Managua, Reacting to Contras Aid, Closes Opposition Paper

MANAGUA, Nicaragua —  The Sandinista government, in retaliation for U.S. congressional approval of military aid to the Nicaraguan rebels, Thursday “indefinitely” shut down La Prensa, the only opposition newspaper in the country.

At the same time, President Daniel Ortega announced on national radio and television that the government will “increase and strengthen” security measures, signaling a clampdown on the internal political opposition.

Ortega, reading a statement by the nine-member directorate of the Sandinista National Liberation Front, said the government will increase its implementation of a state of emergency decree aimed at fighting the insurgency and breaking up possible counterrevolutionary networks in the country. The wartime law limits civil rights such as freedom of expression and assembly.

“This situation demands the strict and severe application of the state of emergency,” Ortega said.

Day After House Vote

The announcement came a day after the House of Representatives approved $100 million in military aid for the Nicaraguan rebels, called contras.

Previously, Congress had approved “humanitarian,” or non-lethal aid for the contras, but the House had rejected earlier proposals by the Reagan Administration for military aid.

The contras are fighting to overthrow the seven-year-old Sandinista government that came to power through a popular insurrection that ousted dictator Anastasio Somoza in 1979.

The Sandinista government wants to make sure that the guerrillas do not have food, safehouses, communications and other logistical support inside Nicaragua.

Ortega said the government could not continue to “permit traitors to function brazenly and with impunity in their shameless functions as agents of the American government, justifying the aggression . . . and giving ‘civic’ cover to the counterrevolutionary plans.”

The civic opposition, as it is called here, are the political parties and unions that oppose the Sandinista government legally from within the system.

La Prensa, which has been heavily censored, is run by Violetta Chamorro, widow of Pedro Joaquin Chamorro, whose assassination in 1978 is generally credited with touching off the popular movement that ousted Somoza and brought the Sandinistas to power.

Resigned From Junta

Violetta Chamorro was a member of the junta that replaced Somoza, but she resigned in disagreement with the direction of the revolution and has become a strong critic of the leftist government.

Editors at La Prensa were notified of the closure by a terse statement from the government censor under the Interior Ministry. The paper was not printed Thursday.

“By instructions from superiors, we notify you that as of the present date the daily La Prensa will be closed for an indefinite time,” the notice said.

Omar Cabezas, the vice minister of interior, said the paper was closed because it has been supporting aid for the contras. He said the closure was indefinite, but not necessarily permanent.

“From here on, for anyone who supports President Reagan for sending $100 million, the state of emergency law will be applied,” Cabezas said.

‘Republicans Closed It’

“La Prensa was closed by the U.S. Republicans. They closed it. If it weren’t for the vote, it would be open tomorrow,” he said.

Asked why the newspaper had not been closed earlier if it has been breaking the law, Cabezas said: “We have been flexible to show that we wanted national unity. But the flexibility begins to end because the U.S. Congress approved war against us. . . . We are not going to turn the other cheek.”

Cabezas charged that the newspaper follows the line of the Reagan Administration.

“The editorial board of La Prensa is at the U.S. Embassy,” Cabezas said.

The newspaper has been closed previously, for a couple of days at a time during the early years of the Sandinista government. It has failed to publish several times because of censorship.