WASHINGTON — The Clinton administration and international donor organizations, heeding a warning from four Central American presidents that the ravages of Hurricane Mitch are endangering democracy in their countries, pledged more than $1 billion Thursday in relief and interest-free loans to the devastated region.
"You are our neighbors, our friends, our partners," Undersecretary of State Stuart E. Eizenstat said during an emergency meeting of the visiting presidents and a group of donor organizations. "When you suffer, we suffer. When you hurt, we hurt with you. When you need help, we are there to help."
It was not clear, however, whether the promises of aid would match the enormous need.
Describing the extent of the horror six weeks ago, President Carlos Flores of Honduras said Thursday that the storm "destroyed 50 years of efforts to build an infrastructure and stole away assets of two generations of Hondurans."
It has been estimated that Honduras, which bore the storm's fury, suffered economic losses of $1.2 billion. Nicaragua's government has estimated that reconstruction, including the cost of building improved homes, roads and bridges, will come to $1.5 billion.
Mitch, which was a tropical storm by the time it made landfall, left more than 9,000 people dead across Central America.
All the Central American presidents struck a similar theme when they warned that their devastated populations, if not given considerable help, could turn on their nascent democratic governments.
"If special, large-scale external support is not forthcoming," Nicaraguan President Arnoldo Aleman said, "risks will be posed for the still-fragile and vulnerable framework of democracy."
Overwhelmed by the costs of relief and reconstruction, the governments of Nicaragua and Honduras insist that they are unable to pay the interest on their foreign debts. Nicaragua owes a total of $6.3 billion to outsiders, while Honduras owes $4.1 billion.
Help was promised on the debt burden, but the extent was unclear. The Paris Club, an organization of rich industrial lender nations that includes the U.S., is asking the International Monetary Fund to work out programs of debt relief with the countries.
Eizenstat said the U.S. is prepared to forgive 90% of Nicaragua's debt and 67% of Honduras' debt. But these debts--U.S. loans of $144 million to Honduras and $94 million to Nicaragua--are only a small part of the total foreign debt of these countries. In addition, the debt relief would have to be approved by Congress.
