Contadora: peace process in Central America.

On its first anniversary in January 1984, the peace effort gained new momentum. Meeting in Panama City, the Contadora Group and the Foreign Ministers of Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua adopted specific measures designed to fulfil commitments made earlier in the year in an effort to restore harmony and stability in Central america. It was the twelfth meeting of the Contadora Group and the fifth held jointly with the Central American Foreign Ministers.

The measures called for include reduction of military forces in the region, withdrawal of foreign advisers, ending of foreign military interference and establishment of machinery to facilitate dialogue between countries of the region and to ensure fair and free elections.

Over the past year, the efforts of the Contadora Group have received widespread endorsement. The Security Council, the General Assembly, the President of the General Assembly and the Secretary-General have expressed their support, as have the countries of the Non-Aligned Movement and the Organization of American States (OAS). Leaders including Cuban Premier Fidel Castro and United States President Ronald Reagan have spoken in favour of the Contadora process.

"The question of Central America should be resolved within the context of the region and by peaceful means through negotiations", Secretary-General Javier Perez de Cuellar affirmed at his year-end press conference on 21 December 1983. "And I think we should give the most honest--I repeat, the most honest--support to the Contadora effort."

The General Assembly, in resolution 38/10 adopted on 11 November without a vote, expressed its "firmest support for the efforts of the Contadora Group" and urged States of the region and outside to refrain from military operations which might hamper the negotiations the Group was undertaking with the agreement of the Governments of Central America. The Assembly welcomed the Cancun Declaration signed by the Contadora Presidents in July and the "Document of Objectives" endorsed by the Governments of Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua in October as the basis for the start of negotiations to ensure harmonious co-existence in Central America.

Last May, the Security Council, in resolution 530 (1983), which reaffired the right of Nicaragua and all other countries of Central America to live in peace and security, free from outside interference, urged the Contadora Group to "spare no effort to find solutions to the problem of the region".

"The resolution was adopted following the Council's debate on a Nicaraguan complaint of invasion by "Somozist forces operating out of Honduras and financed, trained and supported by the present United States Administration".)

Following is a brief history of the Contadora initiative. Contadora Declaration

"At our first meeting", the four Foreign Ministers of the Contadora Group later reported to the OAS (document A/38/599), "we emphasized the need to strengthen the Latin American dialogue as an effective way of dealing with the political, economic and social problems that are jeopardizing peace, democracy, stability and development of the peoples of the hemisphere".

In the Contadora Declaration (document A/38/68) issued by the Group after that first meeting (8-9 January 1983), they made an "urgent appeal" to the countries of Central America to "engage in dialogue and negotiation...