Urging Congress To Up the Ante

Two Presidents make a pitch

It was a clear case of like-mindedness. Against a backdrop of growing concern in Congress over the Administration's Central American policy, El Salvador's provisional President, Alvaro Alfredo Magaña, on his first official trip to Washington, and President Reagan emerged from two hours of White House meetings last week to issue none-too-subtle pitches aimed straight at Capitol Hill. Both Presidents stressed support for Salvadoran democracy, land reform and human rights—prime congressional priorities.

"I want to appeal to the honorable members of Congress to support the efforts of President Reagan to aid El Salvador," said Magaña. ". . . A weak, vacillating commitment endangers peace and hemispheric security." Reagan applauded Magaña's "admirable progress in the difficult task of moving El Salvador toward democracy . . . The people of that brave country deserve and have our support." Reagan also lauded Magaña for his attempts to encourage all Salvadorans, including the extreme left, to participate in the electoral process. Said Reagan: "This is the true path of peace for that country."

In fact, while prospects for any kind of rapprochement between the Magaña government and the guerrillas remain slim, U.S. Special Envoy Richard Stone nonetheless returned from a twelve-day, ten-country "listening tour" of Central America in an unexpectedly sanguine mood about starting some kind of dialogue between the rebels and the Salvadoran government. He is expected to express an emphasis on reconciliation in his report to the President this week. Predicted one National Security Council staffer: "I would not be at all surprised to see a dialogue worked out." The Magaña government, backed by the Reagan Administration, has long insisted that the guerrillas must win their political power at the voting booth, not the bargaining table.

Stone ended his trip in Mexico City with a strong statement on Tuesday in support of the Contadora group—four Latin American countries, led by Mexico and Venezuela—that have been seeking a regional solution to the fighting. Speaking in passable Spanish, the former Florida Senator said the Reagan Administration would "defer" to the countries involved and not "impose our own agenda."