Secretary-General reaffirms support for Contadora efforts after four-day peace mission to region; appeals for common efforts towards political solution, large-scale economic development plan.

Secretary-General reaffirms support for Contadora efforts after four-day peace mission to region

AFTER participating in a four-daypeace mission to the Central American region from 18 to 21 January, Secretary-General Javier Perez de Cuellar again appealed to the five Governments of Central America to "join together to seek political solutions to the problems that divide them'.

He also urged "all the other States,above all those with ties to and interests in the region, to facilitate a negotiated solution to the crisis and to join forces to establish a co-ordinated plan of large-scale economic assistance' for Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua.

The four Foreign Ministers of theContadora Group had organized the peace initiative in the wake of a December meeting in Rio de Janeiro, asking for the participation of representatives of its Support Group and the Secretaries-General of both the United Nations and the Organization of American States.

(The Foreign Ministers of the ContadoraGroup are: Julio Londono Paredes of Colombia, Bernardo Sepulvedo Amor of Mexico, Jorge Abadia Arias of Panama and Simon Alberto Consalvi of Venezuela. The Support Group was represented by Foreign Ministers Dante Caputo of Argentina, Roberto de Abreu Sodre of Brazil, Allan Wagner Tizon of Peru and Enrique V. Iglesias of Uruguay.)

Mr. Perez de Cuellar and OASSecretary-General Joao Clemente Baena Soares on 28 November had extended a joint offer of services to bring to the attention of the Contadora and Support Groups the resources available through their organizations, "with the aim of promoting or, where appropriate, complementing the Contadora peace initiatives'.

In a 12 February report (A/42/127S/18686) on the trip, Mr. Perez de Cuellar stated: "The countries of the isthmus, which have common ethnic, cultural and linguistic roots and a combined population of not more than 25 million, must overcome their differences, however serious they may appear, for they pale by comparison with what historically has been their common enemy: underdevelopment.'

Overcoming underdevelopment, hesaid, "would be the best way to guarantee a just and lasting peace in Central America and also to dispel any security concerns which third parties might have'.

On 18 January, the eight ForeignMinisters and Messrs. Perez de Cuellar and Baena Soares met in Panama City to formulate a joint position to be put forward during their mission.

During the next two days, the 10men visited the five Central American countries, meeting with Presidents Oscar Arias-Sanchez of Costa Rica, Daniel Ortega Saavedra of Nicaragua, Marco Cerezo Arevalo of Guatemala, Jose Azcona of Honduras and Jose Napoleon Duarte of El Salvador, and other high officials of each nation.

The mission ended on 21 Januaryin Mexico City, with the eight Foreign Ministers issuing a joint communique (see below), in which they invited the parties concerned to "move towards an essential convergence of views which will permit the immediate resumption of the political dialogue and, through this channel, the reactivation of the negotiating process'.

"Serious situation'

Secretary-General Perez de Cuellarreported on 12 February that the peace mission had led him to the realization that the five Central American Governments "maintain, with different degrees of emphasis and with nuances, their commitment to the basic principles underlying the Contadora approach'.

He noted, however, that "this meetingof the minds, which should lay the basis for reactivating the negotiating process, is currently neutralized by other factors'. Such factors include: the "growing climate of mistrust between certain States in the area; the impact of factors external to the region; the difficulties which the parties are having translating their stated desire for peace into specific actions; and the existence of a vicious circle with respect . . . to the international democratization process and . . . the principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of other States and of non-use of force'.

There were also objections, he said,to resuming the dialogue "which are basically of a purely procedural nature'. Given the necessary political will, it was hoped that formulas would be found to dispel those and other obstacles.

Mr. Perez de Cuellar also referredto the deep impression on him made by the natural disasters which had be-fallen the capitals of both Nicaragua and El Salvador, stating that these underscored the need to draw up an emergency plan for the reconstruction and large-scale economic development for the region, which in turn would help facilitate the solution of the political crisis it was undergoing.

He also drew attention to "one ofthe most painful consequences' of the crisis of the area--the growing number of refugees in neighbouring countries. An overall peace agreement in Central America would clearly help create conditions favourable to voluntary repatriation, but in the meantime steps should be taken to improve their living conditions "while resisting any temptation to use them for purposes of proselytism or political propaganda'.

Joint communique

In their 21 January communique(A/42/98-S/18637), the Contadora and Support Groups said the main objectives of the peace initiative had been to "ascertain the political interpretation of the Central American Heads of State regarding the problems of the region, to identify measures to permit the resumption of the negotiations, to consider actions that might promote a peaceful solution and thus to encourage a climate of mutual trust between the Governments of the area'.

All heads of State of the countriesof the area, they stated, "acknowledged the serious deterioration of the situation in Central America, reflected basically in a warlike escalation and in the deadlock of the diplomatic negotiations'.

They had reiterated the need toachieve the goals of peace, cooperation, security and democracy, which were the "guiding principles of the Contadora process', and had outlined initiatives to overcome the "existing critical situation'.

The major obstacles impeding dialogue,the Foreign Ministers reported, seemed to be "the result of differing conceptions of the manner of tackling the problems and promoting solutions to serious differences of a political nature, and of the persistence of acts violating international law'.

Also, the necessary political will stilldid not exist to put into effect various conciliatory proposals that had been made. Nevertheless, the five Presidents had "expressly informed the mission that the Contadora forum is still the best instrument for achieving a negotiated solution to the regional conflict'.

They also reiterated their determinationto maintain a dialogue with all the countries directly or indirectly involved in the conflict, including the United States, "whose Government publicly states its support for the Contadora process and whose contribution is needed in order to achieve a peaceful solution of the regional conflict'.

They reiterated their determinationto continue to encourage the diplomatic negotiations, and that expressions of political will conveyed to them by the heads of State be "translated into specific deeds'. They also exhorted all parties involved to refrain from the use of force "and from any act that might impede the process of negotiation, which is the only viable road to the peace desired by the Central American peoples'.

"Latent threat': Secretary-GeneralPerez de Cuellar, in Mexico City on 22 January, told a ministerial-level special conference of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) that "the latent threat to peace' in Central America was "not so much a local problem as an example of how internal problems arising from unjust social and political structures are exacerbated by foreign interference and thus come to form part of the East-West conflict'.

Citing positive changes in CentralAmerica, such as growing democratization and greater respect for human rights, he said: "What we must do now is ensure that these achievements are followed by a change in economic trends so that democratization in the political area is accompanied by greater economic progress and equitable distribution of wealth, for without the prospect of a steady improvement in the living conditions of the peoples of the region--who have recently suffered serious setbacks--the process of political liberalization will be jeopardized.' (See story, next page.)

During the trip, Secretary-GeneralPerez de Cuellar also met privately with the regional heads of State to discuss bilateral matters of concern to the United Nations and the countries involved, and the role the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees might play in regard to the refugee situation in Central America.

Photo: Secretary-General Javier Perez de Cuellar (left) with Jorge Abadia Arias, Foreign Minister of Panama (right) and Joao Clemente Baena Soares, Secretary-General of the Organization of American States, in Panama City on 18 January, at the outset of their peace mission.

Photo: The Secretary-General regularly meets with representatives of the Contadora Group--Colombia, Mexico, Panama and Venezuela--and its Support Group--Argentina, Brazil, Peru and Uruguay.

Photo: A life of stability, prosperity and peace is being sought for all Central Americans.

Photo: Costa Rican President Oscar Arias-Sanchez, shown here withthe Secretary-General during the 1986 General Assembly, put forward in February new peace proposals for Central America.