The Contra Account Runs Dry

By Jacob V. Lamar Jr

As Ronald Reagan feverishly lobbied lawmakers to renew aid to the Nicaraguan contras last week, he found himself cast in a strange, ill-fitting role. Not so long ago, the President displayed an uncanny knack for dazzling Congressmen with his charm and righteousness, even as he squeezed painful concessions out of them. But last week the once cocky cajoler seemed humble, even desperate. To some he was a figure of pathos. "I felt almost bad for him," said Democratic Congressman Roy Dyson of Maryland, one of several lawmakers who met with Reagan in the Oval Office last week. "I remember the power he had and the influence he had. There wasn't anything new he could tell us."

In the twilight of his presidency, Reagan has reason to fear that one of his most cherished foreign initiatives is slipping away. The House's 219-to-211 vote against granting an additional $36 million in aid to the contras does not mean the immediate end for the rebels. But with military supplies dwindling fast, the contras cannot hold out much longer. Says General Fred Woerner, commander in chief of the U.S. Southern Command in Panama: "We're talking in terms of a few months."

As last week's roll call drew near, Congress's exasperation with the whole issue was palpable. Since December 1982, lawmakers have voted on the contras 15 times. Whether the immediate question was the mining of Nicaraguan harbors or the many permutations of the Boland amendment, which blocked military aid to the contras, each vote sparked ugly, divisive battles. Last year's Iran- contra scandal has only added to the bitterness. In the past, Reagan was able to win over key swing votes in White House arm-twisting sessions. Last week, however, many undecided Congressmen refused even to meet with the President. "I told him I'm going to make this decision in the quietness of my own thought processes," said Wes Watkins, an Oklahoma Democrat. "I've got a 17- year-old son," Watkins told Reagan during a tense phone call. "I want him to know what we stand for as a country and that we don't believe in carrying on covert and illegal activities." Watkins ultimately voted for the package.

In a surprising move, network television turned its back on the Great Communicator. ABC, CBS and NBC refused to broadcast a presidential address on the eve of the vote. Network executives said there was no news in Reagan's 20- minute plea, and in fact, the speech was full of familiar hyperbolic rhetoric: "Nicaragua is being transformed into a beachhead for aggression against the U.S." In a follow-up address, Indiana Democrat Lee Hamilton offered the prevailing House view. The U.S., he said, should wait and see if Nicaragua sticks with the peace process set in motion by last summer before restoring military aid to the contras. "Now is the time to put the Sandinistas to the test," Hamilton said, "and to take risks for peace."

In Managua, President Daniel Ortega cast a skeptical eye on the House vote. "Nicaragua cannot let down its guard," he warned. Rather than promoting the peace process, Ortega condemned the governments of El Salvador and Honduras for lending assistance to the contras. Rather than offering an olive branch to the opposition parties, Ortega called on them to "straighten out."

Contra supporters read this as an ominous sign that the Sandinistas have no intention of moving toward democracy. Elliott Abrams, Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs and Reagan's embattled point man on the contra issue, has warned that without pressure from the rebels, "Nicaragua will become another Cuba, and the chances of the survival of democracy in El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras are enormously diminished."

After the House vote, the President began searching for other means to support the contras, but his options were limited at best. The Administration was quick to point out that it will not be involved in private efforts to sustain the rebels. Moreover, the Administration wants no part of the clandestine contra schemes of yesteryear. "There ain't going to be an Ollie North on this watch," said a senior White House aide grimly.

There was a glimmer of support for the President when the Senate voted 51 to 48 in favor of the aid package, although, after the House action, the upper chamber's vote was merely symbolic. Perhaps the best the President can expect is a $10 million package of humanitarian aid that congressional Democrats are cobbling together. But the Administration is hardly enthusiastic about it. "They just want to send food and bandages," says one official. "That's not the kind of help that can keep a fighting force in the field."

In the wake of last week's defeat, contra supporters tried to specify what went wrong. After all, it was only a year and a half ago that Congress approved $100 million in aid to the rebels. Some cited the Iran-contra affair. Others said political expediency had come into play. "This is an election year," said one contra booster, "and the plain fact is that there is not resounding ((public)) support for aid."

For this the Administration has only itself to blame. In seven years, Ronald Reagan has failed to articulate a coherent policy toward the Sandinistas, while his Government's actions have covered the range from amateurism to outright duplicity. Says New Jersey Senator Bill Bradley, a Democrat who once supported contra aid: "There is a difference between speeches that rail at Communists and a policy that effectively counters them. Speeches are easy. Policy takes effort and care."

With reporting by Ricardo Chavira and Ted Gup/Washington