Reagan calls for more aid for contras

Press, 20 July 1987, Page 10

Reagan calls for more aid for contras

NZPA-Reuter Washington President Reagan has called on the United States Congress to approve new aid for the Nicaraguan contra rebels, saying they were the only obstacle to Soviet domination of Central America. Mr Reagan, in his weekly radio address, said initiatives to bring about a negotiated peace in the region were doomed without the contras, who have been fighting the leftist Sandinista Government in Managua since 1981. “The Soviets know what is at stake in Nicaragua and they know that the freedom fighters are all

that stands between them and domination of the entire region,” he said on the eve of the eighth anniversary of the Sandinista victory over the dictator, Anastasio Somoza. Mr Reagan’s address came less than a week after the dismissed White House aide, Oliver North, completed his testimony before Congressional committees investigating the Iran-contra scandal. Under investigation is the White House’s secret United States arms sales to Iran and the diversion of millions of dollars in proceeeds to the contras. Col. North’s emotional

testimony included frequent appeals for continued contra aid and the White House said it would try to capitalise on the widespread sympathy the televised hearings won for North. In his radio address, Mr Reagan did not mention how much aid he would seek nor when he would send the request to Congress. But officials have said he is considering seeking up to SUSI4O million — more than the SUSIOS million expected before Col. North’s testimony — and could go to Congress with the request within a month.