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PM-Nicaragua-Military,0311
Daniel Ortega Says Nicaragua Will Maintain Large Military
    NEW YORK (AP) - The president of Nicaragua says his country will
maintain a large army and reserve force regardless of any agreements
to normalize relations with its neighbors and the United States, a
newspaper reported today.
    In an interview, President Daniel Ortega told The New York Times on
Tuesday that such a military buildup would not violate terms of the
latest Central American peace plan.
    Ortega said the buildup was supported by agreements with the Soviet
Union.
    He said his leftist Sandinista government is ''willing to discuss
limits on weapons and men in the armed forces'' if the United States
''stops its aggression'' against Nicaragua.
    The president said Nicaragua will maintain an army of 60,000 to
80,000 men. He said the population of the entire country will be
considered a reserve force. He said it would be used as a defensive
force, comparing it to Switzerland's military.
    ''This will be the policy even if the aggression ends,'' said
Ortega, referring to U.S. support for the Contras fighting his
government.
    Ortega denied several allegations made in Washington last week by
Maj. Roger Miranda Bengoechea, a senior Nicaraguan Defense Ministry
official who sought asylum in the United States two months ago.
    The president denied allegations that he and his brother, Defense
Minister Humberto Ortega, and other top government officials keep
foreign bank accounts. He also denied the major's allegation that the
Nicaraguan government gave approval to the Panamanian military
leader, Gen. Manuel Antonio Noriega, to send weapons to guerrillas in
El Salvador soon.
    He also denied that his country had trained Salvadoran guerrillas in
the use of antiaircraft missiles.
    He said he had warned President Jose Napoleon Duarte of El Salvador
that the guerrillas were looking for missiles, and they might get
them from corrupt Contras selling weapons they get from the United
States.
    
 
AP-NY-12-16-87 0555EST
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a227  1356  20 Oct 88
AM-Joan, Bjt,0755
Tens Of Thousands Flee Hurricane
LaserPhoto SJO1
By BRYNA BRENNAN
Associated Press Writer
    MANAGUA, Nicaragua (AP) - Hurricane Joan closed in on Central
America Thursday with its heavy rain and 110 mph winds, and more than
32,000 people fearing floods and mudslides fled coastal areas of
Nicaragua and Costa Rica.
    Nicaragua declared a state of alert and closed schools nationwide as
the slow-moving storm lurked less than 300 miles offshore. But
officials worried about the readiness of government agencies, relief
organizations and coastal residents, some of whom live in wooden
homes on stilts.
    ''We're prepared for war, not hurricanes,'' said Nicaragua's
agrarian reform minister, Jaime Wheelock.
    Bob Sheets, director of the National Hurricane Center in Coral
Gables, Fla., said the storm's slow movement made it hard to predict,
but forecasters still expected it to strike Nicaragua or Costa Rica
on Friday or Saturday.
    Officials said Costa Rica has never been hit by a hurricane in
recorded history, and the last one that hit Nicaragua was in 1911.
    ''The big problem, of course, is the flash floods, the heavy rains,
mudslides - that's where the great loss of life occurs,'' Sheets
said. ''The strong winds are really a small area around the center.''
    Hurricane warnings were in effect Thursday for the Colombian islands
of San Andres and neighboring Albuquerque and Providencia. A watch
was in force on the east coasts of Nicaragua and Costa Rica.
    About 7,000 people fled Nicaragua's remote Miskito Coast and two
small islands by boat. At least 25,000 people in Costa Rica evacuated
the provincial coastal capital of Puerto Limon and 14 small towns.
    At 3 p.m. EDT, Joan was nearly stationary about 265 miles
east-southeast of Bluefields, Nicaragua, at latitude 11.3 north and
longitude 79.8 west, but it was expected to move westward slowly. The
highest sustained winds weakened slightly to 110 mph.
    Electrical storms played across Nicaragua early in the day and a
light rain was falling in Bluefields at midday, but otherwise no
precipitation was reported in the hurricane's target zone.
    Colombia's National Emergency Committee said the storm killed 15
people, injured 50 and left tens of thousands of homeless when it
swept the Guajira peninsula.
    In Costa Rica, the National Emergency Council said at least 25,000
people were evacuated from Puerto Limon, a town of 20,000 about 100
miles southeast of the capital of San Jose, and 14 other towns in the
coastal province.
    Council spokeswoman Nevaira Perera said 8,000 more would be
evacuated from Puerto Limon by the end of the day. The evacuees were
being taken to shelters in the central cities of Guapiles and
Siquirri.
    Public Security Minister Hernan Garron said 1,000 police were in
Puerto Limon to prevent looting and 900 schools in the province were
closed.
    A mudslide blocked the highway between San Jose and Puerto Limon for
several hours Wednesday night and several rivers flooded. No injuries
or serious damage were reported.
    Nicaragua's information minister, Manuel Espinoza, said the
government moved 5,000 women, children and old people by boat
Thursday from Bluefields, 180 miles east of Managua on the Miskito
Coast, to shelters in the city of Rama.
    Bluefields is surrounded by dense jungle and accessible only by foot
or the winding Escondido River. About 60,000 people, mostly Sumo,
Rama and Miskito Indians and the descendents of fugitive slaves, live
in the surrounding area.
    Most of the region is thick jungle and mangrove swamps where many of
the Indians survive by farming and fishing. Many of Bluefields wood
slat homes sit atop stilts because of seasonal flooding and might not
withstand a hurricane's high winds.
    ''If there is a direct hit, it would be a very bleak future for
Bluefields,'' Espinoza said.
    A coastal radio station broadcast evacuation messages in Spanish and
English. The Miskito Coast was British territory ruled by an Indian
king until the last century, and most of its residents speak a
mixture of Indian languages and English.
    Barricada, the newspaper of the leftist Sandinista government, said
the state of alert was the first step toward a national emergency
that would give the government broad powers.
    Schools were closed after the Institute of Territorial Studies said
the hurricane would cause violent storms throughout Nicaragua. The
national airline Aeronica cancelled flights to the coast.
    In Managua, home to two-thirds of Nicaragua's 3 million people,
civil defense brigades were organized, and Barricada published
emergency instructions.
    
 
 
AP-NY-10-20-88 1641EDT
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a258  1819  20 Oct 88
AM-Joan, 1st Ld,a227,0687
Eds: UPDATES with new evacuations, Nicaragua emergency decree and all
schools closing in Costa Rica. CORRECTS figure in 5th graf to at
least 11 dead, not 12.
By BRYNA BRENNAN
Associated Press Writer
    MANAGUA, Nicaragua (AP) - Hurricane Joan left at least 11 people
dead in Venezuela and then sent tens of thousands of people fleeing
for safety as it closed in on Central America Thursday with heavy
rain and 105 mph winds.
    More than 37,000 people, fearing floods and mudslides, fled coastal
areas of Nicaragua and Costa Rica.
    Nicaragua declared a state of alert and closed schools nationwide as
the slow-moving storm lurked in the Caribbean less than 300 miles
offshore.
    President Daniel Ortega enacted an emergency law banning
communications media from reporting unauthorized news about the
hurricane.
    In Colombia, the National Emergency Committee said the storm killed
15 people there, injured 50, and left tens of thousands homeless when
it swept the Guajira peninsula on Monday.
    Mudslides and heavy rain late Wednesday night and early Thursday in
the wake of the hurricane left at least 11 people dead and at least
eight hurt, mostly children, in the poorest neighborhoods of Caracas,
Venezuela, firefighters there said.
    The mud engulfed wooden huts built precariously on cliffs
overlooking Caracas, the capital. Rescue teams worked through the day
uncovering victims, who were caught in their homes when mud swept
down.
    ''We uncovered 11 people, most of them kids under 14,'' said Col.
Antonio Morillo, firefighter spokesman. He said eight people were dug
up alive.
    Hurricane warnings were in effect Thursday for the Colombian islands
of San Andres and neighboring Albuquerque and Providencia. A watch
was in force on the east coasts of Nicaragua and Costa Rica.
    At 6 p.m. EDT, Joan's center was about 150 miles southeast of San
Andres and about 260 miles east-southeast of Bluefields, Nicaragua,
near latitude 11.3 north and longitude 79.9 west, said a statement
from the National Hurricane Center in Coral Gables, Fla.
    The hurricane's position was almost stationary, but it was expected
to resume a slow westward motion during the night. Its highest
sustained winds had weakened slightly to 105 mph, the statement said.
    Bob Sheets, hurricane center director, said the storm's slow
movement made it hard to predict, but forecasters still expected it
to strike Nicaragua or Costa Rica on Friday or Saturday.
    Officials said Costa Rica has never been hit by a hurricane in
recorded history, and the last one that hit Nicaragua was in 1911.
    Nicaraguan officials worried about the readiness of government
agencies, relief organizations and coastal residents, some of whom
live in wooden homes on stilts.
    ''We're prepared for war, not hurricanes,'' said Nicaragua's
agrarian reform minister, Jaime Wheelock.
    About 7,000 people fled Nicaragua's remote Miskito Coast and two
small islands by boat.
    Electrical storms played across Nicaragua early in the day and a
light rain was falling in Bluefields at midday, but otherwise no rain
was reported in the hurricane's target zone.
    Heavy rain was reported in Colon, Panama, south of the storm, but a
spokesman for Panama's civil emergency system said the danger was
diminishing because Joan seemed to be headed away.
    In Costa Rica, the National Emergency Council said at least 30,000
people were evacuated from Puerto Limon, a town of 20,000 about 100
miles southeast of the capital of San Jose, and 14 other towns in the
coastal province.
    Council spokeswoman Nevaira Perera said 8,000 more would be
evacuated from Puerto Limon by the end of the day. The evacuees were
being taken to shelters in the central cities of Guapiles and
Siquirri.
    Public Security Minister Hernan Garron said 1,000 police were in
Puerto Limon to prevent looting. Education Minister Francisco Pacheco
said schools and universities throughout the country would close
beginning Friday until the storm was over.
    Costa Rican officials feared Joan could destroy many of the 20,000
banana plantations along the cost. Bananas are one of the republic's
major exports after coffee.
    A mudslide, 15th graf pvs
 
 
AP-NY-10-20-88 2103EDT
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