Central America: Tight Smiles, Tense Accord

Forget the warm smiles and bonhomie that usually attend summitry. Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega Saavedra and his Salvadoran counterpart, Alfredo Cristiani, kept their distance during photo opportunities, and the 20 hours of negotiations sometimes grew strained. But when the five Central American Presidents emerged from their seventh regional summit near San Jose, Costa Rica, they signed a final communique that referred to a common commitment to nudging a stalled peace process.

The declaration included a statement of support for Cristiani’s seven-month- old government and a condemnation of the recent offensive launched by its leftist opponents, the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front. Ortega’s signature was particularly critical, since he has been accused of arming the F.M.L.N. In exchange, Ortega secured a clause urging the U.S. to halt its support of the Nicaraguan contras and to turn over all money earmarked for them to an international commission.

No sooner was the ink dry than Ortega accused the Salvadoran army of dropping bombs on civilian neighborhoods in San Salvador. Cristiani’s post- summit assessment of the Nicaraguan: “I don’t trust Ortega.”