Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, March 20, 1990 TAG: 9003202407
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
"This package . . . is meant to provide a new livelihood for unarmed resistance members who return peacefully to Nicaragua," Aronson said in testimony supporting President Bush's request for $300 million to aid Nicaragua this year.
The aid package includes about $32 million to pay costs of moving rebel fighters and their families back into Nicaragua, and could cover the costs of items like seed, fertilizer and tools to get them started in farming.
Rep. Matthew McHugh, D-N.Y., a member of the House Appropriations foreign operations subcommittee, voiced concern over reports that armed rebels have infiltrated into the country from their camps along the Honduran border and are demanding that enclaves be established where they can remain with their weapons.
"There is a certain degree of skepticism out in the country and in Congress" over the intentions of the rebels, said McHugh, a consistent opponent of the past U.S. policy of financing the Contras.
He called Contra demobilization "the most serious potential problem for the transfer of power" from the leftist Sandinista government to the opposition coalition led by Violeta Chamorro, who won the Feb. 25 election.
Aronson said the administration believes "it's time for the combatants to put their arms down and go back to civic life" but added, "There's no button to push . . . and 10 years of fears on both sides."
One option for easing the rebels back is to establish "enclaves" in the Nicaraguan countryside where the rebels could congregate, with United Nations peacekeeping troops around them as a buffer to separate them from Sandinista soldiers, Aronson said.
The UN is contemplating expanding its peacekeeping force by as many as 800 men, he said. But it was unclear whether Contras would be required to forfeit their weapons before entering Nicaragua, or only after arriving in the enclaves, he added.
"There is jockeying on both sides," Aronson told the subcommittee.
He said plans are also under consideration to establish a church-run verification network in rural Nicaragua which would report any instance of harassment or abuse of returning rebels.
Relocation aid is an important element of the plan, he said. "In exchange for having given up a weapon, we don't want to turn them loose in a devastated area with no way to support seven or eight kids," Aronson said.
by CNB