Central America (Hansard, 7 December 1983)

§ 11. Mr. Lofthouse
asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will discuss with other European Community Governments the situation in Central America.

§ Mr. Whitney
We keep in close touch with our partners of the Ten, and discuss Central America whenever this is necessary.

§ Mr. Lofthouse
If the Foreign Secretary still has any influence at all with the United States, will he ensure that the conciliatory moves by the Government of Nicaragua receive a positive response?

§ Mr. Whitney
The United States Government have welcomed the moves by the Government of Nicaragua, and all of us who look for the establishment of peace, democratic institutions and democracy in that country hope that those measures will result in genuine progress in that direction.

§ Mr. Bottomley
Would it not have been easier to persuade the Americans and others with influence in El Salvador to have effective free elections had the Nicaraguans held elections after their revolution?

§ Mr. Whitney
I entirely agree with my hon. Friend. It is interesting to compare the promises that have now been announced by the Nicaraguan Government with the undertakings they gave in 1979.

§ Mr. Healey
As the hon. Gentleman is so concerned to protect the Prime Minister's interests in this matter, does he not recall that when the right hon. Lady last talked to her colleagues at the European summit in Stuttgart, she agreed with them that force has no role to play in seeking a solution to the problems of Central America? Will he therefore ensure that the British Government inform the American Government that they should now withdrew their troops from this alleged exercise in Honduras and accept the many steps that the Nicaraguan Government have taken towards trying to establish normal relations with the United States through peaceful negotiation?

§ Mr. Whitney
As the right hon. Gentleman knows, the Government's constant position is to seek peaceful progress in Central America, be it in Nicaragua or elsewhere. I very much hope that the Nicaraguan Government, who have the largest standing army in Central America and whose Cuban military presence is greater than any other foreign observer, will take note and subscribe to the Contadora initiative.