Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, May 16, 1990 TAG: 9005160414
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
"My country is bankrupt," President Violeta Chamorro said in a Friday cable to President Bush.
Nicaragua's reserves "are insufficient to fulfill our obligations coming due in the next 30 days," said Chamorro, citing a 70 percent per month inflation rate. A copy of the cable was obtained Tuesday.
White House spokesman Marlin Fitzwater said the administration was "looking into possibilities of doing something along the lines of what she requests" as the push for passage of Bush's entire $300 million Nicaraguan aid request continued.
"If we can't get something fairly quickly [from Congress], we are taking a look to see if there are some kind of loans or something that can help her out in the short term," Fitzwater said.
Vice President Virgilio Godoy said the opposition Sandinistas were trying to overthrow Chamorro, who defeated President Daniel Ortega in the Feb. 25 election.
As arrangements for a Treasury Department loan were being considered, there were indications from Capitol Hill that lawmakers were preparing to act on Bush's original aid package. But there was no telling when funds would actually reach Nicaragua.
House Speaker Thomas Foley, D-Wash., said he wanted a House vote Thursday on an authorization bill that would provide $300 million for Nicaragua and $420 million for Panama.
However, House-Senate negotiators had to resolve their differences over the spending package, which has been muddied with billions of dollars of tack-on issues.
Senate Minority Leader Bob Dole, R-Kan., said Tuesday that Chamorro has been treated unfairly.
"We were telling her . . . that if she was elected she could count on us," Dole said. "The final result is Congress is still playing games and she doesn't have anything to show for it."
Chamorro told Bush that she needed the loan to cover a dire economic crisis and "to avoid a critical situation that may be looming in the very near future." She accused the Sandinistas of "taking advantage of the situation to create instability."
by CNB