ARIAS GRANTED NOBEL PRIZE
PEACE AWARD CITES LATIN PACT
Author: By Philip Bennett, Globe Staff
Date: Wednesday, October 14, 1987
Page: 1
Section: NATIONAL/FOREIGN
SAN SALVADOR -- President Oscar Arias of Costa Rica, whose efforts to end
years of armed conflict in Central America have stirred new hope in the
region, yesterday was awarded the 1987 Nobel Peace Prize.
Arias is the driving force behind a peace agreement signed Aug. 7 by five
Central American presidents. Arias, the principal author of the accord, is
widely credited with persuading Costa Rica's feuding neighbors to take a
united stand for peace.
The Nobel Prize could add momentum to the Central American peace process
with the approach of Nov. 7, the date the accord's provisions are to take
effect. The agreement calls for a cease-fire in the region, an end to outside
aid to rebels and guarantees of political freedom in each of the five
countries.
Among other obstacles, the peace plan faces strong opposition from the
Reagan administration, which would be prohibited from aiding contra rebels
fighting to overthrow the Nicaraguan government. Arias has criticized promises
by President Reagan to seek an additional $270 million from Congress to
support the contras.
For Arias, a 46-year-old lawyer who became president in May 1986, the award
was another milestone in a search for a negotiated peace in Central America
that few thought would advance as far as it has.
Speaking with reporters in Costa Rica yesterday, Arias said news of the
award came as an "incredible surprise" while he, his wife and his two children
vacationed at a seaside resort.
"I accept for Costa Rica, for peace and for Central America, where 25
million human beings deserve to look to the future with optimism and some hope
of progress," he said in an interview broadcast on Costa Rican radio. "We must
not forget that right now the eyes of the world are looking toward Central
America, and this small geographical section of the map has suffered."
The king of Norway will present the $340,000 award to Arias in Oslo Dec.
10. Arias said he will use the money to form a "foundation for Costa Rica's
neediest citizens." He is the fourth Latin American to win the prize in its
86-year history.
Arias was an undergraduate briefly at Boston University from 1959-60. He
later studied law and economics and received degrees from the University of
Essex and the London School of Economics. In recent years he has served Costa
Rica as head of its central bank, as minister of planning and as a
congressman.
In its citation to Arias, the Norwegian Nobel Committee said: "A
prerequisite for lasting peace is the realization of democratic ideals, with
freedom and equality for all. Oscar Arias is a strong spokesman for those
ideals. The importance of his work for peace will extend beyond Central
America."
Arias, who ran for the presidency on a peace platform, first presented his
regional peace plan in February. The initiative was greeted with skepticism in
Latin America, where the countries of the Contadora group had been struggling
unsuccessfully for three years to forge an accord.
However, the Arias plan came to be viewed by Central American governments
as an attractive alternative to that advanced by the Contadora nations.
Although it requires specific concessions, including the restoration of full
press and political freedoms, the plan requires governments to negotiate only
with unarmed opposition groups, largely on terms established by the
governments.
Arias fashioned his plan to deal specifically with Nicaragua but called on
all the countries in the region to "take a risk for peace."
Arriving in Guatemala City in August to discuss the plan with the
presidents of Nicaragua, Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador, Arias delivered
a message aimed at Nicaragua, a message he has sounded repeatedly while
lobbying for his plan along the isthmus.
"In democratic systems, everything that is not prohibited is permitted,
while in totalitarian systems, everything that is not permitted is
prohibited," he said. "These two visions of the world do not easily coexist."
Despite Arias' often legalistic approach to the negotiating process, the
version of his plan signed in Guatemala has been criticized as a vague
document that includes no sanctions against countries failing to comply with
it.
But Arias has been seen increasingly as the arbiter of disputes over
compliance with the agreement, his views trusted by members of the US Congress
and respected by his Central American colleagues.
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