If peace is the absence of hostilities, then peace prevailed in Nicaragua last week. More accurately, a fragile truce seemed to be holding as representatives of the Sandinistas and the contras gathered in the dusty town of Sapoa to approve the fine points of a cease-fire agreement signed there two weeks ago. But the studied exercise in trust was only half the picture. At the very moment contra field commanders and their Sandinista counterparts were meeting, other rebel leaders were in Washington petitioning for additional aid. The appeal netted a fresh infusion of humanitarian funds and the possibility of renewed military assistance should the 60-day cease-fire fail. The confusing signals could only leave skeptics wondering whether the threat of renewed aid was intended to buttress peace, or if the threatened peace was intended to ensure more aid.
Both sides called last week's talks in Sapoa "frank and direct," but "distrustful and incomplete" would be a more apt description. They agreed to create five neutral zones within Nicaragua where rebel troops will congregate while Sandinista and contra leaders continue to negotiate what the Sapoa accord calls a "definitive cease-fire." But the boundaries of the agreed-upon zones remain unfixed, when and how the rebels will disarm is still unclear, and the designation of a "neutral organization" to deliver & humanitarian aid to the contras could become a source of dispute, with some contras favoring a commercial company and the Sandinistas demanding a humanitarian relief group.
In Washington, Congress achieved a surprising consensus on a new $48 million humanitarian-aid package. The assistance, approved overwhelmingly by both the House and the Senate, provides the contras with nearly $18 million in food, clothing and medical supplies over the next six months. An equal amount will be applied toward the medical treatment of Nicaraguan children injured in the seven-year war. In addition, $10 million was allocated to help cover the expenses of the verification commission called for in the Sapoa accord, and $2.5 million was allotted to a U.S. agency to pay the costs of administering the aid program.
The determinedly nonlethal nature of the aid package seemed a tacit acknowledgment that the hostilities are winding down. "This is the kind of stuff you send to refugees, not an army with a fighting future," conceded a State Department official. Still, the Reagan Administration won an important concession from traditional opponents of the contras: House Speaker Jim Wright of Texas promised in writing not to block future consideration of military aid if the peace effort falls apart.