Kirkpatrick, in Managua, Urges Opposition to Push Democracy

MANAGUA, Nicaragua — Jeane J. Kirkpatrick, visiting Managua on a White House mission, urged anti-Sandinista political forces Sunday to use their promised new freedoms to “struggle for a democratic Nicaragua.”

“The future of Nicaragua depends as much on the people as on the government, because liberty has to be demanded and used, and democracy has to be built by the very people who are going to enjoy it,” said Kirkpatrick, the former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.

She spoke to about 750 people, most of them active in Nicaragua’s civic opposition, at a Columbus Day observance sponsored by the U.S. Embassy.

Following Education Secretary William J. Bennett, she was the second Administration spokesperson to come here in the last month with a message of support for conservative political activists.

The visits appear to signal a more-visible U.S. role in Nicaraguan politics under the Aug. 7 peace agreement signed by Nicaragua and four other Central American nations.

The accord calls for a cease-fire in the Nicaraguan guerrilla war by Nov. 7 and requires the Sandinista government to restore full political and press freedom by that date. Recently, opposition groups have been permitted to hold marches, and some non-Sandinista news media have reopened.

Kirkpatrick noted in her speech that President Daniel Ortega had visited New York last week to speak against President Reagan’s plan to ask for another $270 million in aid to the armed Nicaraguan contras.

“Ortega has used the freedom that exists in my country to speak to the American people,” she said. “I will use the freedom granted at this moment to express (my) thoughts to the Nicaraguan people.