War and Peace in Central America

McNeil, who served as ambassador to Costa Rica during the Carter and Reagan administrations, charges that U.S. policy in Central America over the past decade has sought to block the tenuous democratic experiments in Central America. He warns that continuing disarray, incompetence and dishonesty in Washington's handling of Central American affairs threatens to wreck our relations with Latin America as a whole. His disdain for the Reagan administration's ``mean-spirited'' response to the Arias Peace Plan, which has led to a truce in Nicaragua, is blistering. McNeil reports on his talks with Costa Rican president Oscar Arias, conveying that statesman's ideas on how a better relationship can be achieved between the U.S. and Latin America. The post-Reagan administration will have to learn to listen, McNeil cautions: ``A United States government that listens and responds to its neighbors will find a much friendlier reception.'' (Jan.)