will invoke emergency authority to send $2.6 million in medical aid to Nicaragua in time for today’s inauguration of Violeta Barrios de Chamorro as president, congressional and Administration aides said Tuesday.

The move is timed to give Vice President Dan Quayle the chance to deliver good news when he represents Bush at the swearing-in ceremony in Managua, sources said.

Bush’s request for $300 million to begin economic recovery in Nicaragua had been stalled on Capitol Hill by a dispute over unrelated legislation. That snarl was resolved late Tuesday.

The stopgap medical aid is being provided under a little-used section of the foreign assistance law that permits the President to use up to $10 million a year for “any emergency purposes.”