Sandinist chief urges U.S. ‘contrition’

Press, 21 July 1986, Page 10

Sandinist chief urges U.S. ‘contrition’

NZPA-Reuter Esteli Nicaragua Nicaragua’s President, Mr Daniel Ortega Saavedra, comparing Ronald Reagan with Nero and Hitler, urged the United States to make an “act of contrition” by accepting a World Court ruling barring its support for the “contra” rebels.

In a speech marking the seventh anniversary of the revolution that brought the Sandlnists to power in 1979, Mr Ortega said Nicaragua would seek a special United Nations Security Council meeting if Washington did not respect the decision by July 27. In the ruling, on June 27, the World Court, a United Nations body based in The Hague, said United States support for the “contras” was illegal and called on Washington to pay Nicaragua compensation for the rebel attacks. The United States refused to recognise the decision.

The Reagan Administration “is acting like an outlaw by not accepting justice. We urge it to accept the World Court ruling, to see if it will

make an act of contrition,” Mr Ortega told a crowd estimated at 50,000 yesterday.

“The prospects are for greater aggression because the U.S. Government is bent on maintaining its war against the Nicaraguan people.” Washington threatened to embroil all of Central America in a “total war.”

Mr Ortega was flanked by four other “comandantes” of the nine-man Sandinist directorate. Delegates from more than 40 countries, including Czechoslovakia and the Soviet Union, attended the ceremony.

Mr Ortega compared Mr Reagan with Hitler and Nero and said Nicaragua was “a stronghold of democracy in Latin America.” Democracy meant giving land, food, education and health to the people. He challenged neighbouring Honduras and Costa Rica, where the “contras” have been active, to do the same. Mr Ortega called on Central American Governments not to let themselves be used as “instruments of U.S. policy.” The ceremony was held in Esteli to honour the

“heroism” of people in the north in fending off “U.S. aggression,” he said. Esteli, a key centre of Sandinist operations during the revolution, is the capital of a department of the same name that has been a focus for activities of the Nicaraguan Democratic Force, the largest of the “contra” forces.

The ceremony was overshadowed by predictions of increased bloodshed after United States congressional action on Mr Reagan’s request for SUSIOO million in aid for the “contras”. The House of Representatives and the Senate have approved different aid bills, but their measures have not been reconciled. Foes of “contra” aid say they will block the aid.

Since coming to power on July 19, 1979, after a broad-based revolution against the former United States-backed dictator, Anastasio Somoza, the Sandinists have attracted increasing hostility from Washington.

Mr Reagan has accused them of spreading Marxist revolution throughout the Western hemisphere.