Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, April 18, 1990 TAG: 9004180499
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A/7 EDITION: EVENING
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: MANAGUA, NICARAGUA LENGTH: Medium
A top aide to President-elect Violeta Barrios de Chamorro said after talks late Tuesday involving the Contras and the Sandinistas that the possibility of Nicaraguans finally living in peace is "enormous."
The Sandinistas, defeated at the polls in February, had predicted a fresh outbreak of fighting unless the thousands of Contra fighters who have since flooded into the country from Honduras lay down their arms.
Sandinista and UNO negotiators said they expected to sign a cease-fire agreement with the Contras today.
Contra negotiators did not comment after leaving the talks, which focused on who should hold arms when her United National Opposition coalition takes office a week from today.
The rebel delegation arrived for talks Tuesday saying the Contras would not lay down their arms until the military - built and dominated by the Sandinistas during their decade in power - is dismantled and replaced by a police force.
The Contras have said Nicara- The Sandinistas, defeated at the polls in February, had predicted a fresh outbreak of fighting unless the thousands of Contra fighters who have since flooded into the country from Honduras lay down their arms. gua should follow the example of Costa Rica, a stable democracy that dismantled its army in 1948.
But after the 6 1/2-hour meeting, the rebel delegation appeared flexible.
Chief Contra negotiator Oscar Sovalbarro said demands that the Sandinistas disarm "are aspects that must be negotiated."
Maj. Gen. Joaquin Cuadra, deputy defense minister and chief of staff of the Sandinista army, said that "with political will," the Contras could be dismantled by the time Chamorro takes office.
But UNO negotiator Leopoldo Navarro said the participants would have to be flexible about the April 25 deadline demanded by the Sandinistas.
Early in the day, the Sandinista press had expressed concern that a new round of war could break out.
It quoted the general secretary of the Sandinista Labor Federation as saying Sandinista workers would seize "strategic points" in Managua if the Contras refuse to disarm. The union claims 100,000 members.
One pro-Sandinista daily, El Nuevo Diario, said in a front-page headline: "Either the Contras Demobilize before the 25th or a General Strike Explodes."
But after the meeting Antonio Lacayo, Chamorro's son-in-law and a leading aide, struck an optimistic tone: "There are enormous possibilities of assuring peace in Nicaragua."
The negotiations were the first involving UNO, the Contras and the Sandinistas since Chamorro's 14-party coalition defeated the Sandinistas in Feb. 25 elections.
Chamorro will take office for six years and her administration is counting on a peaceful Nicaragua to deliver on her key campaign promise of reviving the economy.
Under a protocol agreement signed by UNO and the administration of outgoing President Daniel Ortega, Chamorro pledged to respect the army's "professionalism" but said officers would be barred from serving as political party leaders, as is now the case.
Both Ortega and Chamorro have called on the Contras to disband.
by CNB