Reagan May Compromise on Contra Aid

WASHINGTON--President Reagan, scrambling for votes to win $100 million in military aid to Nicaraguan rebels, yesterday offered Congress a possible compromise that would limit the assistance to "defensive" weapons, training and logistics for the first 90 days.

With today's showdown House vote expected to be extremely close, the White House gave congressmen a draft executive order that they said Reagan would sign if the $100 million was passed.

The draft order would restrict the first 90 days of aid to the Contra rebels to weapons "for defense against air attacks," training in small-unit warfare and logistical aid. The aid would be stopped if the rebels engaged in human rights violations or drug smuggling.

Under the president's plan, all types of military aid would be permitted after 90 days if the leftist Nicaraguan government does not negotiate seriously with the rebels-a step the government has repeatedly refused to take, charging that the Contras are a creation of the United States.

Congress could block the aid at that point, but that would require majority votes in both the House and Senate. Reagan could then veto such a move and it would require a two-thirds majority in each house to override him.

Rep. Michael Barnes (D-Md.) chairman of the House Foreign Affairs subcommittee on Latin America, said the proposed compromise "doesn't really change anything....It's an obvious indication that the administration doesn't have the votes on the merits, and they're grasping for ways to get some votes."

But Rep. John McKernan (R-Maine) a swing vote, said that while he was still undecided, the new proposal made him more likely to vote for the $100 million.

In a statement accompanying the draft order, Reagan said he favored a negotiated solution with the leftist Nicaraguan government and that "approval of my request for additional assistance...does not mean that a military solution is inevitable."

While the House debated, a fresh appeal to avoid the use of force in the Central American was made in Washington by the eight-nation Contadora group of Latin American countries seeking a peaceful settlement in the area.

Speaking at a meeting of the Political Council of the Organization of American States, Venezuelan Ambassador Edilberto Moreno said it was necessary to reiterate the obligation of all member states of the OAS "to solve their controversies exclusively by peaceful means and to abstain from the use of force directly or indirectly."

Moreno said he was speaking for Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, Panama, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela.

Chile's new ambassador to the OAS, Javier Illanes, declared his country's "decided support for the Contadora peace efforts."

House Speaker Thomas P. O'Neill Jr.(D-Mass.) described the upcoming House decision as a "Tonkin Gulf vote," a reference to the 1964 resolution that enabled then President Johnson to introduce U.S. troops in Vietnam.

O'Neill said the Democrats maintained a 10 to 15 vote lead and had seen "no erosion" over the past days despite an intensive personal lobbying campaign by Reagan.