ABSTRACT
In the congressional debate on Central America, the Contadora initiative has been widely embraced by Democrats, Republicans, conservatives and liberals, proponents and opponents of President Reagan’s Central America policies. A brief overview of congressional activism regarding Contadora shows that it was determined not only by developments in the negotiating process and the pace of the US legislative calendar, but by the overall search for an alternative US Central America policy. 1983, the year that Latin American leaders launched the Contadora initiative, was one of tremendous struggle between the Congress and the administration over Central America, not only over aid levels to the region, but over the desirability of continuing the covert operation against Nicaragua. As specified in the 1985 Continuing Resolution, the president announced in April a drive to secure $14 million in military aid for the contras, linking the request to a “peace plan” involving negotiations between the Sandinistas and their armed and unarmed opponents.
