WASHINGTON -- Honduras warned the Organization of American States Thursday that Nicaragua is ready to exchange the present war of words for a hot war against the government of Tegucigalpa.
'In its attempt to appear as the victim of hostility from its neighbors, Nicaragua threatens Honduras with resorting to war, hoping for a violent reaction,' Honduran Foreign Minister Edgardo Paz Barnica said in a message to Argentine Ambassador Raul Quijano, president of the OAS Council.
Honduran Ambassador to the OAS Roberto Martinez Ordonez delivered themessage and an attached copy of a note to the acting foreign minister of Nicaragua, Nora Astorga.
Nicaragua has charged that 2,000 rebels based in Honduras and backed by the United States invaded the country three weeks ago to try to topple the Marxist-dominated Sandanista government. The insurgents claimed victory Thursday and announced a plan for a new government.
In his note to the Nicaraguan foreign minister, Paz Barnica said, 'It would be a show of good faith and wisdom for Nicaragua to express publicly its pledge to attend a meeting.'
So far, he said, Nicaragua has responded to proposals for a meeting with 'complete silence.'
Paz Barncia noted that Nicaraguan Defense Minister Humberto Ortega has said he 'considers a war with Honduras imminent.'
'It is this kind of threat, coming from the highest authorities of this country, that must be restrained by coolness and moderation,' Paz Barnica wrote to Quijano.
Honduras is ready, he said, 'to undertake as soon as possible a multilateral dialogue that takes into account the countries of Central America and the Caribbean with the purpose of arriving at responsible and serious accords that guarantee security for the country and for our region.'
'This situation must seriously worry the OAS, which is obligated by its charter to guarantee the peace and security of the continent,' Paz Barnica said.
Under the OAS charter and the Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance, Quijano can call an emergency meeting of the OAS Council if there is a threat to the peace and security of the continent.
Debate already is under way in the U.N. Security Council.
Peace will be possible, Paz Barnica said,'if the government of Nicarague truly wants tranquility to return to Central American and a normalization of the tense relations that exist between our two states.'
