Guerrillas Nicaragua

Fidel Castro has an important role to play in achieving peace in Central America, and the Cuban leader has been asked to influence Nicaragua to actively rejoin negotiations for a regional settlement, President Oscar Arias Sanchez of Costa Rica said Thursday. Speaking at a news conference, Arias said he held several conversations with the Cuban president while both were in Quito to attend the inauguration of Ecuador's new president, Rodrigo Borja Cevallos.

President Daniel Ortega of Nicaragua extended a cease-fire with the Contras for another month and called on the U.S.-backed guerrillas to lay down their arms. In a speech to Latin American legislators meeting in Managua, Ortega also accused the United States of trying to block regional peace efforts and said that Nicaragua's war will continue until the White House changes its policy.

About six tons of U.S.-supplied food, clothing and tents have been sent to southern Honduras over the last 10 days to assist a large group of Contras and Nicaraguan civilians who have fled to that area, the State Department said Tuesday. Spokeswoman Phyllis Oakley said the exodus reflects increased repression by the leftist Sandinista government and the dire condition of Contra units that have been left without any means of resupply inside Nicaragua.

President Daniel Ortega declared Saturday that the Sandinistas "have reached the limits of our flexibility" and will make no concessions to bring about a resumption of peace talks with the Contras. "If everyone is worried about peace, they should go tell the United States: If you want peace in Central America, then stop the war against Nicaragua, and peace will come automatically to the region," Ortega said in a toughly worded lecture to Nicaraguan diplomats gathered in Managua.

Nicaraguan rebel leaders Tuesday began what they called a final round of peace talks with the Sandinista government, vowing to seek renewed U.S. military aid if they fail to win satisfactory terms for an armistice. "In three days we will see whether we have guarantees for a permanent peace in Nicaragua or a lack of political will by the Sandinistas to live up to their promises," the chief Contra negotiator, Alfredo Cesar, told reporters.

Secretary of State George P. Shultz on Wednesday began a three-day trip to Central America aimed at reviving the Reagan Administration's moribund diplomacy in the area and persuading U.S. allies in the region to put more pressure on Nicaragua. Shultz arrived in Guatemala City on Wednesday evening and accused Nicaragua's leftist regime of breaking promises to move toward democracy and of "having no compassion for the people of Nicaragua."

Nicaragua's rebels rejected a new Sandinista government proposal to reopen peace talks, charging that the offer was linked to Washington's consideration of military aid for the Contras. "Every time the Americans talk of military aid, they (the Sandinistas) talk of negotiation," Contra leader Roberto Ferrey said in Costa Rica. The Reagan Administration, which has supported the rebels since 1981, is considering whether to ask Congress for renewed military aid.

The leaders of Nicaragua's Contras asked the Reagan Administration for renewed military aid for their guerrilla army Tuesday, but Secretary of State George P. Shultz and National Security Adviser Colin L. Powell said they could not promise any more money for the war. The Contras met with Shultz and Powell in the hope of winning a commitment from the Administration to fight for more aid in Congress, but officials said that the chances of winning a vote for military aid still appear slim.

The Nicaraguan rebels offered Tuesday to extend the country's cease-fire indefinitely but said they still are not ready for renewed talks toward a permanent peace. In a letter to Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega, the Contra leaders said they will continue to observe the cease-fire, which was scheduled to expire Thursday. "This is a demonstration of our desire to bring democracy to Nicaragua without continuing the war," Contra spokesman Bosco Matamoros said.

This country entered a period of deep uncertainty Friday after its highest hopes for ending a six-year-old guerrilla war appeared to collapse. Nicaraguan government and rebel leaders, who broke off six months of peace talks Thursday, said they saw little likelihood of renewing contact soon anywhere but on the battlefield. While each side vowed not to shoot first, both expressed a belief that their 81-day-old truce will not hold for long.