Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, April 26, 1990 TAG: 9004260397
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: MANAGUA, NICARAGUA LENGTH: Medium
Her decision to keep Gen. Humberto Ortega, brother of outgoing Sandinista President Daniel Ortega, in charge of the army drew immediate criticism.
"This blessed Nicaragua, instead of burying its sons in a fratricidal war, will bury its weapons forever, so the cannon will never roar again," Chamorro told a crowd of 20,000 in a Managua baseball stadium.
But some combatants were not ready to lay down their arms. Outside the mountain hamlet of El Destino, several hundred Contra rebels rejected a U.N. peacekeeper's call to begin handing over their weapons about two hours after the inauguration.
An estimated 9,000 Contras inside Nicaragua are to gather in coming days in five security enclaves for demobilization.
At El Destino, top rebel chief Israel Galeano delivered a stinging anti-Sandinista speech and vowed to be the last to lay down his own gun.
The transition follows nine years of a U.S.-backed insurgency in which 30,000 people died. Chamorro inherits a nation of 3.5 million residents that resembles an armed camp and an economy shattered by the U.S. trade embargo and rampant inflation.
Her inauguration brought immediate resumption of U.S. aid.
Daniel Ortega lashed at the United States for supporting an "unjust and cruel war," and promised to lead a constructive opposition.
Chamorro said Gen. Humberto Ortega will head the army but she will assume the post of defense minister to "direct personally the processes of demobilization and demilitarization and to put an end to the war."
She said she would order Gen. Ortega to plan a reduction of the Sandinista army and she got her biggest cheer when she decreed an end to the extremely unpopular draft. She said draftees already in service would be released early.
Chamorro also said she would grant "a wide and unconditional amnesty" to those responsible for political crimes.
The Ortega appointment drew objections from Chamorro's allies. At least two top prominent anti-Sandinista leaders said they would not serve in Chamorro's Cabinet because of it.
Dignitaries from 83 countries, including Vice President Dan Quayle, and nine international organizations attended the inauguration.
Quayle brought symbolic gifts of flour and cooking oil, the first installment of $24 million in U.S. food aid. Nicaragua's economy has faltered so much under last year's 1,800 percent inflation rate that shortages of food occurred, requiring the importing of such staples as beans and rice.
He also brought word that President Bush has approved $2.5 million in medical supplies.
by CNB