European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - April 12, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse Page 8 a a a the stars and stripes thursday april 12,1990 planes carrying a contingent of 170 venezuelan paratroopers touch Down in Honduras on tuesday. . Peacekeeping Force arrives in Honduras to disband contras Managua Nicaragua apr United nations peacekeeping troops have arrived in Honduras to begin disbanding the Contra rebels but the ruling sandinista warned there could be renewed fighting. A contingent of 170 venezuelan paratroopers arrived tuesday in Honduras where the contras have base Camps. Their Spanish commander Gen. Agustin Quesada Gomez said Venezuela will Send 700 soldiers. They will be joined by troops from several other countries. The United nations observer Force will supervise the demobilization in Honduras and in Nicaragua and the destruction of their arms. The contras on nicaraguan territory Are supposed to gather in a safety zones once the . Peacekeeping Force can ensure a cease fire. About 9,000 contras have gone Back to Nicaragua in recent months leaving the honduran Camps nearly deserted. The rebels agreed monday to begin disbanding the remains of the honduran Force on april 18, but have not set a deadline for demobilization inside Nicaragua. The sandinista were pessimistic about demobilization tuesday. The leftist party a newspaper barricade and the pro sandinista daily Al Nuevo Diario ran editorials and stories calling the Accord nothing but a ploy to gain time and influence before the april 25 inauguration of Nicaragua a conservative president elect Violeta Barrios de Chamorro. The sandinista also accused the rebels and Chamorro a United National opposition of trying to take Over the sandinista Peoples army. A unless this situation is resolved in the briefest term. All the efforts for peace and reconciliation could. Revert into a fresh outbreak of the War a barricade said. Barricade a a editorials Are considered the official sandinista party line. The War Between the contras and the sandinista has killed an estimated 30,000 people since it began in 1981, two years after the sandinista came to Power in a revolution that toppled rightist dictator Anastasio Somoza. 500 . Troops Likely to be pulled from Panama duty general says Las Tablas Panama up a a High ranking . Military official saying that his troops a a can to stay Here forever a predicted tuesday the withdrawal by june of some 500 . Service members patrolling streets in Panama City and other towns. Maj. Gen. Marc a. Cisneros commander of the . Army in Panama said the level of . Troops in Panama has been reduced from 26,000 to about 13,000, the number present before the dec. 20 invasion that ousted former military strongman Manuel Antonio Noriega. About 400 . Troops continue to patrol with local police in Panama City and 100 army special forces Are stationed in provincial capitals Cisneros told United press International during a visit to Las Tablas an agricultural Community 175 Miles Southwest of Panama City. As Panama s new police Force develops and obtains More equipment Cisneros said there will be Little need for . Troops on the streets. Cisneros said he wants to maintain one or two . Service members in each police District for the next year to assist with cases involving americans. A we can to stay Here forever a Cisneros said. A a we re going to do an assessment in june. By that time Well probably be Able to do another reduction Down to the Point of having some Liaison Many latin american nations have called for All . Troops to return to their Panama bases but Cisneros said he is under More pressure to maintain the . Troops in policing roles than to withdraw them. In Panama City crime has soared since the invasion while Many residents distrust the Public Force built almost entirely from the panamanian defense forces a now defunct army that was run by Noriega. Cisneros said common crime is the biggest problem in Panama while the Security threat to the Endara government from Noriega allies or subversive groups is Small. A group calling itself the 20th of december movement or m-20, claimed responsibility for a grenade attack on a nightclub in Panama City last month that killed one . Serviceman and injured 15. The bombing is still under investigation. Cisneros a 51-year-old hispanic from Brownsville Texas criticized latin american countries such As Mexico and Peru that have questioned the legitimacy of Endara a government. Seven latin american nations that make up the Rio group last month suggested that Endara hold elections and called for All . Troops in Panama to return to their bases. A that to me is a Lack of brotherhood among latin countries a Cisneros said. A from my perspective this government is very legitimate. Elections Are very costly and at this Point could be very detrimental to the country in its current state of crisis. A they themselves the government will have to make that decision a he said. Endara reportedly won the. May 7, 1989, presidential election by a 3-to-l margin Over Carlos Duque a Noriega ally. The election was annulled the following Day by the electoral tribunal controlled by Noriega. World . Military exercises helping rebuild Panama los Santos Panama apr the Southern come has announced a series of Mili Tayir training exercises designed to repair roads Bridges and schools throughout Panama. The Strong roads Panama �?T90 exercises involve air Force and army engineers working with teams from the ministry of Public works and the new police Force the command said tuesday. The project demonstrates the . Commitment to rebuilding democracy in Panama following the dec. 20, 1989, invasion that ousted panamanian Leader Manuel Antonio Noriega it said. The command said the exercises began March 31 with the arrival of 48 National guard engineers from Alabama. Additional state militia contingents from Missouri Kentucky Idaho and Wisconsin will be arriving on a rotating basis the command said. A total of450 guardsmen Are expected to take part by the time the exercises end on june 24. They will train in two week rotations. A Bush first lady promoting anti drug to cartoon Toronto apr president Bush and his wife Barbara Are helping to promote an upcoming to cartoon that will feature an anti drug message for children. The White House making the announcement during Bush strip to Canada said tuesday that the Bushes taped a Public service and promoting the special a cartoon All stars to the the animated show will be simultaneously aired april 21 by Abc Abc and lbs a a first in programming. It also will be shown on Cable. The commercial will run before the program. The program features bugs Bunny Alf teenage mutant ninja turtles Winnie the Pooh the smurfs Garfield Daffy Duck and other cartoon characters. In the message mrs. Bush Calls the program a the powerful Story of a teen Ager dealing with drug and alcohol abuse and tells children to a make the right decision a stay away from drugs and president begins visit to soviet Union Moscow up a polish president Wojciech Jaruzelski arrived in the Western Ukraine wednesday to begin an official visit to the soviet Union during which he Hopes to close a painful chapters in the relations Between the two countries. The soviet news Agency Tass said Jaruzelski was greeted by ukr Man and City officials on his arrival , a polish City before world War ii about 40 Miles from the polish Border inside the soviet Union. One of the most emotional issues Jaruzelski undoubtedly Hopes to discuss during the four Day trip is the massacre of about 15,000 polish army officers in the Katyn Forest during world War ii. The soviet Union has for years officially blamed the nazis for the killings but there is documentary evidence a including some published by soviet scholars last month in the Moscow news a that soviet Security forces were responsible for the killed in Holdup of mail train in Austria Vienna Austria apr three assailants shot their Way into a car on a mail train killing a postal employee and escaping with $2.9 million in Austria a biggest mail train robbery police said tuesday. The attack took place late monday aboard a regional train in route from St. Poe ten to Vienna a distance of about 40 Miles. According to witnesses one of four postal employees on the train was shot to death Ine others were handcuffed and gagged with empty mail bags pulled Over their Heads. The robbers slashed open mail bags containing some 35 million schillings or $2.y i lion in Cash police said. They fled when to train stopped in a suburb before Vienna. It was unclear when or How they boarded to train. _
