Central America at the Crossroads

For the last seven years, America has been acting as policeman at the juncture between North and South America. From Guatemala and El Salvador to Costa Rica and Panama, the Reagan Doctrine has meant a policy that is steadfastly anti-Communist, anti-terrorist, and pro-democratic. But today, Central American leaders are wondering whether U.S. policy will change after the November presidential elections.

Oscar Arias’s recent remarks at a meeting in Washington with Vice President Bush imply that Central Americans are hedging their bets. The Nobel Prize-winning president of Costa Rica told Bush that U.S. policy toward Noriega is not going to force him from office, although it will hurt Panama’s economy. Arias also called on the U.S. to pressure the Contras to reach an accord with the Sandinistas. One day later, he turned his rhetoric on Gorbachev, accusing the Soviets of “not doing all in their power” to force the Sandinistas to pursue reconciliation with their democratic opposition.

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John McLaughlin

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For the last seven years, America has been acting as policeman at the juncture between North and South America. From Guatemala and El Salvador to Costa Rica and Panama, the Reagan Doctrine has meant a policy that is steadfastly anti-Communist, anti-terrorist, and pro-democratic. But today, Central American leaders are wondering whether U.S. policy will change after the November presidential elections.

Oscar Arias’s recent remarks at a meeting in Washington with Vice President Bush imply that Central Americans are hedging their bets. The Nobel Prize-winning president of Costa Rica told Bush that U.S. policy toward Noriega is not going to force him from office, although it will hurt Panama’s economy. Arias also called on the U.S. to pressure the Contras to reach an accord with the Sandinistas. One day later, he turned his rhetoric on Gorbachev, accusing the Soviets of “not doing all in their power” to force the Sandinistas to pursue reconciliation with their democratic opposition.