Central America Potholes on the Road to Peace

For months the Presidents of five Central American countries had been signaling new hopes for peace in their embattled region. The focus for that optimism was a proposal they planned to discuss at a June 25 regional summit meeting in Guatemala City. But last week, following a flutter of U.S. diplomacy in the region, the peace initiative appeared to collapse. Salvadoran President Jose Napoleon Duarte, Washington's closest ally in Central America, demanded a postponement of the meeting. Meanwhile, President Reagan held a hastily arranged, one-hour session at the White House with the author of the peace plan, Costa Rican President Oscar...