Reagan Open to Offers if House Rejects Contras Aid

WASHINGTON —  For the first time since he began pressuring Congress for $100 million in aid for the Nicaraguan rebels, President Reagan conceded Sunday that he is “willing to see what someone offers” by way of compromise if the House votes down his request March 19.

The President made the remark when questioned as he returned to the White House by helicopter from his weekend retreat at Camp David, Md. There, he delivered a harsh radio address Saturday on Nicaragua, challenging Congress to “stand up for freedom and America’s security” by approving help for the contras, as the rebels are called.

Earlier in the week, when he met with three Nicaraguan contra leaders, Reagan warned that those who would abandon the guerrillas he calls freedom fighters “will be held fully accountable by history.” And Patrick J. Buchanan, White House communications director, aroused a partisan storm when he accused Democrats who oppose aid to the contras of serving the interests of “Daniel Ortega and the Communists.”

The President’s program seeks $70 million that could be used for weapons and an additional $30 million in non-lethal aid for the contras over 18 months.

Reagan ruled out accepting one of the proposed modifications to his program that has been much discussed on Capitol Hill: a proposal to put aid money in escrow for six months pending the outcome of an effort by the United States to settle its differences with the Marxist-led Sandinista government by negotiation.

“That would be asking too much,” Reagan said.

But he said he is “willing to talk and to find out how we can get some practical aid to them in order to pressure the Sandinista government into negotiating for a democratic peace.”

Elliott Abrams, assistant secretary of state for inter-American affairs, said in an appearance on NBC’s “Meet the Press” program Sunday that “the President is not looking for compromise at this point. The President is looking for 218 votes in the House.”

Abrams admitted, however, that the Administration view faces strong opposition and “we’ll take a look at whatever comes out of the swing group,” a bipartisan group of House members seeking compromise. Asked for his view on holding up the money for the contras to allow for more talks, the secretary replied:

“Every month’s delay in getting the military assistance . . . to the resistance forces is another month for the Soviets and the Cubans to kill democratic resistance fighters. It’s another month for these Soviet helicopters with their Cuban pilots to go around slaughtering people.”

Rep. Michael D. Barnes (D-Md.), chairman of the House Foreign Affairs subcommittee on inter-American affairs and an outspoken critic of the Administration’s Nicaraguan policy, said that withholding the funds pending final talks would conform to the wishes of Latin nations supporting the effort of the Contadora nations. These nations--Mexico, Colombia, Venezuela and Panama--are trying to mediate a settlement of Central American coNflicts.

Appearing on another segment of the NBC program, Barnes said there should be enough delay “so that the Latin Americans themselves feel there’s sufficient time for them to make their diplomatic initiatives successful.”

If negotiations fail, Barnes said, “you’d have a very different situation . . . but what you have now is the United States totally isolated.”

Secretary of Defense Caspar W. Weinberger, appearing on ABC’s “This Week With David Brinkley” attempted to soften the partisan edge of the Administration’s earlier rhetoric, calling the issue a “red herring.” The President, he said, “never questioned anybody’s motives,” and he added:

“What he is saying is that if this aid is not supported by both Republicans and Democrats, we can have a very serious situation and unnecessary, serious danger to the United States.”

Sen. Christopher J. Dodd (D-Conn.), appearing on the NBC program, predicted a compromise.

“What I have found in the last five years is that if President Reagan . . . cannot get exactly what he wants, he is willing to back off a little bit and try to work something out,” said Dodd, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and a frequent critic of Reagan’s policy.

Alfonso Robelo, one of the three contra political leaders who met with Reagan last Monday, said on “Meet the Press” that public opinion in Nicaragua’s neighboring countries supports U.S. military aid for the rebels, even though the governments of those countries hesitate to speak out.

Robelo put the contras’ strength at 23,000, of which “between 6,000 and 7,000 are active.” He said they face a Sandinista force many times larger. Despite the odds, he said, the contras could prevail if sustained by U.S. aid because second-and third-echelon officers in the government forces, who are not committed Marxists, are willing to join the rebels.