Nicaraguans to Protest U.S. Contra Aid Plan

MANAGUA, Nicaragua —  Pro-government Nicaraguan unions and student groups urged their members Tuesday to take to the streets to protest a $100-million U.S. aid proposal for the contras, as well as Monday’s U.S. air raid on Libya.

“In Washington, they are setting the tempo for war,” an editorial in the official newspaper Barricada said.

Union and student groups planned protests against President Reagan’s request for arms assistance for rebels seeking the overthrow of the Sandinista government. The rallies, scheduled for Tuesday, were postponed until today after the U.S. House of Representatives delayed action on the aid package.

New Vote Required

The House originally defeated the measure, but the Senate later passed its own version, setting up a second House vote.

Thousands of children were instructed to march today to the embassy of Mexico, one of the leaders of the peace-seeking Contadora Group, and to U.N. agency offices in this country.

The children, members of the Sandinista Children’s Assn., were told to bring Nicaraguan flags and taught to chant: “Down with war, up with peace.”

Pro-government unions, neighborhood self-defense groups and peasants also planned protests in the capital and other cities.

The groups said that their members will hold marches, build bonfires and set up street barricades to demonstrate their readiness to fight a U.S. invasion.

Callers Condemn Plan

Nicaraguans called the official radio station, the Voice of Nicaragua, to condemn Reagan’s contra aid proposal.

“It is immoral for them to be discussing ways to give money to the mercenaries,” said a farmer from Leon, about 50 miles north of Managua. “In these moments, the Libyan people and the Nicaraguan people are united,” he reportedly added.

Also Tuesday, the Defense Ministry reported that Sandinista government troops killed 158 contras in fighting between April 9 and 13. The clashes occurred in the northern province of Jinotega, the eastern province of Zelaya and in central Matagalpa, the ministry said.