O.C. Group Organizing Private Aid to Nicaragua : Charity: Former Contra supporters work to preserve the fledgling democracy by improving citizens’ lives.

Beating their swords into baseball bats and saxophones, a group of former Nicaraguan Contra supporters from Southern California have transformed their battle against communism into a charitable effort to preserve the fledgling democracy.

The success of Nicaragua’s newly elected government, they concede, may not hinge on its philosophy of freedom as much as its ability to make life better--even in little, but noticeable, ways.

So in Orange County, Republican Party Chairman Thomas Fuentes began collecting musical instruments for Nicaraguan schoolchildren after he heard the national anthem at last year’s inauguration of President Violeta Barrios de Chamorro played on a phonograph.

And this fall, one of America’s finest ambassadors of goodwill--baseball Hall of Famer Ernie Banks--is planning to travel to Managua and coach Little League in a nation of baseball fans so dedicated that they follow American teams on local radio.

“We know the future of Nicaragua is in its youth,” said Jay Hoffman, a former fund-raiser for the Contras who recently introduced Banks to Nicaragua’s vice president, Virgilio Godoy Reyes. “Some people may think it’s over-simplistic or trivial to think baseball can help democracy . . . but it’s a small help. It’s something.”

“It’s really for the kids,” Banks said. “We owe it to them.”

Already in Managua, some bridges and walls that had been splattered with political graffiti are now freshly painted with nearly 20,000 gallons of surplus beige and green paint collected by Orange County Republicans.

Organizers have also established two committees--one designing and soliciting donations for a computer to modernize Managua’s City Hall and the other intended to foster business relationships and bank loans between the United States and Nicaragua.

Last month, Godoy Reyes was in Southern California to meet with the organizers of the private American aid and to deliver his thanks for what had been done so far.

“We have found, in this place, friendship and cooperation,” the vice president said through an interpreter. “There is a good feeling in this place, and we feel comfortable with you.”

Chamorro and Godoy Reyes took office in April, 1990, after their surprise electoral victory over Sandinista leader Daniel Ortega ended the bloody civil war that had rallied President Reagan and Republican conservatives. But since the country’s plight dropped from headlines in the United States, Nicaragua has continued to struggle with some devastating economic and social problems.

Rampant inflation has severely devalued the currency. And Chamorro has been under fire from several allies--including Godoy Reyes and the American contributors--for allowing Sandinistas to retain authority in the government and the military.

Recently, after two days of violence and bombings, Ortega threatened that his party faithful could take up arms again if the National Assembly voted to force Sandinista leaders to return property seized in the last days of their administration.

“To achieve a democracy is not so easy,” said Andres Zuniga, a chief assistant to the mayor of Managua who has served as the city’s liaison with the American contributors. “We are a dictatorship’s children . . . and sometimes I have a clash with people because they don’t know what democracy is.”

The interest of the Southern California contributors--including U.S. Senate candidate Bruce Herschensohn--stems from a desire to stop communist expansion in Central America. That cause, they say, did not end with the defeat of Ortega’s communist government.

Instead, they believe that communism could return to Nicaragua and spread to other Latin American countries if Chamorro’s struggling democracy fails.

“There are still very strong Sandinista forces who would like to see this democratic effort fail,” said Fuentes. “I don’t know if paint and trombones or clarinets are political, (but) it’s a service from the government to the people so that someday maybe people will say, ‘Hey, it’s better today than it was under the Sandinistas.’ ”

The individuals involved in the contribution effort say they are not part of a formal organization or political party but rather a network of contacts facilitated by a mutual interest in opposing communism and supporting Nicaragua’s democratic government.

They did not disclose details about the number of participants in the effort or the amount of cash donated to Nicaragua. And they said some of the corporate contributors asked not to be identified.

But they talked about some of the major projects under way, notably the donation of a computer with an estimated market value of nearly $300,000 and the export of American baseball stars.

Hoffman said he joined with former Chicago Cubs All-Star Banks through the ex-ballplayer’s Let’s Play Two Foundation, a nonprofit group aimed at bringing baseball to youth. Hoffman said he and Banks are working together to plan a trip to Nicaragua after the baseball season that should also include several other major-league stars.

A Western diplomat in Managua said it is difficult to track the private assistance from Americans to Nicaragua and the impact it is having on stabilization of the government. But he said the visit by U.S. baseball stars is one of the most anxiously anticipated programs.

“Nicaraguans are fanatics about baseball; everybody has their favorite (U.S.) teams, and all the radio stations--Sandinista or government--carry baseball games,” he said. “This is a nice initiative because there isn’t much in the way of diversions for the young people.”

The computer being prepared for Managua’s City Hall is intended to process personal records such as property deeds and marriage certificates, which now takes several months because it is done entirely by hand. With the proposed computer in place, however, Managua’s record-keeping system will be more sophisticated than that of many American localities, including Orange County’s, participants said.

“They’re going from nothing to a rocket ship of a computer,” said Marold H. Kamai, a partner in a Fountain Valley computer company called Consultech. Kamai said he expects to travel to Nicaragua and oversee the installation of the computer as well as help in the training of its users.

“In the long run, Managua, Nicaragua, is going to remember what the United States did for them in this regard,” said Kamai, who volunteered his time and skills. “And as you make those kinds of emotional deposits in the people of Nicaragua, they will start to believe the democratic government is the way to go.”

Hoffman, a Republican political consultant in Los Angeles and director of Herschensohn’s political action committee Leadership to Preserve America, became involved with Nicaraguan leaders through his previous effort to help supply military aid to the Contras.

Others, like Fuentes, were introduced to Nicaragua’s democratic leaders in January, 1990, when Godoy Reyes conducted a series of U.S. fund-raisers for Chamorro’s campaign that included one in Los Angeles co-hosted by Herschensohn.

“Even then, the analysis was that (Chamorro) was going to go down in flames,” Herschensohn said recently. “But when I finally got the invitation to go to the inauguration . . . it was one of the most exciting days of my life.”

Hoffman organized the Nicaraguan fund-raising tour in the United States and raised about $75,000 for Chamorro’s campaign. But the money came slowly, he said.

“They were met with a lot of warmth and a lot of understanding, but there was a sense of hopelessness,” he said. “Outside of the hard core, it was very hard to raise money.”

Buck Johns, a developer who hosted one of the fund-raisers at his home in Newport Beach, said frankly: “I thought the chances of them winning that election were slim and none, but they were nice people, and they were on the right side of the issue.

“There was a certain kind of excitement associated with these people who have taken massive risks for democracy. We think what we have done is so great; well, you can hear their heartbeats across the room.”

SANDINISTAS SPLIT: Reformers divide movement as it gropes for new identity. A8