Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, March 28, 1990 TAG: 9003280594
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A/1 EDITION: EVENING
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: MANAGUA, NICARAGUA LENGTH: Medium
The agreement, reached late Tuesday, stresses that the demobilization of the Contra rebels is crucial if a civilian government led by Chamorro is to take over from the Sandinistas on April 25 as scheduled.
Dismantling of the rebel force that once had strong U.S. backing "constitutes an essential element for creating the climate of peace, stability and tranquility in which the transfer of government should take place," the agreement says.
The heads of the transition teams signed the preliminary agreement after a month of negotiations. Chamorro defeated President Daniel Ortega in free elections on Feb. 25.
Control of the security forces is a key issue in the transition from a decade-old leftist revolutionary government to the conservative United National Opposition, or UNO.
Under the agreement, the Sandinista army and police will become non-partisan organizations under Chamorro's control; only these institutions should have combat weapons.
The accord also says the size of Nicaragua's armed forces, which Soviet aid built into the largest in Central America, will be determined by the "economic capacity and social necessity of the nation."
Chamorro campaigned on a promise to end the draft and drastically cut the size of the military, which consumes half the national budget in this impoverished country.
The Sandinistas, openly reluctant to relinquish their armed forces and police while the Contras remain intact, have been handing out thousands of weapons since their stunning election loss and urging people to defend the "conquests of the revolution."
Those "conquests" include thousands of houses and farms confiscated by the Sandinistas. The accord says the new government will respect the rights of people who were given confiscated property before election day.
The transition document was signed by Defense Minister Humberto Ortega, head of the Sandinista transition team and the president's brother, and Antonio Lacayo, head of the UNO team and a son-in-law of Chamorro.
Lacayo said the agreement foresees the demobilization of the Contras by April 25.
Ortega said it was necessary to "isolate, neutralize and put in their right place those who aren't on the path of peace and democracy that is opening in Nicaragua."
He said he was confident that the Contras would be dismantled "once and for all" whether they want to be or not.
by CNB